Family abolitionists can help us understand why we experience a scarcity of care and help us imagine a society where there is an abundance of care.
Those who commit dehumanizing acts of violence—whether through physical harm, abusive exploitation, or benign neglect—themselves become debased and subhuman, even as they sit in positions of power. Indeed, Micah puts this in sharp relief … where he depicts the corrupt “leaders and rulers” as ravenous animals who cannibalize those who the Lord has placed in their care.
What would change for us if we truly started to see Jesus in each and every creature who comes to our table, as if each were an honored guest?
The Editors of the Political Theologies book series from Bloomsbury Academics seek book proposals.
“If laws are for elders, stories are for children. And the stories that children tell are never general and abstract. They ground us in, or guide us toward, what is really important.”
Rather than read it prescriptively to justify my own identification as a “righteous Christian,” I now read this passage for what it is: a poem that describes the resilience of a people who found true comfort and safety in God, despite attacks from those who would cause them harm.
Currently, for most Brazilians, Christian commensality is an almost impractical challenge: there is no bread or wine, no communion. As Christians, we have a responsibility to ask ourselves what it means to share Christ’s table in this context, even though we still have a long way to go.
The journal Political Theology announces a call for papers for a special issue on “Russia and Christian Nationalism,” guest edited by Regina Elsner and Dmitry Uzlaner. Proposals are due December 15.
“We gestate each other, even daughters and mothers, around the spool of time not the lineal thread.”
Christian nationalism is a form of superstition. It is superstitious because, instead of appealing to the God of all nations, it appeals to a culturally fabricated God for cultural privilege, power, and benefits.
What does the food on Christian tables say about our commitments to justice? How well do our dietary choices reflect the concerns we express for other animals, for the environment, and for one another?
