From the Editors
Greta Thunberg’s prophetic speech at the UN Climate Action Summit
The young activist’s words were designed to disturb us and make us see ourselves as we are.
The kinds of stories Toni Morrison told
No one has done more to transform the language for thinking about America’s racial past.
How much beef consumption can our planet sustain?
Burning the Amazon to produce more cattle
There’s no good reason to bring back the federal death penalty
The Trump administration and public opinion are moving in opposite directions.
Suicides in the US are rising. How can the church respond?
Helping people feel connected to one another is the holy work of any community, including congregations.
In Ireland, a Citizens’ Assembly helped shape public policy. Could it work here?
Cultivating a democracy that deliberates
Migrants are suffering. Will increased funding help?
A new funding law gives the Trump administration trust it hasn’t earned.
Law is too blunt an instrument for the complex realities of abortion
People’s lives elude sharply drawn lines.
Will the SAT’s new “adversity score” help students?
It’s not clear that college applicants will be the ones served by another number to measure them.
Facebook’s problems are much deeper than “bad actors”
Bad for democracy, good for business
The extinction of whales, birds, and other creatures that once praised God
God called all of them good. Humans are rapidly destroying them.
The point of talking about reparations is to reckon with generations of racial injustice
HR 40 is about more than money. It’s about grappling with history.
Why the Green New Deal needs to be so big
We’re long past the time for gradual changes.
Imagination is at the heart of faith
It’s not that we lack information about religion. It’s that we don’t deeply inhabit the religious stories we do know.
The Mueller report is in. Now it’s up to Congress.
But first, they need all 400 pages.
A model apology from a sinner-saint
An ELCA bishop apologized for sexist comments he made—without claiming that they were out of character.
The right to vote only matters if it’s enforced
The voting rights provisions of the “For the People Act” should be uncontroversial.
Convicted for taking water to thirsty people
The No More Deaths volunteers were imitating the logic of the incarnation.
The shutdown shows why governing by symbol doesn’t work
The border wall means a lot to Trump. It means very little for public policy.
A first step toward treating offenders like humans
The new criminal justice law is modest. But it may signal a shifting narrative.