Warnock Wins, Cal Academics Strike, Afghans Still Not Settled

KTF Weekly Newsletter

Hey everybody,  

There is no shortage of information coming at us every day with invitations to engage. Rather than getting swept up with the tide, here at KTF Press, we try to ask ourselves each week, how is Jesus coming to us? And during this season of Advent, as we contemplate Christ’s coming to earth, this is the ultimate question. Engaging with media where the narratives of those at the margins are moved to the center can bring us closer to God. So we hope these podcasts, articles, and threads do just that.  

So with that, here are our resources for the week!  

Jonathan’s recommendations: 

• This week, Slate’s What Next podcast followed Lila and Bassir who are Afghan refugees navigating America’s system of scant support. I didn’t know that the United States has no federal resettlement agency for refugees and that this vital process basically gets outsourced to people like you and me. I didn’t know that refugees can generally only access housing that is available without a social security number, security deposit, or credit check often placing the most vulnerable people in the harshest conditions. I didn’t know that three months of financial support is all the United States government offers to new arrivals. Scripture invites us many times to care for the widow, the orphan, the fatherless, and the foreigner. They are at the center of God’s call for justice. But often, after the lens of the media moves on from a conflict or crisis, our care and concern moves on as well. And for the thousands of refugees that come to the United States annually like those from Afghanistan after our disastrous exit last year, sustained support is desperately needed. Pray for our neighbors from other nations, love them whenever possible, and advocate for a better way.  

• Last week, the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, announced a plan that would allow severely mentally ill people to be forcefully taken into custody off the streets of the city. With the cold winter approaching; the fear of rising crime, especially in the subways; along with the deluge of complaints from residents and commuters; there is a perfect storm that will allow what could be a devastatingly cruel policy to take effect. I am all for policies that prioritize the well-being of the poor and marginalized. In this case, I fear the priority is the comfort and ease of those who would rather not encounter the fallout of the porous safety net we have to care for the poor and mentally ill rather than creating comprehensive, compassionate care for those struggling to hold it together. Please pray for the poor and unhoused of New York City, the officials charged with caring for them, and their neighbors who encounter them every day. May His kingdom come and His will be done in the lives of all parties involved.  

• This advent reading from assassinated Saint Óscar Romero reminds us of just who Jesus is, why He came, and what the Kingdom of God means in the face of oppressive poverty, state violence, and pervasive hopelessness. This outspoken Salvadoran priest was a champion for the poor prior to his murder while offering mass. His enduring words call us to be joyful, hopeful, prayerful, and forever aware of those who are impoverished, of our own poverty, and of everyone’s need for the Jesus who came through Mary to the whole world. I encourage you to read, contemplate, and pray as this modern-day martyr invites us to do.  
   

Suzie’s recommendations: 

• This week, the US Supreme Court heard arguments in defense of religious liberty regarding the case of a wedding website designer in Colorado who wishes to uphold her right to deny service to gay couples. Father James Martin, S.J. is a Jesuit priest and writer and a tremendous resource for the church on LGBTQ issues. His “hot take” on the recent SCOTUS case delivered via Twitter proceeds along similar lines to arguments that Sy has made in the past. Father Martin asks the question why the issue of religious liberty in the United States is so often linked to the right to refuse to serve the LGBTQ community specifically. His closing statement is direct and apt, “Religious liberty is an essential element of our laws. But it should not be used [as] a fig leaf for homophobia.” Religious liberty should be about exercising our right to love God and neighbor, not about providing a blow horn for our discrimination couched in disapproval. 

• On Tuesday, many voters across the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief as Raphael Warnock defeated Trump-backed challenger Herschel Walker in the Georgia midterm run-off elections. As writer and Shake the Dust guest Danté Stewart reflects in this New York Times op-ed, that race represented more than further securing Democrats’ control of the Senate. It epitomized the height of “white ingratitude” as white voters flocked to support a Black candidate propped up to work against the interests of his own community, and to oust a Black incumbent who has worked tirelessly with integrity to further an agenda motivated by his deeply-rooted faith. That white Christian voters would largely align themselves against a candidate like Warnock is even more egregious. This was not about disempowering “baby killers.” It was about white power.  

• As those closest to me know, I can royal watch with the best of them (this is a confession, not an endorsement). But our nation’s disproportionate news coverage of the comings and goings of the royal family come at a cost. Mainly, at the cost of serious journalism focused on the things that actually matter. This blog post by journalist Adam Johnson reveals that within the past three weeks British royal visits received 5,668% more mainstream news airtime than “the largest academic strike in US history.” In fact, the movement of around 48,000 academic workers in California has garnered little if any mainstream media attention at all. While folks are in the streets demanding a living wage, news platforms like ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN would rather focus on the glitz and glamor of empire. Earning a living wage is a human right. Laboring in dignity is a human right. When those things are denied, it is a travesty, and when they are demanded those voices must be heard. After all, the kingdom of God is like a vineyard where all people who work receive a full wage, not a plantation where the master extracts the maximum amount of labor for the least amount of compensation.  

Thanks for reading, and just in case you missed our feature essay by Jesse Wheeler, click here! We’ve got another coming to you tomorrow!  

The KTF team