My friend Elizabeth is getting her Masters in Divinity at Yale. As part of her job, she interviewed John Thomas of the Unitied Church of Christ about the role of religion in addressing social injustice. I am posting her response to her interview (which deals with the topic in terms of her own faith (Mormonism)), and then responding to the ever-controversial religion and politics topic with my own essay. It is a long essay, as always, but some of the things I say in there will respond to or clarify or apologize for certain positions I have taken in other posts, so read on if that interests you.
Elizabeth:
Yesterday was an exciting one for me. As part of my campus job writing what amounts to AP copy, I got to interview Reverend John Thomas, general minister of the United Church of Christ, before he spoke to the Yale community. He titled his speech “The Future of the Prophetic Voice in the Ecumenical Church.” Rev. Thomas amended this title to read “After Seven Years,” based on a letter Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote entitled “After Ten Years.”
Bonhoeffer wrote the letter in December 1942 to his co-conspirators trying to put an end to war and to overturn Hitler. Rev. Thomas said that the letter was also Bonhoeffer’s attempt to speak to himself.” He was in a place of extremity, dealing with the deaths of the Jews he was trying to save a Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Are We of Any Use, Church and State, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, religion, social justice, United Church of Christ
