The Word in Black and Red Podcast

so great to live in a time when Republicans would rather allow a new and illegal war because they’re embarrassed to admit their President is a paedophile

There is yet to be a single legitimate criticism of China that is not a projection of American history or current politics. I'm not in favor of any state; but when we're arguing about the lesser of evils, well,

Call me a raving radical but I literally do not care whether your imperialist massacre of children is “constitutional” or not.

Excerpt from The Guardian story, featuring midterm candidates looking to change the Democratic party. Copy on excerpt reads: THE GUARDIAN: US NEWS HEADLINE: "'Are you willing to fight back?: Democrats ready to take on party's old guard ahead of midterms" Photo of Kat showcased holding a stack of yard signs. Copy below reads: "Another test case is Illinois' deep blue 9th District, where Kat Abughazaleh, 26, a progressive Palestinian American, is taking on a Democratic establishment she accuses of complacency and cowardice."

Excerpt from The Guardian story, featuring midterm candidates looking to change the Democratic party. Copy on excerpt reads: "Abughazaleh believes that Democrats have long failed to meet the moment of taking on the far right. For her and many progressive challengers across the country, countering the Trump administration is inextricably linked to combating the influence of groups such as Aipac and challenging the corporate status quo. Abughazaleh said: "I even see it in my own campaign where there are local leaders and elected officials that call me before endorsing one of my opponents, apologetically saying, I love what you're doing but I'm feeling a lot of pressure to endorse this way or the other. They feel that pressure in the first place instead of being able to stick to their values and it's a shame that we have a party that makes people feel like that." "I don't know how many times we have to keep doing the same thing over and over and over again of insisting that we have to be more moderate, that we have to move to the right," Abughazaleh added, arguing that policies ensuring affordable housing, groceries and healthcare should represent the political centre."

You don’t beat the far right with moderation. You have to confront it.

Career politicians are unequipped to handle this moment. It’s time for them to step aside.

When Israel and America claim that this war is God’s will, remember that Jesus said that peacemakers are the children of God, not the warmongers.

It’s been terrifying to have almost every year in the past 20 years be a lesson in how many people with power make decisions about who lives and dies with little thought or care or even a clear idea as to why they’re doing anything, and it’s terrifying that it seems to be getting worse

Pray today for the victims of American imperialism here and abroad, particularly those in Iran and those in our armed forces who have been forced to do evil and call it good.

holy love

We'd love to have you on our leftist Bible study podcast sometime if you're interested.

Just to be clear, that $7.8 billion is now coming out of *your* pockets, my fellow Americans.

Tax cuts for the rich means the cost of living rises for the rest of us.

Ramadan Mubarak!

Remember you are but dust.

They sound like rival statements, but really, we ought to find joy that this time remembering our mortality and the frailty of human bodies is shared between sister religions who have too often been set as rivals instead of friends.

Medicare for All would save $450B a year.

Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.

Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.

It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.

It’s about priorities.

If you're open to podcasts, we'd love to have you on our leftist Bible study podcast as we explore the book of Deuteronomy!

My favorite American city.

It's hard not to be these days. I've been doomscrolling a lot today, but took a break to listen to podcasts while I meal prepped. You and the gang made me laugh a lot today, and I'm very grateful for the bit of light you granted me. I hope in telling you I can do the same for you.

Let loving one another come before even our attempts to be holy.

#lent #progressivechristianity ⚓

TL;DR: Choose something to take up in place of what you give up. Choose something that is achievable based on where you are on your spiritual journey. Don't beat yourself up for failing, because we do get breaks. But take the practice back up to sustain yourself through this season.

Let loving one another come before even our attempts to be holy.

And lastly, remember that if you choose a difficult thing for your Lenten practice, Sundays are feast days. We are *supposed* to break our fasts to gather together in celebration of what Christ gave up for us. That's why there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday!

And if you've built the habit to do something, then you can begin to deepen it. But don't expect to go from no fasting to forty days with nothing but water and expect to be able to function your way through it.

If you don't go to church, commit to finding some spiritual community to meet with in person or online.

If you don't fast, commit to fasting from something in particular rather than from everything for forty days.

If you don't pray every day, commit to it with a timer at the same time and offer up a prayer even if you only have thirty seconds.

But more realistically: we fail, we give up, we forget the point. So instead of feeling like a failure, take on something simple you can do.

So don't take on a Lenten task that's so unbearable that you can't actually accomplish it and end up feeling bad about it and giving up. Sure, Lent is about recognizing that we are sinners in need of forgiveness. Failing can sometimes help us realize that.

But you are not a first century Jewish man who prayed for several hours every day. You are not being tasked with being Jesus. You are being asked to be faithful with a little so that later you might be faithful with a lot.

Lent really should be focused not on what you're giving up, but what you're taking on. Jesus went into the wilderness to pray and fasted because even food should not be a distraction.

Learn from our Muslim siblings and use the money you would have spent eating on providing food to people who need it.

Fasting is great. But how does that practice bring you closer in love to God and your neighbor? Consider every time you feel a hunger pang that that is your trigger to pray for your hungry neighbor and/or donate to a food charity.