Essays

For the very reasons that religious freedom discourse is powerful, arguments made in its register, especially as they stretch the indeterminacy of religion in the directions of collective rights, should appropriately be on the table in Native peoples’ efforts to protect what is sacred to them.

Praise psalms may fail to raise our political antennae, but when we stop to consider what praise entails, we discover that praise makes the most daring political claims of all.

Churches cannot be party to redemption narratives which exonerate the carceral system.

The familiarity of the 23rd Psalm can blind us to the striking political dimensions of its message: YHWH is the shepherd of the king, protecting him from enemies and granting his kingdom prosperity. Close reflection upon this psalm may also suggest some significant applications within the contemporary world.

PTN seeks essays that explore the confluences of political theology with either particular texts in the genres of speculative fiction or the imaginative and analytic work involved in speculative fiction as a social practice

By auto-jurisdiction, I mean to convey the ways people look past the putative authority and mechanisms of prevailing jurisdictions and, alternatively, invoke the authority of tradition as long-term grounded experience in order to construct and speak forth their legitimacy.

Christ sits on a throne, but it is not a worldly one. Christ’s throne is the true throne of God, which renders all other thrones secondary. Christ’s throne is the only throne that should be worshipped, and Christ the Lamb the only ruler that is worthy of our devotion.

Join a reading group sponsored by the Political Theology Network treating Fanon’s book Black Skin, White Masks.

Like the advocates I follow, I don’t ask what religious freedom really means; I ask what it can mean.

John’s account of Jesus’ commissioning of his disciples differs from that of the Synoptics in illuminating ways. Through an understanding of the relationship between Jesus’ own commission and that of his disciples, we can gain a richer appreciation of the primary character of our political task.

David A. Sánchez, Associate Professor of Early Christianity at Loyola Marymount University, died unexpectedly on Saturday, April 6, 2019. He was a pioneering Latinx Biblical scholar whose impact reached beyond his discipline and included the Political Theology Network. We have asked mentors, colleagues, students, and friends to reflect on his many contributions.

I want to make a case for the possibility of creating a public that can see Native religion, conceive of Native sovereignty, and then, perhaps, support the protection of beloved places under the mantle of religious freedom.