Expensive Revealer readers,
With the top of 2022 on the horizon, I discover myself reflecting on the previous 12 months. Whereas this 12 months has been full of a lot to lament – from the overturning of Roe and legislative assaults on transgender People, to the rise in antisemitism and mistreatment of immigrants – I’ve been pushing myself to consider optimistic moments in 2022.
Revealer Editor, Brett Krutzsch
For me, one supply of encouragement has been the Revealer’s development and new initiatives over the previous twelve months. We proceed to see our readership broaden, and I’m happy so many individuals flip to our articles and the experience our writers supply about critically necessary issues. In 2022, we launched a number of endeavors to supply our readers new options. In March, acclaimed faith author Kaya Oakes joined the Revealer to put in writing her “Not So Sorry” column, the place she has addressed the Catholic church’s function in overturning Roe, sexual misconduct at Christianity At present, and extra. In April, we started a three-part collection on “Catholic Horrors,” which compares horror movies and literature with real-life atrocities dedicated by the Catholic church. In October, we revealed a particular challenge on “Trans Lives and Religion,” which gives incisive articles on transgender and nonbinary Buddhists, Sikhs, and Muslims; gender range within the Talmud; how Christians can help transgender adolescents; and what we will be taught from earlier anti-queer laws to make sense of as we speak’s anti-trans payments. And in November, we hosted a particular digital occasion with Bradley Onishi, creator of the favored Revealer article “God is Ultimate Masculinity: Evangelical Visions of Manhood in the Wake of the Atlanta Massacre,” so readers may hear from, and pose inquiries to, Onishi about rising Christian nationalism. In the event you missed it, yow will discover a recording of the occasion here.
Amidst these new initiatives, we continued to publish ten problems with the Revealer and eleven episodes of the Revealer podcast. By each, we coated such various matters as intercourse employees and faith, Black Buddhists and racism, altering stereotypes of South Asians on TV, and Jewish comedy in America. Our present challenge isn’t any completely different and addresses a variety of topics about faith, media, and society.
The December issue opens with Jodi Eichler-Levine’s “Muppet Religion,” the place she makes use of the 30th anniversary of The Muppet Christmas Carol to replicate on the Muppet’s non secular messages and why they’ve remained in style for many years. Subsequent, in “Bodily Autonomy, Reproductive Rights, and the Christian Patriarchy Movement,” Cait West shares her experiences rising up as a “stay-at-home daughter,” the place her father had complete management over selections about her physique, and warns concerning the motion’s rising presence throughout the Republican social gathering. Related to that, in “Single Mothers, Sex, and Christian Nationalism,” an excerpt from Getting ready for Conflict: The Extremist Historical past of White Christian Nationalism—And What Comes Subsequent, Bradley Onishi discusses the function purity tradition performs in evangelical communities and the way single moms turned a rallying level for the Christian proper. Subsequent, we head to a different a part of the world to discover a distinct space of faith and sexuality. In “Sex, Scandals, and Buddhists Monks in Thailand,” Brooke Schedneck and Steve Epstein examine how the quite a few scandals involving Thai Buddhists monks are remodeling Buddhist apply in Thailand. Then, our articles conclude with a concentrate on books. In “The False Messiahs of Space Exploration,” Catherine L. Newell presents a evaluation of Mary-Jane Rubenstein’s new guide, Astrotopia: The Harmful Faith of the Company House Race. And, in “Winter Reading Recommendations,” we provide, with a lot pleasure, our annual record of really helpful books.
The December challenge additionally options the most recent episode of the Revealer podcast: “The Corporate Space Race and Religion.” Mary-Jane Rubenstein joins us to debate why companies and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are invested in area exploration, how Christianity undergirds individuals’s help for colonizing the cosmos, and the way some Indigenous non secular traditions supply teachings that would assist us rethink our relationship to outer area and our planet. You may take heed to the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
As we take inventory of what we now have achieved this previous 12 months, I’m happy by the vary of matters the Revealer has been in a position to cowl about faith’s place on the planet. I’m grateful to everybody who has labored on the articles and podcast episodes. And I’m particularly appreciative to everybody who reads the Revealer and listens to our podcast! We’re dedicated to offering you with the identical high-caliber content material in 2023.
Could the rest of 2022 be an excellent 12 months for all of you.
Yours,
Brett Krutzsch, Ph.D.
