Nonviolent resistance movements were part of the 20th century’s eternal contribution to human history; can those ideals be sustained and reinvigorated for a new era?
Barack Obama has proven himself a keen thinker, a good organizer, and a person with a moral sensibility that bends toward justice. But what happens to a community organizer from Chicago when he becomes president?
If King could have conceived of this day, with the coincidence of a holiday in his honor and the swearing-in of the first president of African descent, he would surely have marveled. And then he would have set us all to work.
In a series of short essays, special to Religion Dispatches, religious historians, philosophers, and ethicists celebrate Obama’s place in American history while heeding Dr. King’s continued prophetic challenge for our nation.
There is a temptation to regard Obama’s inauguration as the end of a forty year “wilderness” experience, but symbolism and symmetry can only take us so far. We, as citizens, are going to need to hold Obama accountable.
As state laws waver on gay marriage, some conservative Christians say their status as husband and wife is compromised. Heartfelt vows, a private contract and a few witnesses are all that’s required to be married in God’s eyes, they say.
In “Battling for the Soul of the Democratic Party,” journalist Sarah Posner examined the role of DC outfits like Faith in Public Life, who seek to find common ground among disparate religious organizations. Here, FPL responds.
A radical queer group claims to have burned a “Mormon Bible,” vandalized churches, and urges supporters to fight back “by any means necessary.” Ariana Childs Graham asks: Is this activism or just a really bad idea?
