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Essays

The Cost of Dissent

Jesus’ parable identifies chosenness in those who resist, dissent, protest and refuse the invitations of the empire.

Remembering Vattimo

On September 19, 2023, the philosopher Gianni Vattimo died in Turin. What follows is collection of reflections on Vattimo’s legacy for political theology.

Unnatural Futures and Hope for our Common Home

The call to abolish the family sounds bad – really bad; then again, so does the end of the world. In a moment rife with talk of “environmental apocalypse,” the position of negativity and non-futurity assigned to queer people in Catholic environmentalism becomes a starting point for rethinking the role of “the family” in a genuinely integral and sustainable ecology.

CFP: Special Issue on “Marx and Revolution”

The journal Political Theology announces a call for papers for a special issue on “Marx and Revolution,” guest edited by Sara-Maria Sorentino and Mikkel Flohr. Proposals are due December 15.

<strong>Black Childhood and Religio-Politics in Historical Perspective</strong>

How have ideas about race, gender, and sexuality shaped the historical construction of U.S. American childhood? What can histories of African American childhood teach us about the intersection of religion and politics?

Sabbath as Freedom

The Sabbath commandment is a word of freedom and of resistance to an economic system that is destructive to ourselves and our planet.

Creation, Vengefully Transfigured

Pope Francis suggests that trans people are destroying the world. Perhaps he might learn something if we did.

<strong>School Education and Divine Violence</strong>

“Thinking about school education through Walter Benjamin’s concept of divine violence, we argue that schools must be defended not despite but precisely because of the violence they encompass.”

Power, Freedom, and the Humility of Christ

In this hymnic account of Jesus’ person and mission, his preference for and service to others becomes a paradigm for faithful human existence. God’s solidarity with the human race discloses the truth of both power and freedom.

Is nature taking its revenge on us?

There’s an understandable temptation to think that climate disaster is nature’s way of rebelling against the Anthropocene. But this is a dangerous way of thinking we should ward against.

The Laborers are Many, the Jobs are Few

If we are willing to listen to those standing around without work, however, a new possibility emerges. Why are they standing around without work? “Because no one has hired us,” they reply (Matthew 20:7). They aren’t lazy, they’re desperate enough to stand around all day waiting for work. The laborers are many; the jobs are few.

Catholic Re-Visions Call for Content

Catholic Re-Visions welcomes proposals for its next slate of content. How might we talk of “Catholicism,” being attentive to the past, while engaging with the messy present, to encounter a future that is not yet known?