This email list enjoys readers from far and wide—I’ve heard from some of you in Canada, the UK, Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere. So I’m sorry that my reflections are occasionally US-specific. But yesterday, when many of my neighbors were celebrating our country’s ideals or myth of freedom, just 15 miles from my apartment a July 4 parade was decimated by a gun attack. Six of the people who had gathered to eat candy and sing songs were slaughtered.
Part of the challenge and the urgency of our work here at the Century is that it’s not just politics or the military or gas prices that are out of whack; public discourse itself seems to be in shambles. For instance, we recently published a column by Peter Marty that strongly critiques some people’s devotion to the Second Amendment. While the piece is provocative, we never expected the response on Facebook (which you can read here): at the time of this writing, the post has 277 comments. Suffice it to say they are not all thoughtful or respectful.
We also receive plenty of enriching feedback, some agreeing and some disagreeing with our writers’ stances. This often comes in the form of letters to the editor. I encourage you to send in your responses to articles by emailing [email protected]. We’re also creating new ways for you to encounter our articles, like this delightful video chat I had with writer Elizabeth Felicetti about disability justice in the church and her review of Amy Kenny’s book My Body is Not a Prayer Request.
Email me: Where and how do you engage with people who disagree with you on important issues?
“To desacralize the altar of the Second Amendment, or at least slow the blood ritual associated with it, it’s time we look at amending the Constitution.”
“The anti-abortion movement won in the courts because it is aligned out of principle and deep affinity with big employers, extractive industries, and social hierarchies. Its success has come in perfect tandem with theirs.”
“We’ve heard for decades from skeptics who are convinced that public anti-poverty programs simply don’t work—that they’re inefficient and ineffective. But at least with the child tax credit and universal free lunches, such an objection has now been plainly proved wrong.”
