The Obsidian Mirror: Mexican Archaeology and Literature in Dialogue
Narratives by Mexican authors focus on combining and confronting the different eras of our history, while poetry captures singular moments that are both archaic and recent. By Juan Villoro
Featured
‘My Dreams Will Never be the Same’
Neris Gonzalez’s love of her community and faith in a just God enable her to keep pushing for the Salvadoran generals responsible for her imprisonment and torture to be held accountable. By Julia Lieblich
Oases of Friendship
Hannah Arendt conceived of thinking as an expression of “the visiting imagination,” in which one puts oneself in the place of another and sees the world from a displaced standpoint. By Michael D. Jackson
God and Caesar: A Never-ending Competition
The preconceived idea that modernity is based on the separation of religion and politics prevents us from observing their inherent mutual influence. By Jocelyne Cesari
Dialogue
The Dharma of Racial Justice
Mindfulness can help us lean into our subjective, embodied experiences of race, racism, and white supremacy so we might begin to disrupt these harmful legacies. By Rhonda V. Magee
Carrying Guns to Synagogue?
Increasing anti-Semitic attacks against synagogues and Jewish centers have led some rabbis to advocate for stronger security measures. By Robert Israel
Paying Homage to the Wounds
After serving in Afghanistan, a veteran struggles with trauma and wrestles with his faith, but volunteering at the Kalighat Home for the Dying connects him to a deeper truth. By Marcus Seymour
Listening to Silence
Reflecting on John Cage’s famous composition and how silence can be a form of care. By Jacqueline Houton
In Review
Books
Religion, Economics, and the Stories We Tell
Benjamin Friedman’s Religion and the Rise of Capitalism challenges scholarly truisms by showing how a set of Protestant theological claims influenced economic thought and practice. By Devin Singh
Books
Calvin, Capitalism, and Predestination
Benjamin Friedman’s Religion and the Rise of Capitalism prompts us to consider the conditions under which the idea of divine chosenness might appear in our social landscapes. By Michelle Sanchez
Syllabus
Selected Works of Twentieth-Century Jewish Theology
A reading list from Jon D. Levenson’s course.
Film
Without Why: Religion without Purpose in Soul
Pixar’s Soul asks fundamental questions about existence and challenges the idea that life is reducible to purpose, religious or otherwise. By Matthew C. Kruger
Books
Encounters with the Possible
A Q&A with Charles Hallisey on his new book, Poems of the First Buddhist Women: A Translation of the Therigatha. By Sarah Fleming
Poetry
Two Poems
Sharing Heat
Cornerstones
By Jonathan Rowe
Two Poems
Reformation
Sonnet for Andrea
By Daisy Bassen
Perspective
Trauma, Friendship, and Awakened Possibilities
This issue is not for the faint of heart, and yet I find the pieces here to be uplifting because they provide us with models and methods for endurance, reparation, and the awakening of new possibilities. By Wendy McDowell
Repose
‘It Felt Like a Community Was On My Wall’
A Q&A with Artist Ellen Elmes, about painting portraits of the 23 victims of the 2019 El Paso shooting. By Wendy McDowell
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