Things Jesus did not say: You shall know the sensational half-truth and it will entrench your existing beliefs. Or shock you. Or tell you to buy stuff. Instead, Jesus famously promises his disciples: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). As an editor and a Christian, I believe this wholeheartedly; truth—of both the gospel variety and what you find in fact-based journalism—has the power to change us. But it sure doesn’t feel freeing to read the news these days. Call it media, the news, or (my least favorite) “content,” our information systems often do a better job provoking outrage than helping us stay informed about the world around us. This is by design, points out journalism professor Christina Littlefield, and it’s not just a problem on the political Right. “Outrage sells. Outrage gets remembered. Outrage can shape us,” she writes. And over time, that outrage becomes “what we give our time and attention to.” We can change this, though, and Littlefield breaks it down into simple steps. She explains how “Christians of all political leanings” can assess our own media diet and separate credible information from mis- or disinformation. And she offers tips for having real conversations with people whose “factual foundation” is quite different from our own. And here I’ll break the fourth wall for a moment: Littlefield invites readers to be aware of a publication’s motivation—even a publication like Sojourners. As editor in chief, I can tell you that we put Littlefield’s article on the cover because we hope to persuade Christians who care about social justice to heed her advice, especially as we head into midterm season. But if you want to know more about what we publish and why, check out our editorial policies, where we try to be transparent about the values that shape our coverage. Or write us your questions—we love hearing from you! Here’s what else we think you need to know this week: 328 feet of grief. A coalition of nearly 50 congregations—including churches, mosques, Buddhist centers, interfaith and secular groups—have handwritten the names of 20,000 children killed in Gaza between October 2023 and August 2025 on a long linen shroud.
Hollywood loves nuns.“For centuries, convents have offered women a way to break from cultural norms,” writes Jenna Barnett. And for the last few decades, films use religious women as a way to mix the “radical and the respectable.”
Facing the climate crisis with joy. As millions brace for El Niño, it’s hard not to worry about the planet our children will inherit. But in 2022, Lydia Wylie-Kellermann argued for raising children to face climate catastrophe with joy instead of terror.
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