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Over the past 12 months, Sojourners has been celebrating its 50th birthday. To be honest, it wasnt always clear we would make it this far especially when you think about how we got started and what we have overcome.

In the early 70s, a group of seminarians at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., began meeting to discuss what they saw as the failure of U.S. evangelicals especially white evangelicals to engage with issues of racism, poverty, and the Vietnam war. In 1971, these students, includingJim Wallis, Joe Roos, and Bob Sabath, launched a publication to spread their message to other Christians who might feel the same or could be persuaded to do so. The first issue of their publication, The Post-American, featured a cover image of Jesus Christ wearing a crown of thorns and draped in the American flag, accompanied by the words ...and they crucified Him. As Joyce Hollyday wrote for Sojourners 10th anniversary, the first few issues were typeset by Bob Sabath on an archaic typesetter rented from an underground Chicago newspaper. The group had only $25 to put toward the taskthe price of a days rental. Bob was up all night typesetting while the others proofread.

Sojourners co-founder Bob Sabath at the typewriter.

These seminarians started an intentional community in Chicago and continued to publish The Post-American. After two years, the publication had 1,200subscribers; after five years, nearly 20,000.

In the fall of 1975, the group wanted to bring their countercultural witness to the heart of American empire, so they moved to the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. They marked their new beginning and broadened vision by changing their name to something that evoked their intent to be people of God who are fully present in the world but committed to a different order, or Sojourners. They continued to publish a magazine, live in intentional community, and worship together, but they also organized national peace and justice events and started ministries in their neighborhood, including the Sojourners Neighborhood Center, which provided after-school and summer programs for local children. Sojourners went on to play a key role in anti-apartheid, nuclear freeze, sanctuary, anti-poverty, and peace movements, among others.

Members of Sojourners at a protest against Rocky Flats, a nuclear production site in Colorado that had been linked to land contamination. Photo: Sojourners Archive.

Half a century later, a lot has changed, but we remain committed to inspiring Christians across every tradition to put their faith into action for justice and peace and strengthening faith-inspired movements for change. I count myself as one of those Christians who has been inspired by Sojourners work over the years; I am forever grateful that I made a last-minute schedule change in my first year of grad school to take a class on faith and politics taught by an adjunct professor named Jim Wallis. That course changed the trajectory of my vocation. I am honored to have succeeded him as the president of Sojourners more than 20 years later.

As Ive thought about the future of Sojourners alongside our staff, board, and partners, weve considered some key questions: How do we engage young folks (and older folks!) who areskeptical of both institutions and religion? What will persuade more Christians to put their faith into action and challenge the distorted U.S. cultural and religious narratives? How should we balance the need for prophetic truth-telling with the need to build bridges across ideological and cultural divides?

We consider these and other questions knowing we face considerable challenges to our mission and vision, including anti-democratic politics, culture wars that scapegoat LGTBQ+ youth, a worsening climate crisis, and a resurgent white Christian nationalism to name just a few.

But were clear about the future we want to see: We want to see racial justice and radical inclusion embraced as central tenets of Christian discipleship.

We want to see Christians, as well people who identify as spiritual but not religious on the front lines of protecting democracy; advancing racial, gender, and climate justice; and embracing a commitment to radical inclusion, including an unwavering commitment to defend the dignity and rights of LGBTQ+ people. And we want to replace a politics fueled by fear, hatred, and division with a politics that promotes the common good, uplifts the most vulnerable, and enables everyone to thrive.

A worship service in the early Sojourners community, circa 1979.

Weve often been anchored by Pauls words to the Roman church: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (12:2). Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. offered my favorite remix of this text when he preached that the saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority. I love the way King combines a commitment to being creatively maladjusted to the brokenness and injustice of the worlds patterns with being a transformed nonconformist. In other words, inner transformation inspires and causes us to seek outer transformation. This has been and will continue to be our charism and our theory of change.

At our best, all of us who call ourselves sojourners pursue and advance the biblical call to hesed, tsedeq, and misphat of steadfast love, communal righteousness, and justice. Through the continued work of our publication, mobilizing, and advocacy, Im hopeful that we can help the church and people of faith become a balm that heals many of our most intractable divisions, as well as a bold, prophetic force that changes hearts and minds to pursue the common good and prioritize the disinherited.

I am so grateful to be sojourning with all of you and look forward to doing so for many years to come.

See the article here:
The Theory of Change That Sustains Sojourners - Sojourners

Personal attacks on educators and others working in public education by political extremists have become all too common in recent years and our children are paying the price.

Our children are being used as pawns in the politically motivated culture wars being forced into our nations public schools, and its time for this to stop.

Remember these stories? Last year, Kentuckys 2022 Teacher of the Year, Willie Carver Jr., a gay man, was baselessly accused of invoking controversial materials in the classroom. As the sponsor of his schools Gay-Straight Alliance, he faced an unending storm of homophobic hate and personal attacks. Carver was forced to quit his job serving the children and families of his community after 17 years.

In 2020, in North Texas, James Whitfield of Colleyville Heritage High School became the schools first Black principal. A year later, he was forced to resign despite his expertise and positive impact on students.

Political extremists in the state accused him of promoting divisive concepts simply because he wrote a letter to the community expressing his grief and pain over the deaths of three Black Americans: George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.

The increasing frequency of stories like these is deeply concerning because our children are the ones caught in the middle.

Related: How Moms for Liberty wants to reshape education this school year and beyond

We send our kids to school and entrust their teachers to give them the skills they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond. No matter where you live, its highly likely that finding and retaining high-quality teachers and administrators is a top concern for your childs school district.

But more and more, good teachers are leaving the profession over fear of being harassed or fired or worse just for doing their jobs. Without access to quality educators, our kids will struggle, and the results will be devastating.

Yet as parents and educators work hard to help kids catch up on learning time lost during the pandemic, opportunistic politicians are taking advantage of families frustrations to push their extremist agendas into classrooms nationwide.

As a mother, Im fearful for the future of this country if we cant allow our educators to speak honestly about modern challenges without suffering dire consequences. Our shared goal should be to equip our children with the knowledge and independent thinking skills they need to build a brighter, safer future for us all.

Learning from each other and our shared history helps us confront the issues we face today thats what will keep our country great. We must not let partisan politics get in the way of that.

Thats why my organization, the Campaign for Our Shared Future, recently announced the Educator Defense Fund, a central, rapid-response resource of support services for educators, superintendents and school board members who find themselves under attack by extremists.

Our goal is to create a desk staffed by a team of experts providing communication and legal advice and other resources to help educators withstand and oppose these dangerous attacks. Politicians have no place in our classrooms.

I wish that the Educator Defense Fund wasnt necessary, but unfortunately its desperately needed because extremist politicians continue to attack educators for teaching our kids lessons that dont adhere to the politicians views.

They will continue to defame our most respected community leaders, nonprofit organizers and writers of history. They will do their best to erase American heroes like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks from our history books. They will do all of this in an attempt to assume more power by injecting their divisive agendas into our childrens classrooms and undermining trust in public education and, eventually, our democracy and they are determined. No person is safe from their attacks.

Related: OPINION: Lets listen to what parents, not politicians, really want from their public schools

Luckily for us, combatting these extremists is quite simple, if were willing to work together. We as parents must work as trusting partners with our local schools and communities in order to give our children the best education possible. This battle is winnable if we come together across the political aisle to defeat these extremist invasions and restore healthy debate among families and professionals invested in student success.

For the sake of our countrys future, lets put an end to the culture wars and classroom witch hunts in 2023, and shift our focus back to the needs of our kids.

Heather Harding, Ed.D., is executive director of the Campaign for Our Shared Future, a nonpartisan effort to support high quality K-12 education and preserve access, inclusion and meaningful content in our schools.

This story about culture wars in public education was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechingers newsletter.

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OPINION: Our children are paying the price for the culture wars and ... - The Hechinger Report

WASHINGTON A top White House ally plans to paint Republicans focus on issues around race, gender and sexual identity as part of a GOP strategy to undermine public education as White House officials debate how forcefully to engage in the so-called culture wars dominating the right.

In remarks prepared for the National Press Club on Tuesday, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is expected to say state and local laws that ban certain types of books or restrict what can be taught in the classroom are fueling hostility and fear and arent serving students, parents or teachers, according to an advance copy of her speech provided to NBC News.

What started as fights over pandemic-era safety measures has morphed into fear mongering false claims that elementary and secondary schools are teaching critical race theory; disgusting, unfounded claims that teachers are grooming and indoctrinating students; and pronouncements that public schools push a 'woke' agenda, Weingarten will say. This is an organized and dangerous effort to undermine public schools.

Weingarten will lay out steps that would address issues like mental health, school safety and learning loss from the coronavirus pandemic but also call for others to more forcefully push back against culture wars.

Legislation passed or pending in states across the country is designed to create a climate of fear and intimidation to allow conservative activists to advance an agenda that includes shifting funds for education away from public schools, Weingarten will say.

Our public schools shouldnt be pawns for politicians ambitions, or defunded and destroyed by ideologues, she will say.

A senior White House official who spoke with Weingarten said her remarks focus primarily on education policy.

So far, the Biden administration has launched something of a scattershot response to the GOPs culture war campaign, largely calling out specific bills as they move forward or addressing them in passing at events with relevant communities.

At a Black History Month reception in late February, for instance, both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris indirectly criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for rejecting a proposed Advanced Placement course about Black history for high school students.

Black history is American history, Harris said. And let us all be clear: We will not, as a nation, build a better future for America by trying to erase Americas past.

Biden said at the event: History matters.And Black history matters. I cant just choose to learn what we want to know.We learn what we should know.We have to learn everything: the good, the bad, the truth and who we are as a nation.Thats what great nations do.

The administration also hit back at DeSantis with an op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times this month by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who argued that classroom discussions about America are hampered when politicians try to hijack them to promote their own partisan agendas.

Ironically, some of the very politicians who claim to promote freedom are banning books and censoring what students can learn, Cardona wrote. Parents dont want politicians dictating what their children can learn, think and believe. Thats not how public education is supposed to work in a free country.

A White House official pointed to the op-ed as an example of how the White House plans to engage on the issue however intermittently until Biden fully leans into the debate.

At some point, Biden will weigh in more fully, but as of now the White House sees it as a 2024 conversation and doesnt believe he should be focused on it, the official said. We dont think this is the time, the official said.

Bidens wading into the debate could be seen as his going toe to toe with DeSantis, and the White Houses goal is for the president to appear above that. The official also said polling doesnt suggest it is an issue Biden should give much attention, given it shows Americans top concerns are inflation, health care and their personal economic circumstances.

Im not naive and underestimate the potential of wedge issues in certain races. But the average voter is just so much more wary of bulls--- issues, a Biden adviser said.

Biden last year twice explicitly referred to culture wars, once as he honored the Council of Chief State School Officers national and state teachers of the year and again in his prime-time address from Philadelphias Independence Hall, where he said the nation shouldnt focus on divisive culture wars or the politics of grievance, but on a future we can build together.

Officials say to expect Biden for now to continue to focus on topics like manufacturing and supply chains. On Tuesday, he is launching an administration-wide Investing in America tour at a stop in North Carolina.

Mike Memoli is an NBC News correspondent.

Carol E. Lee is an NBC News correspondent.

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Biden ally to take on school culture wars as White House weighs broader response - NBC News

Drag bans like the one passed in Tennessee rely on fearmongering tropes about protecting children and traditional values.

Tennessee recentlypassed legislationthat bans drag from being performed in public spaces, as well as in the view of children. Although Tennessee is the first state to enact such a ban, it is unlikely to be the last, as others with conservative legislatures arecurrently considering similar action. Some states proposing bans haveexplicitly targeted Drag Story Hour, which involves drag performers reading books to children in public spaces, such as libraries.

So why does the American public suddenly need to be protected from drag?

The answer to this question has deep roots in modern U.S. history.

Tennessees ban on drag is not an isolated event. Rather, it is only the latest volley in the broader culture war between American conservatives and progressives to define the values of the country.

In 1991, sociologistJames Davison Hunteralerted Americans that the nation was in the midst of a perpetual culture war that would continue to have reverberations not only within public policy but within the lives of ordinary Americans everywhere.

Examples of early culture war battles include the 1925Scopes Monkey Trial, in which a Tennessee high school science teacher was prosecuted for violating anti-evolution laws, and the 1962Supreme Court rulingthat deemed school-sponsored prayer unconstitutional.

Culture war conflict came to a head in the 1980s and 1990s, with Senate hearings over the perceived dangers ofheavy metal musicand obscenity inrap music.

Social scientists largely thought theculture wars had recededat the turn of the 21st century. Then, former President Donald Trumps battle cry to Make America Great Again rallied troops back into action.

As Hunter noted in his monumental tome, culture war disputesusually intensify during times of upheaval, such as changes in the countrys demographics and shifts in the distribution of political power. These shifts lead people to wonder exactly whose values, languages, religions, and opportunities are respected or promoted by the government, law, and popular culture.

Not surprisingly, cultural conflict tends to emerge within institutions that have practical implications for Americans lives: family, public schools, popular media, public art, and law.

The first Drag Story Hourtook place in 2015. It was organized by author and queer activist Michelle Tea and the San Francisco-based literacy nonprofit RADAR Productions. Theofficial missionof Drag Story Hour is to celebrate reading through the glamorous art of drag and create diverse, accessible, and culturally-inclusive family programming where kids can express their authentic selves.

Because these performances take place in public spaces and in front of children, they hit upon a couple of important culture war triggers.

First, public performances can spark cultural conflict because they can signify exactly whose values are prioritized over others. Second, art and performances that reach audiences of children are often perceived as a threat to the family as an institution.

For example, in the 1980s, some activists and politicians viewed profane music as a threat to the family. This led to the introduction ofparental advisory labelsto identify music deemed inappropriate for children.

As social scientists who study gender and culture, we recentlyanalyzed reactions to Drag Story Hourthat were posted on social media forums.

In our analysis, we found that many grievances centered on institutions and values crucial to the culture wars.

We found that conservatives reminisced about a time when their values were dominant in American society and rehashed old culture war narratives about threatened children.

They specifically expressed nostalgia for a time when American culture was anchored by conservative values, and progressive views existed on the periphery of public life. As one forum member lamented, When I was a kid, the librarians were nice Christian ladies and there was an American flag outside. My current public library [has] scary levels of liberal posters and talks.

Some conservatives also used rhetoric reminiscent of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s by claiming that drag performers were satanic pedophiles who sought to recruit, groom, and sexually abuse children. Others argued that parents who take their children to Drag Story Hour should be jailed or lose their parental rights.

In our view, its no accident that Tennessees ban on drag specifically targets drag performed in front of children.

Emphasizing threats to children is a well-established strategy for conveying the decline of American culture and values. As sociologists Joel Best and Kathleen Bogle have noted, adults oftenproject their anxieties and fearsconcerning a perceived disintegration of traditional norms onto younger generations, whom they believe need to be shielded.

In the 1970s, anti-gay activist Anita Bryant launched her Save Our Children campaign. Claiming that gays and lesbians were recruiting children to their cause,she successfully pressed voters to opposeanti-discrimination statutes.

And in the 1980s,fears over changing family structures, such as rising divorce rates and an influx of working mothers, fueled a moral panic thatday care staffers were ritualistically abusing children.

Almost half a century later, fears regarding advancements in LGBTQ+ rights haveproduced legislation restricting discussions of gender identityin schools and stoked claims that drag performers are satanists who terrorize children.

The deployment of these well-worn narratives is unlikely to end with legislation like Tennessees drag ban. Rather, it will continue as long as conservatives and progressives battle to define American values.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Drag Bans Are Rooted in Conservative Culture Wars - YES! Magazine

Response

18:42

by Eric Kaufmann

Studies show a generational split on attitudes to culture war issues in the West. Credit: Getty

Conservatives are losing the culture war and its because they are being divisive, argues John Burn-Murdoch in an interesting FT piece today.

The underlying message seems to be that conservative parties should go with the radical progressive flow in order to woo the next generation of voters, even if that means ushering in a wholesale change to the culture that most voters dont want. This is a classic of the its inevitable, so submit progressive neoliberal genre, which is deeply misleading.

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The problem with the argument begins with terminology. Counted as culture war issues are immigration and gay rights. But gay equality and marriage rights are old battles long won by liberals. Immigration is a live political issue, but reaches back to the late 80s in Europe and late 90s in Britain. This is not what is meant by culture war.

Instead, the term culture war refers to a new rift between cultural socialism, which pushes for equal outcomes and emotional safety for identity groups; and cultural liberalism, which cleaves to free speech, due process, equal treatment without regard to race, gender or sexuality, and objective truth.

A second set of objections are by posed another group, including but not limited to cultural conservatives, which wants to preserve and protect works of national heritage: statues of Winston Churchill or original names like Edinburghs Hume Tower. They dont want children being taught that white people or Britain are distinctively racist or that the British Empire is uniquely evil. They wish to defend literature such as the Greco-Roman canon or Roald Dahl from being bowdlerised. They seek to protect the traditional meaning of words like woman or the gendered syntax of languages like Spanish. These are but a few examples, but they illustrate the breadth of changes that have been taking place across the culture over the past decade.

Its also worth being clear about who started this culture war. While it is true that conservatives have played their part in deepening culture war divisions, it is the progressive Left who have been doing this kind of thing for far longer. Indeed, they have been promoting partisan ideas in schools and companies for decades. But when the Right resists this onslaught, be this at school board meetings or in national politics, thats considered to be a culture war.

Make no mistake, cultural socialism is unpopular, splitting the Left while uniting the Right. It is a perfect wedge issue for conservatives to go after and they would do well to raise the profile of these issues in electoral politics the way Ron DeSantis has done in Florida or Glenn Youngkin did in Virginia. Research has shown the balance of opinion between cultural socialist and cultural liberal views on a suite of 20 culture war questions. Overall, opinion leans about 2 to 1 against the cultural socialist position.

One area where the FT article is correct is that young people differ a lot from the old on cultural questions. This holds as much for culture war issues as for immigration. For instance, most under-35s favour a colour-conscious approach to race while the vast majority of over-50s prefer a colourblind position. As many under-25s think J.K. Rowling should be dropped by her publisher as support her but only 5% of over-50s back the authors cancellation.

This generational trend toward woke moral absolutism is a bad sign for liberalism. If conservatives do not address these issues, then they really will be consigned to the political wilderness.

More:
Don't blame conservatives for the culture wars - UnHerd