GOD'S POLITICS BLOG 14AUG14

GUEST COMMENTARY: When Terror Wears a Badge
by Ryan Herring

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Over the past three weeks there have been four separate incidents that have led to the deaths of four unarmed black men at the hands of police. For many black people, myself included, the moments following these tragic events are filled with despair, sorrow, anger, and frustration. Each incident serves as a reminder that as a black man in America, my life holds little to no value in the eyes of the general public. To be young and black in the United States means to live under constant pressure, something most non-black American citizens know nothing about.
For the majority of black people, the police do not represent protection or safety, rather they are a menacing force that terrorize those they are supposed to serve. I have never felt safe in the presence of law enforcement. In fact, whenever police are in close proximity to me, I feel in danger. Whenever a cop drives behind me or beside me I feel anxious, not protected.
Is my paranoia justified?
I have no criminal record, however I have had numerous run-ins with the police, none of which my actions provoked. The most common of course is being followed around a store. I have never committed a traffic violation, but I have been pulled over several times. A few of those times I was asked to step out of my vehicle to be frisked and forced to sit on the curb in humiliation while being verbally intimidated and having my car searched. The reasons I was given as to why this type of action was necessary...
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Ryan Herring is Marketing and Circulation Assistant for Sojourners. You can find more of his writing at The Ghetto Monk.
ON THE GOD'S POLITICS BLOG
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Is There a Nonviolent Response to ISIS?
by Derek FloodAlarm and outrage have been growing over the mounting humanitarian crisis in Iraq at the hands of the Islamic State. Christians in the region are being forced to convert, pay tribute, or die as the al Qaeda breakaway group sweeps into predominantly Christian villages and hamlets in Iraq, sending tens of thousands fleeing for their lives. The news is devastating and overwhelming. Suicide and Pain: What Are We Missing?
by Carmille AkandeYesterday morning I was prepared to write about being a sacred place where others could come for healing, encouragement, and restoration. I had no idea Robin Williams committed suicide yesterday. I didn't hear the news because all evening I was sitting with a friend who is going through one of the most difficult times in her life. Relationships are hard. Discipleship is messy. Love takes sacrifice. But I believe it is what Jesus has called for us to do!
Jesus Wasn't American—Neither Is The Bible
by Stephen MattsonSometimes it seems that American Christians all read the exact same Bible—a truly “American Standard Version,” where every verse, account, story, and parable within scripture is interpreted through the lens of being an American. God originally authored this scripture with the intention of blessing America, protecting America, supporting her interests—and generally ignoring the rest of the world. The collateral damage of this type of thinking comes in the form of dehumanizing others.
How I Kissed Evangelizing Goodbye
by Cindy BrandtI went to the mecca of evangelicalism for college — a beautiful campus in the suburbs of Chicago, where I received a scholarship from none other than the Pope of evangelicalism, Billy Graham, for my work in street evangelism. As in, speaking to random strangers on the street in order to convert them to Christianity.
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Racism has been called America's "original sin." Struggles around affirmative action, welfare and immigration reform, and other policies show that the racial divide in the United States wasn't healed in the civil rights era. This study guide is designed to spark discussion and thought about how to live out God's call for justice in our world. It's perfect for small groups or individual study! Each of the 4 sessions includes Sojourners' articles, questions for discussion, and ideas for further study. Purchase HERE!

SOJOURNERS: Vincent Harding: In Our Cloud of Witnesses 23MAI14

Vincent Harding: In Our Cloud of Witnesses

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Vincent Harding died on Monday. One of my most important and dearest mentors is gone; there are countless other people across America — indeed, around the world — who are feeling the same as me.
But he really hasn’t gone; his memory and presence will continue on with us in a “cloud of witnesses,” which is the most important thing Vincent ever taught me.
At the Illiff School of Theology in Denver — the last place he worked and taught — Vincent’s title was “Professor Emeritus of Religion and Social Transformation.” That was apt for someone who spent his life teaching and showing how faith was meant to transform the world, beginning with our own lives.
The first time I met Vincent Harding was at a talk he gave at Eastern Mennonite University titled something like “The People Around Martin Luther King Jr.” We expected to hear about all the famous civil rights leaders from the movement. Instead, he spoke of those who had gone before, often many years before King, who had shaped, inspired, and sustained him like a family tree, a community of faith, or “a cloud of witnesses.”
This historian of the civil rights movement, this respected author, this professor who was also a practitioner, this friend and even speechwriter for Martin Luther King Jr. (including his remarkable and historic speech at Riverside Church against the War in Vietnam), this man, and his beloved late wife Rosemarie, were part of the inner circle of the southern freedom movement. ...
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Jim Wallis is president of Sojourners. His book, The (Un)Common Good: How the Gospel Brings Hope to a World Divided, the updated and revised paperback version of On God’s Side, will be released this spring. Follow Jim on Twitter: @JimWallis.
ON THE GOD'S POLITICS BLOG
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Stand by Me: Memorial Day and the Healing of Souls
by Mary Hinkle ShoreIf you have to reassure people that you’re not abandoning them, it may be because they feel you slipping away. In John 14, Jesus is responding to the anxiety of those he loves. “I will not leave you orphaned,” he says, but it is not clear how he will keep that promise. We rarely think of what happened to Jesus as an experience of combat, but the story of his arrest includes soldiers, weapons, and at least momentary hand-to-hand combat as Peter draws a sword to slice off the ear of one of those sent to arrest Jesus.
Defeating Satan at Harvard
by Adam EricksenHow do you defeat Satan? That was the question the University of Harvard had to answer last week when the Harvard Extension School’s Cultural Studies Club planned a satanic “Black Mass” at the university. The Harvard community, led by Harvard president Drew Faust, was outraged by the Black Mass. Although Faust was offended by the planned event, she defended the right of the Cultural Studies Club to proceed with the black mass.
Mandatory Minimums: How Long Does it Take to Learn Your Lesson?
by Kara GotschBefore selling illegal drugs, Dejarion Echols worked several years for a youth correctional agency and a psychiatric residential treatment facility for teenagers. He decided to pursue a college education but couldn’t afford to be a full-time student. Desperate to make money, the unemployed, 23-year-old, engaged father of two sold crack cocaine for six months in 2004. Any chance Dejarion had for a meaningful, productive life quickly ended. On a tip, police searched his home, found 44 grams of crack cocaine, $5,700, and an unloaded rifle.
To the Dying Church: Pass the Thread?
by Joe KayIt’s interesting how we tend to think of birth and death as opposites, two bookends with life in the middle. But we also know from experience that birth and death really are two different words for the same thing. They involve change, a moving from one phase of life to another. Birth and death and rebirth are parts of the very fabric of life. This moment, countless cells inside our bodies are dying and being replaced by new ones just like them.
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