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** Getting to know you
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You are one of the best parts of my job. Okay, that sounds corny now that I’m reading it. But I do feel lucky to have a role that allows me to both help make this magazine and get to know many of its wise and delightful readers. I do this through Editors’ Picks email exchanges, 15-minute Zoom calls (which will return soon when my travel schedule eases up—I’m writing this from the airport!), and the notes you send for our Letters & Comments section. We recently started publishing these online, so don’t miss what some of your fellow readers had to say ([link removed]) in our latest issue!

You are always invited to write us one of these letters to the editor. Just send an email to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Replying%20to%20__________&body=Editors%3A) (and make sure you let me know to which of our articles you’re responding). You have some great options this week for pieces to write letters about. Rebecca Bratten Weiss reviews a book about the perhaps surprising yoga-to-fascism pipeline ([link removed]) . David Dault reflects on the nature of parasocial relationships, whether they be with artificial intelligence or a sad piece of fruit ([link removed]) .

Scroll down for even more great content. Our video of the week features Mac Loftin, who chats with me about the flip side to Christian nationalism ([link removed]) , which may be even more disturbing. Plus more below!

Jon Mathieu
Email me (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Letters%20to%20the%20editor&body=Jon%2C%20) : Have you ever written a letter to the editor, for any media outlet?
(Lunchtime chats temporarily disabled during travel season!)
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** God’s silence, AI in ministry, and more reader feedback ([link removed])
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“Rachel Mann shares her journey with Crohn’s disease in a way that touches on an experience I believe all mature Christian disciples have had in their lives: seeking God’s words but hearing only silence.” – David Coffin

by CC readers
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** What does White Christian nationalism have to do with yoga? ([link removed])
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“Even for those without a stake in yoga, Stewart Home’s book is enlightening. Recognizing elements of fascism in the culture around yoga, with its self-absorption, pseudoscience, penchant for authoritarianism, and embrace of conspiracy theories, can help clarify how fascism finds a toehold in other communities, including Christian ones.”

review by Rebecca Bratten Weiss
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** VIDEO: Christian nationalism’s flip side is nationalist Christianity ([link removed])
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Mac Loftin chats with Jon about a disturbing trend in US Christianity: the desire to prioritize national and ethnic identities over Christian commitments and belonging.
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** In the Lectionary for October 19 (Ordinary 29C) ([link removed])
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Will God’s justice come quickly to the unhoused people who sleep in the park?
by Songbok Bob Jon

Ordinary 29C archives ([link removed])
Get even more lectionary resources with Sunday’s Coming Premium, an email newsletter from the editors of the Christian Century. Learn more ([link removed]) .


** The parasocial power of AI ([link removed])
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“When I think about AI, I find myself drawn more and more to this existential question: Why is it so easy for me to imagine that there is someone on the other end of the wire?”

by David Dault


** More thoughts on private morality ([link removed])
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“I’m back with another column, and I’m still being a killjoy.”

by Phil Christman
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