Democracy

May America amid its sins seek virtue and justice. And may America never be at peace with a world led by tyrants.

A South Korean law that threatens human rights activists with fines of nearly $27,000 or up to three years in prison has prompted international concern about the status of free speech in South Korea and the future of human rights advocacy.

America is audacious and globally indispensable chiefly because of its soaring ideals. And those ideals speak to the world in the measured but constant affirmation of benevolence and good will to all who reciprocate. May it always be good news when a mighty American ship anchors in a distant harbor in times of trouble.

Marc LiVecche, Derryck Green, and Keith Pavlischek discuss a recent poll from Pew Research about the Black church and spirituality in America.

Needless to say, demands for complete justice in this world, humanly rather than divinely enacted, are dangerous, potentially lethal, and inevitably will be disappointed.

It was a natural fit to bring these two theologians, Barth and Bonhoeffer, who lived during the rise of National Socialism in Germany, to think about these theological figures in the midst of these broader debates.

Nations have certain importance, but at the end of the day, the Gospel itself trumps those characteristics.

One flag waving over the rioters at the US Capitol, emblazoned with a tree and the slogan “An Appeal to Heaven,” garnered particular attention as a symbol of so-called “Christian nationalism’s” effort to “take America back for God.”

As the United States continues its political transition, many in the human rights advocacy community anxiously await tangible signs, beyond rhetoric, that the cause of international religious freedom will remain a policy priority for the Biden administration.