Magazine
Sojourners Magazine: March-April 2003
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Cover Story
"Think about how much of our lives we spend at work," the executive of a New York publishing house said wistfully to me.
Eight principles for life in an honest, value-centered, competitive organization.
Feature
Walking around my hometown of San Francisco, I am always struck by a remarkable cultural vibrancy that translates into religious dynamism.
Philip Berrigan, 79, the first American Catholic priest jailed for political dissent, according to one biographer, died on December 6, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Commentary
Columns
Remember the TV commercial where a man is walking down a dark city street and nervously glances back at two shadowy figures?
What follows is an imprecise, and likely inaccurate, interpretation of the prologue to
the gospel of Mark.
We had only a few weeks to organize "Pray and Act: A Service for Peace and Justice" on January 20, the holiday of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
I began 2003 in Cuba. It's a good practice to launch a new year with fresh insights. Cuba did not disappoint. It was my first visit to the island nation.
Culture Watch
One of the many and fruitful exaggerations in Yann Martel's Life of Pi is the assertion, made by a minor character, that Pi's story will "make you believe in God."
"We believe in heaven and that Tim is with God," says a
Catholic woman who lost her husband in the 9-11 attacks.
It's likely that the Nazi genocide of European Jews (along with Gypsies, homosexuals, and others considered ethnically or socially deficient) is the most well-documented...
Struggle is a universal part of human experience, but hope—though
hard to see in disappointing circumstances—is the other side of that coin.
The genius of American jazz is using an unexpected note or chord to add
an element of surprise when the music goes where you least expect.
I have just begun reading Donna Tartt's new novel The Little Friend...
Yesterday I got a call from a friend I hadn't spoken with in more than a year. "I have to tell someone this," she said.
Departments
Sister Antonia Anthony is a 74-year-old Franciscan nun who raises funds
for the poor of southern Mexico.
"THE BOMB is Back" (by Jonathan Schell, November-December
2002) recommends the prohibition of nuclear arms to prevent nuclear war.
Critics who insist the church is full of hot air finally have their proof: British
entrepreneur Mike Gill has introduced the world's first (and hopefully last)
inflatable church.
The passion and attitude of my heart was expressed in two recent articles
To protest Prime Minister Tony Blair's threat to attack Iraq, two U.K. train drivers refused in January to move a freight train carrying ammunition
BorderLinks, a binational organization educating people about the realities of the U.S.-Mexico border, has always been good at getting personal without thinking small.
I was moved by Josh Healey's concern for the human rights of
Palestinians ("Not in My Name"). It's encouraging to see young people
committed to justice.
No Sweat apparel has a strict dress code: union-made only.
Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall have done an excellent job in clearly demonstrating the power of strategic nonviolent action in overthrowing oppressive regimes such as that of Saddam Hussein.
Last year corporations took it on the chin when it came to financial scandal.
Recently the Associated Press identified some of the fundamental changes to
Americans' legal rights by the Bush administration through the USA Patriot Act and
the Office of Homeland Security:
Still confused about the rules governing political activity by religious organizations?
Last November, 12 clergy in full regalia—accompanied by acolytes with candles, crosses, holy water, and faith—processed to the federal building in Portland, Oregon...
Saints' Daze. A few days before Christmas, Pope John Paul II
beatified Mother Teresa, elevating her to the rank just below sainthood.
George Weber, 73, of Chesley, Ontario, was killed in a motor accident on January 6
while traveling with a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation north of Basrah, Iraq.
IN "NOT IN MY NAME" (January-February 2003), Josh Healey states, "I must first recognize that the root of the conflict—the occupation—is being perpetrated by the Israeli government."
Gov. George Ryan cleared Illinois' death row in January when he commuted 171 condemned inmates' sentences...
Catholic peace activist Philip Berrigan died in December, only a few months after he was diagnosed with cancer.