Government (Civil)

[1] In January, the Lutheran Ethicists Network held its annual conference in Washington D.C. before the meeting of the Society for Christian Ethics. The topic of the conference, “Ethics and Democracy,” was chosen because of the location and the times. Two of the three plenary papers are published here in this issue of JLE. The […]

[1] I was invited to ponder the following questions for this essay: What might be the contours of a Lutheran liturgical ethic that shapes our civic engagement? How do worship or prayer equip Lutherans to re-define political power? What roles do liturgy, prayer, and preaching play in fostering, strengthening, or supporting justice and democracy? I […]

A Story from Malaysia: Standing Together Against Violence [1] When I started as a church planter in the year 2000, I never set a goal to be a prophet or social activist. I do not think my Malay-Muslim friend Ali, who was a businessman, not a religious leader, saw himself as my fellow comrade for […]

Introduction [1] Alliances between conservative religious movements and authoritarianism are not historically anomalous, nor uniquely Christian. But with democracy and its legitimacy on the wane in the West,[1] Trumpism’s overwhelming mobilisation of, and sustained appeal to, evangelical Christianity has spurred a re-examination.[2] Trumpism shows that the conservative-religious/authoritarian alliance promises moral and national restoration without the […]

[1] Alarmed at the perceived creep of authoritarianism in the present U.S. Administration, especially at the enforcement tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, this declaration written by a California pastor and modeled on the Barmen Declaration of 1934 in Germany, aims to stiffen and clarify the Church’s public witness as a check against a creeping […]

[1] 2025 marked 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea (325 CE), where bishops gathered—including from Bichvinta in what is now occupied Abkhazia to articulate the Church’s faith. Yet, in the last century, neither together nor separately did the Christian churches, East or West, protect humanity from the Holocaust and the Gulag. Today, the occupying […]

[1] October of every election year is a time when people lament polarity, the trend of people fleeing the middle ground of discussion and debate to attach like iron flecks to one pole or the other as they take sides on political issues   Neighbors put up signs, social media becomes heated, people worry about Thanksgiving […]

[1] There can be little question that doctrinal theology, not to mention “dogmatics,” has become disreputable, not only in the eyes of hostile critics of Christianity, but also to the consciences of many Christians. For ELCA Lutherans in particular, doctrinal theology connotes ecclesiastical policing, conjuring up medieval inquisitions, rancorous disputation, hairsplitting scholasticism, witch hunts, heresy […]

[1] Is it possible for Christians to express earnest and thoughtful disagreement with one another about contested political issues while retaining shared community in Christ? As a matter of actual practice, is it possible to imagine openly disagreeing in a productive way within congregations without vilifying one’s opponents? This is the challenge that Amy Carr […]

Americans are more divided from one another than at any point in recent history. The divisions that we feel individually are even seen in recent research. Even faith communities are not free of sharp polarization.  But that doesn’t have to be the case. In this episode, host Matthew Best talks with Amy Carr and Christine […]