Editor’s Note: We are between terms, so as we wait for the fall term to start and bring new posts from students, we have a post from a professor and colleague, Ted Vial. Dr. Vial has recently published a book that on the subject of race and religion, which can be found at the website of its publisher, Oxford University Press. By: Ted Vial, Professor of Theology and Modern Western Religious Thought, Iliff School of Theology Headlines and social media... Read more

By: Anonymous I am one of those people that will avoid the election at all costs. I do not seek out any news of the election or its candidates. When I see a post about the election on my Facebook news feed I keep on scrolling. I was over it before it began. I do not consider myself a political person AT ALL. Politics. Ugh. It gives me the heebie jeebies. But the truth is that I did not always... Read more

By: Anonymous The influence and power of the rich, marginalization of the less fortunate, and ambiguity around good and evil are themes that are as relevant in the elections as they were during the times in which the books of the prophets were written. The appointment of kings without official elections, but divine appointment in the writers’ view, forced me to ask myself the question “has anything really changed?” For instance, the idea of kings being divinely appointed reminded me that... Read more

By: Anonymous Many people view the prophets in the Hebrew bible (or Old Testament as Christians refer to it) as fortunetellers, who could foretell the future. Rather, they were people who listened to God’s voice and followed God’s instructions. God instructed the Israelites with the Ten Commandments in same fashion that Jesus did his disciples- that above all else, we should love God and love other people. Jesus cited these at the two greatest commandments. God’s Ten Commandments can be sorted... Read more

By: Anonymous I hate political seasons. I especially hate the presidential political season. I hate the commercials, the debates which are really just arguing sessions between two grown adults who end up acting like four year olds (if any four years old are reading this I apologize for putting political candidates at the same level as you). I hate the media during this time, slamming candidates, slamming other stations and arguing among each other like five year olds (I apologize... Read more

By: Amy Lythgoe This week in Turkey 42 people died and another 239 were injured, some critically, in a coordinated ISIS-linked attack at the Istanbul airport. When asked at a political rally to comment on the event, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump instead asked the inquiring Turkish journalist if he was “friend or foe.” Whether truly confused about the reporter’s intentions, or using this exchange as an opportunity to point out Otherness as synonymous with “dangerous,” Trump voiced the fears... Read more

By: Berry Wilson As I reflected on this week’s readings on Exodus and other law codes in the Hebrew Bible, I could not help but think of election-related issues surrounding national pride, immigration and foreign policy. With respect to national pride (nationalism?) and immigration, the views of the leading presidential candidates remind of the encounters between the Abraham and the Hebrew people and their enemies regarding tensions between historical concepts and beliefs regarding ethnic and cultural purity, on the one... Read more

By: Adama Brown Within the last decade, some of the most egregious acts of gun violence have occurred in this country. College students, professors, young school age children and their teachers, moviegoers, bible study attendants, and those just out to have a good time at a night club have all unexpectedly lost their lives. Between June 2015 and June 2016 there were a total of 34 mass killings in the U.S. that involved gun violence, resulting in a total of... Read more

By: Adama Brown I’ve never ventured to Orlando, Florida. However, at times during the past week, my weeping for the Orlando49, many of whom were queer, black, brown, and Latinx, has been uncontrollable and inconsolable. I didn’t know any of them personally yet I knew all of them. Their pictures are a reflection of me and my queer family. Violence against queer people in general and queer persons of color in particular is not new. Still, the murder of so... Read more

By: Quinton Bobb When an unspeakable horror unfolded in Orlando last week, the presidential candidates were left scrambling, frantically trying to figure out how this act of terror and hatred could find a place in their political ideologies. Candidates that prided themselves on having progressive, hopeful visions for the future found it hard to place these sickening scenes alongside their messages of hope. How could this act of violence, (the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history) make sense in... Read more