A couple days ago I got the chance to experience live theater for the first time in quite a while. A friend of ours has been performing in Cry It Out, a moving show about modern motherhood, made even more moving in a venue that seats about 30 people. We were up close and personal to some powerful acting.
One of the themes lurking in the play’s storylines is privilege. Male privilege and White privilege, yes, but also the privilege of anyone who is born into (or marries into) money. In the play, as in life, challenges exist (and persist) for people in any social class—but those with money have many more options for how to respond to crises.
Much of my journey in the last several years has focused on understanding the many forms of privilege society gives me and discerning what that means for how to work toward a more just world. The Century is helpful in this endeavor. We have new content about the effects of privilege on anti-racism work, ideas for how churches can be even more welcoming to autistic adults, and a book review about what the kenosis hymn means for our own forms of power.
“Instead of focusing its efforts on, say, building broad-based coalitions against racial capitalism, antiracism reduced its field of vision and came after ordinary people.”
“When a congregation succeeds in fostering theological curiosity and encouraging a variety of perspectives, it assures me that my differences might be welcomed and celebrated, too.”
“Brandan Robertson’s words may pry open the hearts of those who have been closed to this conversation because they don’t see themselves as privileged.”
“The church closures were prompted by forecasters warning of dangerous cold—or rather, by anxious people accustomed to treating every last meteorological decree as sacred.”
