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Magazine

Sojourners Magazine: June 2009

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Certain topics in our public life have become volatile political footballs, tossed back and forth with little regard for understanding either side’s perspective—and with increasing amounts of anger. The issue of abortion likely tops the list. But as Sojourners associate editor Julie Polter writes in “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” the current conversation among pro-choice and pro-life advocates may finally yield some pragmatic fruit.

Read her article and see below for this month's exciting and resourceful web extras!

Representative Rosa DeLauro speaks with Julie Polter about her involvement in abortion reduction efforts.

Blues scholar Stephen J. Nichols discusses how the blues can teach us about suffering, brokennes, and redemption.

Indigenous theologians share the importance of reclaiming Native American culture for Christ.

Ed Spivey Jr. laments the slow demise of the newspaper industry as evidenced by his shrinking newspaper.

Cover Story

The right supports can reduce abortion rates.
A promising new movement leaves the bumper-sticker platitudes behind and offers the potential to actually reduce abortion.

Feature

Hint: The gray area is holy ground.
A new wave of Native American evangelical theologians rejects the false choice between following Jesus or embracing their traditions.
A new wave of Native American evangelical theologians rejects the false choice between following Jesus or embracing their traditions.
How the out-of-control buying and selling of money led to our current crisis.

Commentary

Should the government get out of the marriage business?
Pentecostalism holds promise for a new intersection of faith and politics.
New models are transforming juvenile justice.

Columns

As I sit at my desk thinking up innovative ideas for the coming decade—MacArthur Mediocrity Grants, AIG offices relocating to Guan­tanamo, AIDS awareness seminars for the pope (“I d
Francis Perkins was the consience behind the New Deal.
On ominous red-on-black lettering, a recent Newsweek cover carried the headline, “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.” The magazine’s cover story by editor Jon Mea

Culture Watch

Can a government-subsidized press save democracy?
Come Home, America: The Rise and Fall (and Redeeming Promise) of Our Country, by William Greider. Rodale Books.
Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion, and the Truth in the Immigration Debate, by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang. InterVarsity Press.
Sin Nombre, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Focus Films.
The blues live in this world -- yet long for the next. An interview with Steve Nichols.
Money & Faith: The Search for Enough, by Michael Schut; After Gandhi: 100 Years of Nonviolent Resistance, by Anne and Perry O'Brien; Beyond Our Differences, by Peter Bisanz; and Kids + Money, by Lauren Greenfield.

Departments

I appreciated Rose Marie Berger’s piece on forgiveness (“Just Forgive,” March 2009).
I was glad to see Sojourners tackle the issue of “The Spirit of the New Islam” (by Rose Marie Berger, February 2009).
In March, the Obama administration appointed J. Scott Gration as the U.S. special envoy to Sudan.
Three percent of all District of Columbia residents are living with HIV/AIDS, according to a report released in March by the District government. The U.S.
The Ecumenical Water Network, an international Christian body formed to raise awareness about justice and the global water crisis, declared its frustration that the World Water Forum, which met in
Amen to John Stoner and Victor Goering's letters in the March 2009 issue.
Amidst the news of global market collapse, 11 of the world’s leading ethical banks met for the first time in March to form the Global Alliance for Banking on Values and to develop new strateg
Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary for June.
More than 100 Mennonite pastors and lay ministers released a letter in April to the Mennonite Church USA, calling for the denomination to extend full welcome to gay and lesbian people and inviting
Robert Brenneman’s article (“The Cross and the Crossfire,” April 2009) leaves this reader incredulous.
A grace of green, the underleaf of olive, the birdsong’s cradling. It’s as though

Web Extra

Indigenous theologians Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc, and Raymond Aldred discuss the importance of reviving Native American theology as a way of reclaiming culture.
Ed Spivey Jr., Sojourners magazine's award-winning art director and humor columnist, laments his rapidly shrinking newspaper and considers the future of the 24-hour news cycle.
on the nitty-gritty work of seeking common ground on abortion
The blues can articulate our deepest suffering as broken humans in need of redemption, says Stephen J. Nichols, professor of Christianity and culture at Lancaster Bible College and author of Getting the Blues: What Blues Music Teaches Us about Suffering and Salvation. Listen in as he talks with Sojourners associate editor Molly Marsh about the theological story contained in the blues.