“God Hates Bad Parties”: Sojourners Strikes Again

 As many of you know, I have been reading Sojourners magazine since its very first issue. The current issue is No. 05 of Vol. 55, so that means I have been reading it for 55 years now. That first tabloid-type magazine came out in the fall of 1971 as The Post-American (the original name), when I was in the U.S. on our first missionary “furlough” from Japan.

“America Isn’t Exceptional” is the theme of the June 2026 issue of Sojourners, and Betsy Shirley, the current Editor in Chief, begins her introduction to this new issue with this powerful paragraph.**

My four-word summary of the book of Amos: God hates bad parties. Aiming serious prophetic fire at powerful people who host showy religious festivals instead of attending to the needs of the poor, telling truth, or acting with integrity, God doesn’t mince words: “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies” (5:21).

In that introduction, Shirley noted how the very first issue in 1971 showed Jesus wrapped in an American flag (which is shown in the sidebar) and how founding editor Jim Wallis “didn’t mince words” when he wrote,

Institutional Christianity in America has allowed itself to become a conservative defender of the status quo, a church largely co-opted and conformed to the American system in direct disobedience to Biblical teaching (Romans 12:2).

Little did Jim know then how bad things would get after 2015 with a faux Christian becoming President and a mass of MAGA Christians, members of a “cultic system” (such as I wrote about in my June 9 blog post), wanting to establish a theocracy in the U.S., or at least full-scale Christian nationalism.

“‘Liberty and Justice for All’ is Still an Ideal Worth Celebrating.” These are words emphasized by Adam Russell Taylor, who is the current president of Sojourners. He begins his lead article by posing this question: “How do we commemorate the 250^th birthday of the United States while resisting the extremes of either hubris and triumphalism or apathy and self-loathing.”

We certainly see the 250^th anniversary of the nation’s founding cloaked in hubris and triumphalism by the current POTUS, who will likely boast that the U.S. is the greatest nation in the history of the world led by the greatest president in history. His narcissism seems unbounded, but more and more of his own supporters are now finally realizing that the “the emperor has no clothes.”

Still, according to ChatGPT, Trump has promised to give a “Trump Rally” speech on July 4, which will likely emphasize American exceptionalism and patriotism; the 250^th anniversary as a historic milestone; his administration’s accomplishments; themes of national strength, military power, and economic success; and criticism of political opponents.

And ChatGPT adds, “Whether he directly claims to be the greatest president is uncertain, but a speech that presents his presidency as uniquely successful would be consistent with his past style.”

On June 18, Robert Reich (about whom I wrote in my previous blog article), posted Knave or Fool? Traitorous or Demented? on his Substack account. He declared,

Trump is a master conman. But he’s also off his rocker—and part of the response to him and his bonkers claims must also be to emphasize that he’s out of his mind as well as responsible for the havoc America now finds itself in—the failed foreign adventures and the affordability crisis—and therefore must not be trusted.

Still, as Taylor concludes, “One of the best 250^th birthday presents we can give is to counter bombastic, nationalistic celebrations by practicing civic renewal. We can help our nation pursue ‘liberty and justice for all,’ an ideal still worth celebrating.”

The last page of each Sojourners issue is an article of (sarcastic) humor. Ed Spivey Jr. writes there that “if the Founding Fathers came back today, they’d be pleased to see that wealthy white guys still run our nation. (That’s the way it should be,’ Ben Franklin might say.) Spivey concludes,

It’s doubtful England would take us back after all this time (we’d have to replace that tea). If they did, our government could run under the watchful eye of a wise and benevolent king. It looks like we have the king already (just ask him), but we might have to wait a generation for the wise and benevolent part.

       So, how does “All hail Donald Jr.” sound?

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** Editor Shirley graduated from Yale Divinity School in 2015 and has been a full-time staff member at Sojourners ever since. She became the editor of Sojo.net in 2022 and has been the editor-in-chief of the magazine since September 2024.

Reading Robert Reich, a “Wee Little Man”

“Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man” is a children’s song that those of us who grew up going to Sunday School sang and taught our children to sing. This blog post is about Robert Reich, who is a contemporary “wee little man” and also one of the most articulate political pundits in the U.S. today. (Note that he pronounces his name Rike, rhyming with bike and like.) 

Reich with Clinton in the 1990s

Robert Bernard Reich is a political economist, professor, author, and commentator who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton (1993~97) and also served in the Ford and Carter administrations. He was named by Time magazine as one of the ten most effective cabinet members of the 20^th century. Next week (on June 24), he will celebrate his 80^th birthday. 

Reich was born with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, also known as Fairbank’s disease. That is a rare genetic disorder that affects bone growth and results in short stature. Reich stands 4 feet 11 inches tall, so he is 9 or 10 inches shorter than the average White U.S. male of the same age.

As Reich himself explained to NPR in 2023, his shortness is a kind of deformity in which the cartilage at the end of one’s bones that normally adds additional bone during growth simply doesn’t do its job. But that deformity didn’t keep him from doing his job as a professor at Harvard (1981~92), Brandeis (1997~2005), and the University of California, Berkeley, from 2006 to 2023.

Last year Reich published Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, referring both to his stature and to a country that he thinks has fallen short of its ideals.

Every day, I read four political pundits, the posts by Heather Cox Richardson, Reich, Joyce Vance, and Paul Krugman. Richardson usually posts after midnight, so I read her early every morning. Reich usually posts at least once every day, and I generally read one of his articles daily before noon also.  

I don’t know why it is, but so many public intellectuals, such as the ones just mentioned except for Richardson, are Jewish by heritage and identity but not by religious observance. This is clearly the case with Reich. His essays often echo the Hebrew Bible’s twin imperatives of justice and righteousness, such as those found in Isaiah 1:17 and Amos 5:24.

I find the posts by the scholars/commentators just mentioned are more beneficial than the curated articles in The New York Times and/or The Washington Post, of which I have cancelled my subscription as I no longer want to read a newspaper with a billionaire determining its editorial content.

In addition to reading Richardson’s daily newsletters, I also encourage you to read Reich’s Substack posts, which are also available at no charge. As one who is no longer receiving a paycheck from some institution, Reich can (and does) say what he thinks is most important, letting the chips fall where they may. Even though he is a “wee little man,” he certainly stands tall.

Reich’s June 16 Substack post is especially noteworthy. It is titled “Friendly advice I refuse to take.” (I encourage you to click on the link and read the entire article.) Next Wednesday will be Reich’s 80^th birthday, and the “friendly advice” was from an old friend of about the same age. Reich said he “lost it” when his friend told him, “You’ve got to slow down.”

The “wee little man” retorted, “We’re in a national emergency!” So, “That’s exactly why I’m not slowing down!” He goes on to say, “I’m doing what I do because—and as long as—I’m still able to.”

I am about eight years older than Reich, and to be honest, I am thinking about “retiring” in two years when I turn 90. But that is not definite at this point. Maybe I will keep on doing what I am doing, which is mainly writing three blog articles each month, as long as I’m still able to do so.

Gordon Cosby (1918~2013), the co-founder of the Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., was widely regarded as one of the most influential pastors of the 20^th century. He is quoted as saying that “a minister never retires; we are simply reassigned to new forms of service.”

For Cosby, vocation was never a job description but a lifelong posture of availability—an openness to whatever work love requires next. Even in his nineties, long after most clergy had stepped away from public ministry, Cosby kept showing up in small, quiet ways: listening, blessing, encouraging, and standing with those on the margins.

So, like Cosby did and Reich is seeking to do, I want to keep on seeking to do good and trying to write well for as long as I am able.

[Note: Research and writing assistance was provided by Claude (Anthropic) A.I.]

Is Conservative Evangelical Christianity a Cult?

Although I prefer to write about broader topics, it seems like I keep getting drawn back to issues I was dealing with when I wrote the first edition of my book Fed Up with Fundamentalism (2007). I have shifted to using the term conservative evangelical rather than fundamentalist, but the terms are basically identical—and problematic. 

What is a Cult? According to Claude, scholars “have defined a cult as a religious group exhibiting some or all of the following characteristics: a charismatic leader who exercises total control; an apocalyptic vision; isolation from society; an emphasis on transcendent spiritual experience; and rigid rules governing members’ behavior.”

Central to this definition is the element of coercion: the assumption that some form of coercive persuasion or mind control is used to recruit and retain members by suppressing their ability to reason, think critically, and make choices in their own best interest. It is that understanding of cult that I am considering in this article.

“White evangelicals: An American cult” is a piece I recently came across.* Edmond Davis, the author, states that White evangelical support for Donald Trump “has evolved into something disturbingly cult-like, forming a theology not rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ but in the gospel of white grievance, dominionism and nostalgia for an imagined, morally superior past.”

I encourage you to read that perceptive essay (available here), which lists many “major drivers” behind the formation of the White evangelical cult. For those of you who are interested in this subject, I also recommend reading the July 2022 article “Escaping the Evangelical Cult” by Keith Giles (see here).

Despite my original intention to write much more about those two provocative pieces, for the rest of this article I am switching to sharing a meaningful discussion I had with Claude about the matter at hand.

Conservative evangelical Christianity is more a cultic system than a cult, as the latter is generally understood. That difference, which Clyde pointed out, is quite helpful. While Davis’s article, referenced above, uses the word cult, his primary meaning is that of a cultic system. There certainly isn’t just one “cult leader.”

Jim Jones and Peoples Temple (Jonestown, 1978) and David Koresh and the Branch Davidians (Waco, 1993) are two of the widely known cults of the past. And although not known broadly, the earlier Alamo Christian Foundation, begun by Tony Alamo in 1969, was a similar type of cult.

Alamo (1934~2017), who was born in Missouri, presented himself as a born-again evangelical street preacher, amassing followers through communal living, frugality, and total obedience—all while exploiting members financially. He died while serving a 175-year prison sentence for raping young girls, whom he called his “child brides.”

Certainly, conservative Christianity can’t be considered a cult in the same way those infamous cults were. So, let’s look at some of the ways evangelicalism can legitimately be called a “cultic system.”

Conservative evangelical Christianity promotes a “silo” mentality. According to Claude, even for conservatives who would never consider joining a dangerous cult such as those mentioned above, “conservative evangelical culture tends to function as an epistemic silo—a closed information environment that systematically limits the range of experiences, friendships, and ideas available to its members.” It that sense, it is a type of “cultic system.”

A lifetime inside that “silo” typically means that one’s friends are overwhelmingly people who share the same theological assumptions, political commitments, and cultural reference points. Friendships with those who are “different” are often subtly discouraged, and when such do occur, they are often framed as “mission” rather than mutual relationship.

For many conservatives, Christian radio, evangelical publishing, a curated set of approved authors and speakers are normative. The “gatekeeping” is real; for example, certain books simply don't appear on the church bookstall, and certain questions don’t get raised from the pulpit.

Christian schooling for most and homeschooling for some is specifically designed to present an alternative epistemic universe, one in which, for example, young-earth creationism, American exceptionalism, and traditional gender roles are not debatable positions but settled facts.

I know about that sort of silo mentality, because that was my basic position when I was in high school, and I first went to a Baptist college, not realizing then that I was part of a “cultic system.” It took many years before I began becoming a progressive Christian, which I now seek to be.**

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  * That article was posted by Global Baptist News on May 14. Edmond W. Davis, a retired college history professor, was the author. He taught at Arkansas Baptist College, a private, Baptist-affiliated institution recognized as a historically Black college/university (HBCU). The article identifies him as a HBCU leader.

** If you want to read, or re-read, my blog post about being a progressive Christian, here is the link to that May 11 article: https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2026/05/why-i-am-progressive-christian.html

Note: Research assistance provided by Claude (Anthropic) A.I.