Magazine
Sojourners Magazine: March-April 2002
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Cover Story
A return to the Dark Ages? Or a modern rebellion against secularism? Either way—as we've so painfully learned—we ignore this phenomenon at our grave peril.
Feature
Young Christians are pushing the edges of faith. Here's a glimpse into the hearts and dreams of a few of them, in their own words.
Rev. Billy may not be a reverend, but he's got some good news to tell.
Christians around the world are being attacked and churches burned to the ground. Is anyone paying attention?
Commentary
From his fifth-floor window in Mennonite Central Committee's D.C. office, Daryl Byler can keep an eye on the Supreme Court while he takes calls from a press...
Columns
Comparing Hasidic and Christian spirituality, a rabbi once said, "There is no joy in Christianity."
The once mighty energy trader has become everyone's favorite whipping boy.
Unjustly so, I say.
Since Sojourners is a bimonthly magazine, you depend on us to cover the breaking news, with up-to-the-minute commentary on hot stories like Afghanistan which, by the time you read this, should be well on its way to becoming an independent democracy.
Sounds like a great Old Testament saga, doesn't it?—the sin of Enron. Well,
this may be a more biblical tale than we think.
Culture Watch
A few blocks away, a sidewalk mailbox is covered with a magic-marker tribute to a young man downed in a shooting—"RIP Boo"
Jewish-Christian "dialogue" is too often just that—an
intellectual, theological discussion with no grounding in shared experience.
A frequent comment by political pundits after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was that the United States lacks "good old-fashioned human intelligence" against terrorism.
All Christianity has to give, and all it needs to give, is the myth of
the human Jesus.
In light of the 9-11 wars, people worldwide are digging more deeply
into the study of applied nonviolence.
My friends and I are young and hip. We buy local, ride bikes, vote for
Nader, and we do not despise conspiracy theory.
Driving north on I-75 through the flat state of Ohio, I'm usually
scanning the horizon for those ticket-giving folks who, I'm told, like out-of-state
cars.
During the month of March, PBS affiliates will be airing a documentary called Welcome
to the Club—The Women of Rockabilly.
Departments
Back in college, when you were asked to declare your major, "faith-based community organizing" with a minor in "direct action" probably was not an option.
JIM WALLIS' ARTICLE in the January-February 2002 issue was helpful in summarizing efforts of theologians of nonviolence to wrestle with the question of how to resist terrorism.
Ten U.S. soldiers from Fort Huachuca, Arizona, have been charged in a $3 million drug-running scheme...
Heifer International came up with a unique solution to a sticky problem. In the 1997
Albanian civil war, more than 500,000 weapons were stolen from military depots.
The Catholic Worker Cooperative Bakery in Guadalupe, California, offers fresh, handmade
communion bread and hosts, with 100 percent organic whole-wheat flour.
Archie McPhee's new "Jesus Action Figure" bends the question "What
would Jesus do?" in some very weird ways.
Thanks for Ryan Beiler's wrenching humor and truth in "The Aroma of Christ."
The election last year of President Vicente Fox and Chiapas Gov. Pablo Salazar brought hope to Mexico's indigenous population...
Did you see the recent Essence article about Dorothy Gaines? Or the Mademoiselle
piece on Kellie Mann? Both women were convicted of minor nonviolent drug offenses.
Canadian evangelicals took on Ottawa's far-reaching anti-terrorism bill last
winter and won some changes.
Thanks, Ryan, for keeping Jésus' memory alive ("The Aroma of Christ") and helping him to continue to serve a higher purpose than he might have been aware of.
Where's Mel? Lethal Weapon movie star and death penalty abolitionist Danny Glover, below, addressed students at Princeton University last fall.
Children in Putumayo, Colombia, painted this "before and after" mural of what
U.S.-sponsored aerial fumigation has done to their homeland.
In Chiapas, Mexico, farmers are getting 25 cents per pound for their coffee crop.
Starbucks' specialty grind is sold for $14.95 per pound.
YEARS AGO I might have resonated with Danny Duncan Collum's insights about John Lennon's "Imagine" but long before 9-11 I found myself somewhat at odds with its message.
We were in France when the news came of the terrorist acts of Sept. 11.
Years ago when my mother was quite ill, a friend copied a poem and surreptitiously slipped it into my Bible.
In Auburn, Alabama, two all-white fraternities wore blackface and Ku Klux Klan robes to
Halloween parties; some even simulated a lynching. Both frats have been suspended.
Is religion important to you? Whether you kick back a six-pack, light up a cigarette,
or smoke a joint may be an indicator.