In the early days of Occupy Wall Street, I went up to New York to meet some of the young protesters who were camping out in Zuccotti Park.
I met a young man who was part of the planning group that had been meeting since the summer. At most, they were hoping for a threeday protest, and had no idea a movement was about to be born that would stretch around the globe. They were as surprised as everyone else by the chord that was struck, and were in the midst of trying to figure it all out during those first weeks.
Cathleen Falsani, religion writer of the Chicago Sun Times helped the radical priest activist pastor of St. Sabina’s orchestrate a months long faux-Selma racist polarizing of south side parishs over Athletics, where there was none to be found.
The other day I took a break from work to grab coffee with a friend. As we paid for our cups I turned to my friend and said, casually, "What are you doing for Lent?"
We're both interns at Sojourners, a Christian organization, so this wasn't a totally odd question. Her face lit up. "I have so many ideas," she blurted out with enthusiasm. "I want to give up sugar, and credit-cards, and alcohol and I want to stop looking in the mirror. I want to get up early every morning and pray before work and exercise and--"
Falsani said the Santorum-implied dig - that Obama has his own definition of sin outside of traditional Christianity - was wrong. "The answer came in the specific context of having just articulated his Christian faith," she said.
In response, Falsani posted the full transcript of her interview with the president on the Sojourners website, where she now works as Web editor and director of new media.
The Sojourners bloggers are giving up social media for more faith-based reasons. The great upside to giving up social media, they say, is that personal communication blooms.
Sojourners quote Jesuit priest Reverend James Martin who says "Ten minutes in person is worth 10 hours on Facebook."
Sojourners' mission is to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.
Sojourners - publisher of a monthly magazine of the same name - is a voice and vision for social change. Founded in 1971 as a faith-based organization, Sojourners provides an alternative perspective on faith, politics, and culture through its magazine, Web site, e-mail services, media commentaries, and public events. Ecumenical and progressive, Sojourners lifts up the biblical connection between social justice and spiritual renewal. Sojourners nurtures community by bringing together people from the various traditions and streams of the church and also hosts an annual program of voluntary service.