Articles
- Theodore McCarrick Still Won't Confess – Ruth Graham, Slate – Theodore McCarrick was once "the most powerful Catholic priest in America" who hung out with presidents and popes alike. Then, when he was accused by several young men and boys of using his power to sexually abuse them, Church authorities were left with a dilemma: let him stay in Washington, DC, where reporters barely five feet tall could knock on his door, or move him elsewhere. They chose to move him to a small town in Kansas, where Ruth Graham (height unknown) went to knock on his door to ask him directly if he had committed the crimes he has been accused of – and to learn how a small town has tried to show mercy to a man who has not confessed.
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Who's Afraid of Social Justice? – Brian Djikema, Comment – The Bible’s demands for justice, undeniably social in nature, have led some Christians to overemphasize the role of the Church in working for social justice. The overreaction to social justice, however, is just as harmful and allows only one side to define the terms of the debate while neglecting a crucial area of obedience to God’s Word. The best way to reconcile the tensions we feel is to acknowledge Christ’s lordship over all the earth and begin our social and political activism from the endpoint of all history.
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I Gooped Myself – Amanda Mull, The Atlantic – Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness brand, Goop, has attracted attention for its farfetched claims about reviving one’s reproductive organs with fancy rocks. But people (mostly women) buy Goop products because Goop sells them more than weird-smelling vitamins and overpriced crystals: affirmation of the truth that traditional medicine has often neglected women’s health and affirmation of the lie that women’s anxieties about their bodies can be overcome by buying stuff. It only took Amanda Mull $1,279 in Goop merchandise expensed to her work account to reveal that a luxury lifestyle brand will not fix the problems that attend women’s bodies, especially poor women’s bodies.
- What Majority-World Missions Really Looks Like – Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, Christianity Today – More and more missionaries are coming from Asia, Africa, and South America, working across the world to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed. These missionaries find some things easier than their Western counterparts (like working in honor-shame cultures) while other aspects are harder (like racial discrimination against darker-skinned missionaries). This movement is bringing passion and innovation to the world of missions.
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Other
- What Mass Shootings Mean for Loners and Youth Ministry – Morgan Lee, Ted Olsen, & Andrew Root, Quick to Listen – We’ve recommended Christianity Today’s Quick to Listen podcast before, but this episode about mass shooters is really worth a listen. It quickly moves from the narrow question of how churches can minister to angry young men to how youth ministry has shifted over the years and the consequences that has had for evangelism and discipleship. Originally meant to bring in outcasts of all stripes into the church and show them the love of Christ, youth groups are now at best doing the discipleship work that belongs to the entire church and at worst keeping kids sequestered away from mature adults to entertain them while the adults get a different form of entertainment.
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Letters
We always love receiving your letters, suggested articles, or rants about why vaginal jade eggs are actually Social Justice. Knock on our virtual door by sending emails to ricoemergency+letters@gmail.com
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