Stories
Two Christianities: Jesus on the Steps of the American Capitol
Julia Robinson Moore is an ordained Presbyterian minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC Charlotte. She teaches courses in African American religion, religions of the African Diaspora, and...
Rebuilding the Broken Walls of American Democracy
Sunday Agang serves as the Provost of Jos ECWA Theological Seminary in Jos, Nigeria. Sunday has been engaged for many years in the work of grassroots peacebuilding in the Middle Belt of Nigeria in his home community and nearby areas, and has reflected on this work in...
A Crisis of Legitimacy: America’s Capitol Riot and the Danger She Faces Now
On January 2, 2021, political violence erupted in the US Capitol. We immediately reached out to Prof. Paul Dumouchel to help us interpret the events. His work is essential to understanding how the modern state claims a monopoly on violence, ostensibly to guarantee the...
Who is Out to Get Us? Examining Our Oppositional Identities
I hate babies—especially my own. When I was still very young, I forgot everything scary about being an infant. Part of growing up is distinguishing yourself from those other little bundles of rage as soon as possible: “I’m not a...
Latest Stories
Two Christianities: Jesus on the Steps of the American Capitol
Julia Robinson Moore is an ordained Presbyterian minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC Charlotte. She teaches courses in African American religion, religions of the African Diaspora, and...
Rebuilding the Broken Walls of American Democracy
Sunday Agang serves as the Provost of Jos ECWA Theological Seminary in Jos, Nigeria. Sunday has been engaged for many years in the work of grassroots peacebuilding in the Middle Belt of Nigeria in his home community and nearby areas, and has reflected on this work in...
A Crisis of Legitimacy: America’s Capitol Riot and the Danger She Faces Now
On January 2, 2021, political violence erupted in the US Capitol. We immediately reached out to Prof. Paul Dumouchel to help us interpret the events. His work is essential to understanding how the modern state claims a monopoly on violence, ostensibly to guarantee the...
Who is Out to Get Us? Examining Our Oppositional Identities
I hate babies—especially my own. When I was still very young, I forgot everything scary about being an infant. Part of growing up is distinguishing yourself from those other little bundles of rage as soon as possible: “I’m not a...
Pessimism & Hope
Humans are always looking for a model —sometimes consciously, usually unconsciously. In conflict situations, it is easy to fall into narratives of violent heroism and the alluring simplicity of good versus bad. I recently spoke with a scholar and activist in the...
Don’t Let the Virus Divide Us: Building Community Amid a Pandemic
I live as an interreligious community-builder. What this means is that I bring together diverse communities of faith and/or practice in various locations around the continent. The groups are multi-leveled, too, designed to reflect not just religious...
Flatten the Curve of Violent Conflict
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WajLku2pkF8&feature=emb_title Over the last several years, many of those working towards a nonviolent future have begun to think of War as a Disease Epidemic. So when the novel Coronavirus outbreak began to reach across the...
Nonpartisanship in an Age of Division
NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE, DEFENSE, AND CIVILIAN PROTECTION People usually associate nonviolent action with civil resistance. Indeed, Swarthmore College’s Global Nonviolent Action Database has chronicled over a thousand of examples of nonviolent civil...
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A Mimetic Invitation
René Girard’s world-changing discovery was deceptively simple: we desire according to the desire of another. This makes friendship, love, and empathy possible…but also results in conflict and violence.
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Am I Scapegoating?
Our 4-step guide to understanding scapegoating in real life, with practical solutions to undo the cycle of rivalry in your relationships.
Mimetic Insights Series
The Raven Foundation’s Mimetic Insights Series with Dr. Chris Haw provides insights into and explanations of mimetic theory and the writings of René Girard.
Watch the series