The opening remarks from Eric Hutchinson and Myles Werntz helpfully establish order and justice as central issues in today’s protests and the sixteenth century’s Peasants’ Revolt. Hutchinson declares justice a higher good than order, but order a prerequisite for...
Community
Whose Justice? Which Peace?
Myles Werntz
In 1525, Martin Luther addressed the peasants of Swabia who were protesting (and rioting) in response to unjust government. Was his response reasonable, or did it sacrifice justice for order? Thinking through the issues involved is a valuable way to consider what our response might be to civil unrest today. Here is Part 2 of our three-part series on the Peasants’ War and protests today.
No Justice, No Peace?
E. J. Hutchinson
In 1525, Martin Luther addressed the peasants of Swabia who were protesting (and rioting) in response to unjust government. Was his response reasonable, or did it sacrifice justice for order? Thinking through the issues involved is a valuable way to consider what our response might be to civil unrest today. Start here with Part 1 of our three-part series on the Peasants’ War and protests today.
Solidarity in Forgiveness
Peter Mommsen
Pandemics, whatever else they do, show us we are not alone. “No man is an island,” runs the much-quoted John Donne line, and that never seems truer than when you’re trying to be an island and failing: not keeping six feet of distance when meeting a friend, fighting to...
What is Community?
Seth Kaplan
Community as an ideal gets thrown around a lot these days, but fewer and fewer are experiencing it. It tends to get conflated with “sense of community,” which can emanate from friendships and certain kinds of social networks, the experience of working with a dedicated...
Work After the Pandemic
Heather Zeiger
For many Americans work is the be-all and end-all. The pandemic has forced us to come face-to-face with our dysfunctional relationship with work and in the process re-introduced many of us to the idea of leisure.
The Anabaptist Vision of Politics
John Roth
John D. Roth reflects on why history’s meaning stems from the church, not the state.
When Place Becomes Paramount
Joe Nail, Benya Kraus
“Home” strikes a million chords for each of us: familiarity, pain, loss, roots that go deeper than words. But what happens when a country’s young people choose to return in loving commitment to the place that bore them, believing that their matured agency might come back to help nourish a future for the “forgotten” places?
A Living Memory
Yishai Schwartz
There is a temptation to ignore or minimize the difficult elements of our religious traditions. But when we wrestle with them, as Yishai Schwartz does with the paradoxical commands to the Israelites to both remember and forget, what we discover may enrich our understanding.
Community Resilience in the Wake of Trauma
Lewis Powell, Richard Yale
On November 8, 2018, a massive fire was triggered in northern California and decimated the town of Paradise and surrounding mountain communities in less than half a day. Nearly two years later, as the nation grapples with urgent questions around community resilience in the wake of trauma, two pastoral figures from the area, Richard Yale and Lew Powell, reflect on mission, relationalism, and the civic responsibilities of the church.