Category: Social Justice
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The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy
I just read Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry’s book The Flag and the Cross and it was eye-opening to say the least. It helps me see why I have named this website “Christian Minus Christianity”–really it’s just an attempt to filter out white Christian nationalism. Reading books like this is essential to that process. According…
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White People are in Historical Time…and It’s Not Good
I had an interesting thought. When I was an undergrad I took a whole class on Dostoevsky. One thing they talked about was that his writing was crisis-time, what was called “threshold” time. People always stand on the threshold of a door about to enter in his books. While Tolstoy is historical time. It’s like white…
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Racism is a Global Issue
If we were missionaries in the Phillipines and there was one tribe racist against another, we would -set about making sure people felt seen and heard, -make sure that we understood the context of the grievance, which could span hundreds of years, -and that we would preach to create shalom rather than a false unity …
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Devastation and Romanticism
When I look at Gaza, I am struck by the devastation. I was struck by it even very early in the war. The scope of the devastation is astonishing, and the only thing more astonishing is that this has become normalized. There is no other place like this in the world. The people are trapped.…
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Rejected for Antizionism
We need a non Christian framework for ethics. My compass is christocentric, but by no means should my actions be based in Christianity, which is repulsive to me. When I reached out to a faith leader of color who is big in racial justice, this person still declined to meet with an antizionist rabbi. This…
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Ali Abu Awwad and Robi Damelin
“If the war needs anger, peace needs courage.” –Ali Abu Awwad Listen to this podcast with Brené Brown on how a Palestinian activist ended up wearing Israeli jacket, and how we need to have our own humanity and not diminish the humanity of others: Says Ali Abu Awwad: “Politicians don’t create the environment for peace,…
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1st BDS installment: Boycotting Chevron, Caltex, and Texaco
Every month I am going to make another BDS commitment and my first one is Chevron, which we drove past to go to a 76 (gas station) yesterday. Here’s the website alert about it on the BDS website: https://bdsmovement.net/news/bds-movement-calls-for-consumer-boycott-chevron-branded-gas-stations I’m going to boycott one thing a month so that what I do is sustainable, by…
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Poverty and Injustice
Poverty is the root of injustice. Why can’t we see this? It contributes to lack of education, lack of healthy food, lack of ability to raise children holistically. And wealth contributes to malformation of wealthy children’s educational spaces, where the poor are bracketed off and not seen, abundance of the wrong kind of food, and…
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Why do we always use theology?
I am wondering why we always use theology as Christians when we act on social justice principles? Any Christian movement should be theologically grounded, and yet, at the same time, sometimes people who aren’t Christian act on more Christian principles, doing, as it were, what Jesus would do. For example, extending fellowship to the marginalized…
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A Wonderful Analysis of the Parable of the Good Samaritan
I thank a friend, Jeff Crosno, for alerting me to this gem of a sermon by Barbara Brown Taylor. Very timely given the polarization on Palestine and Israel right now. If we think we’re the good one in this parable, we need to reconsider:
Christian Minus Christianity 