PULSE 14

A COLLABORATION OF ADVENTIST ACTIVISTS

MAY 2025 ISSUE 14

BEHOLD! THE RESISTANCE IS GROWING EDUCATION TAKEOVER ATTEMPTED GREAT PROTEST SIGNS RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES WHAT ARE THEY BANNING?

Action Creates Hope

CONTENTS 3 THE PULSE

this is what we’re facing

18 THE PULSE

home of the brave /\ no affiliation

5 JUSTCALL

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7 HEART AND MIND

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10 REVIEW

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INSPIRATION COLLECTIVE

12 WHO WE ARE

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THE PULSE

13 THE PULSE

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STAY IN THE KNOW

15 INSPIRE

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GRATITUDE

adventists call for australian aid

what is biblical social justice?

protect the first amendment

meet some of our contributors

attempted takeover of education

fresh splash of grace /\ perspective /\ acquisitions

16 INTERACT

how many? /\ prioritize joy

JUSTSMILE

perceptive protest signs

SPECIAL MUSIC

right before our eyes

a house on fire /\ adventist pilgrimage

which books are they banning?

justlove notes /\ jlc book circle

on you we are depending

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The Pulse

THIS IS WHAT WE’RE FACING Since coming back to the White House, Trump has caused suffering among Ukrainians, suffering among immigrants who have lived here for decades, suffering among some of the best people I know. Many of my friends in Washington are evangelical Christians who found their vocation in public service—fighting sex trafficking, serving the world’s poor, protecting America from foreign threats, doing biomedical research to cure disease. They are trying to live lives consistent with the gospel of mercy and love. Trump has devastated their work. He isn’t just declaring war on “wokeness”; he’s declaring war on Christian service—on any kind of service, really.

If there is an underlying philosophy driving Trump, it is this: Morality is for suckers. The strong do what they want and the weak suffer what they must. This is the logic of bullies everywhere. And if there is a consistent strategy, it is this: Day after day, the administration works to create a world where ruthless people can thrive. That means destroying any institution or arrangement that might check the strongman’s power. The rule of

law, domestic or international, restrains power, so it must be eviscerated. Inspectors general, judge advocate general officers, oversight mechanisms, and watchdog agencies are a potential restraint on power, so they must be fired or neutered. The truth itself is a restraint on power, so it must be abandoned. Lying becomes the language of the state.

Trump’s first term was a precondition for his second. His first term gradually eroded norms and acclimatized America to a new sort of regime. This laid the groundwork for his second term, in which he’s making the globe a playground for gangsters.

In Trumpian circles, many people ostentatiously identify as Christians but don’t talk about Jesus.

We used to live in a world where ideologies clashed, but ideologies don’t seem to matter anymore. The strongman understanding of power is on the march. Power is like money: the more

The Pulse

the better. Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the rest of the world’s authoritarians are forming an axis of ruthlessness before our

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eyes. Trumpism has become a form of nihilism that is devouring everything in its path. . . .

Trumpism v. Christianity It turns out that when you mix narcissism and nihilism, you create an acid that corrodes every belief system it touches.

This Trumpian cocktail has eaten away at Christianity, a faith oriented around the marginalized. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the poor in spirit. The poor are closer to God than the rich. Again and again, Jesus explicitly renounced worldly power.

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But if Trumpism has a central tenet, it is untrammeled lust for worldly power. In Trumpian circles, many people ostentatiously identify as Christians but don’t talk about Jesus very much; they have crosses on their chest but Nietzsche in their heart—or, to be more precise, a highschool sophomore’s version of Nietzsche.

—Excerpted from “I Should Have Seen This Coming” by David Brooks, in the May 2025 issue of The Atlantic. David Brooks has been a voice for political conservatism for more than four decades.

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JustCall

ADVENTISTS JOIN CALL ON AUSTRALIAN AID Adventist leaders have joined heads of other Australian Christian denominations in writing to political leaders, urging them to protect Australian aid ahead of Australia’s federal election. Pastor Terry Johnson, president of the Australian Union Conference, and Denison Grellmann, CEO of ADRA Australia, both added their names to the open letter coordinated by Micah Australia, a coalition of Christian development and justice agencies, of which ADRA Australia is a part.

The letter is addressed to the leaders of Australia’s major political parties, as well as independent members of parliament, and calls for these leaders “to affirm [their] commitment to maintaining Australia’s aid program and continuing to build on the stability that has been achieved.” Micah Australia is calling for Australian aid to rise to 1 per cent of Australia’s national budget, increasing from the currently historically low figure of 0.68 per cent that places Australia as one of the least generous developed nations in the world.

“We are called the lucky country and as such we should be even more generous!” said Pastor Johnson. “As a nation, we can and should be more involved in the Pacific and further afield in sharing God’s goodness to us.”

In addition to Adventist leaders signing this

letter, Adventist pastor Moe Stiles, chaplain to Adventist university students in Melbourne, pastor of Crosswalk Melbourne, and a member of the JustLove Collective organizing team, has been working with the Micah Women Leaders Network and fronted the explanatory video that accompanied the letter, co-presenting the video with Micah Australia’s national director Matt Darvas.

“Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honours Him” (Prov. 14:31)

“When we talk about aid, it isn’t just a foreign concept,” said Pastor Stiles. “As a Samoan pastor, it actually impacts my country of birth, my people, but also impacts people I don’t know. So when Micah asked if I would be willing to be part of this, I said that whatever way I can serve, I will be there.”

(Watch the video “The State of Our World Today: Why Australian Aid Matters.”)

Pastor Stiles said it is particularly important for Christians to be speaking up on these issues

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in the context of an election. “As we are seeing in other parts of the world, there are real implications for the way in which we vote,” she commented. “We need to vote for policies that are kind, policies that are compassionate, policies that actually reflect what it means to love our neighbours well.

“And when we speak up for aid, for caring more for our Pacific neighbours, as part of the larger Christian church, we actually have an opportunity to influence our politicians in such a powerful way.”

“We need to vote for policies that are kind, policies that are compassionate.”

The letter from Christian leaders noted people in need in Australia and highlighted what churches are doing to address this. “Our churches are deeply involved in supporting those doing it tough—from food relief and crisis care to mental health support and pastoral care,” the letter reads. “We wholeheartedly support efforts to ensure that domestic needs are met. At the same time, we believe we are also called to care for our neighbours beyond our shores.”

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“Biblically, we should speak up on behalf of those in need whether it’s in our country or abroad,” explained Pastor Johnson, citing Proverbs 14:31: “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honours Him.” The federal budget announced before the beginning of Australia’s current election campaign included a small increase in Australian aid funding, but a step down when measured as a percentage of the growing national budget.

To read the open letter from Christian leaders, watch the video, learn more about Micah Australia’s “Safer World for All” campaign, and add your name to this letter from Australian Christians, visit churchpetition.saferworld.org.au.

—Nathan Brown

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Heart and Mind

BIBLICAL SOCIAL JUSTICE “What do you think you’re doing? I came here to get away from all that political stuff!”

The man in front of me was not a happy camper, literally, because we were at a camp meeting. During a weeklong series of talks many years ago, I had been trying to connect the Christian faith to daily life, including, occasionally, in the public arena. (Strange, I know.) So, when I mentioned our duty as followers of Jesus to help the oppressed, lift the poor, support nonviolent peacemaking, address unjust inequities, take special care of people on the margins of life by ensuring their safety and health, and then moved into specific modern examples, this was deeply troublesome.

“Jesus didn’t get involved in politics!” he huffed.

“Well, Jesus lived in a different time and place,” I said. “And the way I read the Bible, we should do our balanced best, in our time and place, to help people by whatever means we have at hand. Jesus didn’t vote in elections or send people to hospitals. Should we not do those things?”

“Stop changing the subject! I’m talking about being political in church!”

“I make a distinction between being partisan and being political. I agree with you that we shouldn’t be partisan in the pulpit, yet in a sense everything is political. Breathing is political. How is the overall air quality, is anyone allowed to

smoke around me, what is the feasibility of affordable healthcare for my lungs, and who decides? If we stay away from all ‘politics’ and at the same time view every issue as political, we remove ourselves from real life. I like to hold a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. It helps me form a living connection to my beliefs.”

“You’re just plain wrong! I’ll be going to hear another speaker!”

I assured him he was free to listen to any speaker, wished him well, and he left. I must admit I wasn’t sad to see him go. I was growing tired of all those exclamation points.

“Jesus didn’t get involved in politics!” he huffed

Defining biblical justice Let’s define terms. Justice is about rightness and fairness, on every level. Social justice issues occur internationally, nationally, regionally, and locally. These issues are often a consequence of unequal wealth and resource distribution, unfair treatment of people with diverse traits, and legislation that encourages segregation.

As for biblical, consider these passages.

God urges, “Learn to do good. Seek justice.

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Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows, says the Lord” (Isaiah 1:17, NLT).

Micah asks, “What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8).

Amos thunders, “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (5:24).

Solomon shares that the proverbs are written “for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity” (Prov. 1:3).

Asaph describes God’s insisting to the “children of the Most High”: “’Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked’” (Psalm 82).

God proclaims, “Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly” (Is. 58:6-8).

Ethan the Ezrahite declares, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne” (Psalm 89:14).

Our very name—Seventh-day Adventists—is drenched in biblical social justice.

Quoting Isaiah 61:1, Jesus announces, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.”

Social justice is biblical.

When Bible prophets rail against

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comfortable compliance and unseeing eyes and unfeeling hearts, they have in mind creating a better future. In 2 Kings 6 the prophet Elijah prays for his servant: “O Lord, open his eyes.” In 1 Chronicles 28 David says to Solomon his son, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it. Fear not.”

We need new eyes and new backbones.

When we grow a backbone and swim against the current, will criticism come as a result? Of course it will. When did “receives no criticism” become a merit badge for Christianity? Seriously, did Jesus ever receive criticism from the establishment?

We go forth with good courage.

When did “receives no criticism” become a merit badge for Christianity?

Our very name—Seventh-day Adventists—is drenched in biblical social justice. The seventhday Sabbath is a day created for equity and liberation. Deuteronomy 5 maintains we keep the Sabbath because we have been set free. Jesus went about on Sabbath making sure He set people free in every way possible. That’s why Adventist pioneers thundered against slavery and worked nonviolently for the abolitionist movement. The name Adventist refers to the Second Coming of Jesus, where God brings justice and liberation to the earth.

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Final response ability Jesus also tells us about the Final Exam, an exam for every human being who has ever lived.

We read about the exam in Matthew 25:31-46.

You may have looked at the words dozens of times, but please look at them with fresh eyes.

Why would Jesus say these things? No other religion puts such a specific emphasis on social justice in the final judgment.

Just so we’re clear, now and in the final judgment we trust in Jesus’ righteousness and grace. Only Jesus. We demonstrate that we have accepted His gracious gift by how we choose to live. This is our ability to respond—our response ability. It has nothing to do with legalism. Why do I care about biblical social justice? Because I’m a follower of Jesus.

Here’s a bigger question. Am I following Jesus, or am I caring mostly about my comfort?

Jesus constantly comforted the disturbed and disturbed the comfortable. Christians say, “I am willing to die for my Lord” but they are not willing to stand up for the things Jesus stood up for. That’s just weird. It makes Christians appear hypocritical. Rachel Held Evans writes, “Imagine

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if every church became a place where everyone is safe, but no one is comfortable. Imagine if every church became a place where we told one another the truth. We might just create sanctuary.”

Not caring about politics means not caring about what happens to people. On one hand, I sympathize with my camp meeting critic.

Perhaps I could have said, “I agree that if I have to see another political ad, I think I may throw up.” Or “Isn’t it a sad statement when the popularity and viability of a candidate are determined by how much money they raised?

As if justice and mercy could be bought and sold.” We want to acknowledge that life is messy, yet as long as Jesus keeps on being involved with people’s daily lives, we will too.

—This passage is excerpted and condensed from the book Imagine Life by Chris Blake, to be released later this month.

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ReView

PROTECT THE FIRST AMENDMENT In the aftermath of January 6, 2021, I kept my office television tuned in to the news for days.

For me, there’s a level of comfort in hearing the “clean-up talks” and reassurances that what had happened was wrong and that steps will be taken to prevent such a catastrophe in the future. Advice I immediately took from Mayor Muriel Bowser was to sign up for text alerts for the great city of Washington, D.C. to be immediately notified of anything of this nature in the future. It’s been four years and my phone still gives me that friendly little buzz notification for D.C. water outages, hypothermia alerts, Arlington flyovers, and all day on April 5, 2025, “MPD reports the following road closures due to First Amendment Activity....”

That pesky First Amendment.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Even more terrifying than an individual’s freedom of speech for a would-be tyrant is a free press with Constitutionally granted freedom to keep the public informed. Especially when that means keeping the public aware of their nefarious misdeeds. Tyrants love to scream “FAKE NEWS!” and threaten to sue the press when the news is unflattering.

Unsurprisingly, suing the media is a growing and lucrative branch of law.

A dedicated effort has been in motion for decades to weaken the First Amendment protections of the free press. David Enrich explains this in Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful. Connecting precedents from New York Times v. Sullivan (1963) to the present day, the book is a who’s who of the shady weaponization of libel law and defamation lawsuits.

Tyrants love to scream “FAKE NEWS!” and threaten to sue the press when the news is unflattering.

When the whole point of the First Amendment is that the government shouldn’t be able to suppress speech that its officials or powerful people do not like, Enrich presents case study after case study of libel law specialists who do just that for the right price. For example, a small-town journalist’s life is made a living hell for reporting that a prominent community member, who happened to be seeking public office, had used an offensive slur toward a child

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in a county board meeting. That’s big news. But the politician sued and made sure the journalist was the one who felt the heat. The politician went on to win his campaign.

Chipping away Enrich reports on acts of intimidation, harassment, threats of violence, and the costly litigation inflicted upon journalists to make sure the rich and powerful get their way. We see how the libel law industry is actively chipping away at the First Amendment with the goal of returning us to an era in which we have to think twice before criticizing public figures or risk financial ruin. Even if a journalist wins in court, the experience is so miserable and, in some cases, traumatic, that the last thing they want to do is cross their opponent again.

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The sleazy elected officials and lawyers scrutinized by this author love to say that rolling back First Amendment protections of the press primarily benefits the theoretical “little guy” from defamation in the media. Enrich proves that the main beneficiaries are the ones with big secrets to hide and with the means to keep them hidden.

That’s something worth protesting.

—Marcia Nordmeyer

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WHO WE ARE Pulse is the monthly digital magazine of JustLove Collective.

This month’s issue is edited by Chris Blake and sponsored by Marit and Steve Case. (Thank you.)

Designed by Jeffers Media.

Unless indicated otherwise all Bible references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

CHRIS BLAKE Is professor emeritus at Union Adventist University where he taught English and communication courses, including Conflict and Peacemaking along with Critiquing Film. He has also served as editor of Insight magazine, author of many books and articles, and pastor of two small churches.

STEPHEN CHAVEZ Is a writer and editor, retired after a career in pastoral ministry and as an assistant editor of Adventist Review.

MARCIA NORDMEYER Is a circulation/reference associate at Union Adventist University's library in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is happily married to Jeremy. Their two children are encouraged to read banned books.

NATHAN BROWN Is book editor at Signs Publishing, based near Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of 21 books, including Do Not Be Afraid (a devotional book for 2025, published by Pacific Press in North America).

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ATTEMPTED TAKEOVER OF EDUCATION The world’s most famous university has done the right thing, and this is major news. It shouldn’t be. But less than three months into the second Trump administration, we are surprised by simple dignity. Capitulation would have garnered smaller headlines.

On Friday, the Trump administration sent a five-page letter to Harvard accusing the university of failing “to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment.” The letter demanded that the university change its governance structure; overhaul its admissions policies; submit to an external audit of the medical school, the School of Public Health, the Divinity School and several other programs that the letter claimed have “egregious records of antisemitism or other bias”; revamp student-discipline procedures; “end support” and withdraw university recognition of several pro-Palestinian student groups and the National Lawyers Guild; and commit to a process of reform running “at least until the end of 2028,” during which the university would submit quarterly reports on its compliance with the government’s demands. In the manner of a racketeer, the letter implied,

without quite spelling it out, that if the university failed to comply, it would lose its federal funding.

Less than three months into the second Trump administration, we are surprised by simple dignity.

The letter came from the Education Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the General Services Administration.

These are all agencies that can have a role in overseeing the university. Laws and rules exist for such oversight. They involve negotiations, investigations and, when it comes to federal funding, congressional procedures, complete with periods of public notice. This process is complicated by design — a design intended to protect universities from capricious, politically motivated meddling and to make the withdrawal of federal funding an option of last resort.

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The logic of academic freedom But the Trump administration pulls funds first and negotiates second, dispensing with the rest of the process. Its first target was Columbia University. When that school acceded to the administration’s demands, it didn’t get its funding back. Instead, the administration is reportedly considering demanding that Columbia agree to direct government oversight — effectively, a takeover of the university.

Harvard chose a different response from Columbia’s. On Monday, its lawyers sent a letter to the administration pointing out that the administration was in violation of the law. “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the letter said. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms.”

“Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”

No other response should have been possible by the logic of the law — or the logic of academic freedom or the logic of democracy.

And yet, the Harvard lawyers’ letter sent waves of excitement through academic circles. This is a measure of how low, and how fast, our expectations have fallen.

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One of the people who seemed surprised was Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican and the self-appointed gendarme of higher education who issued a statement declaring Harvard the “epitome of the moral and academic rot in higher education.”

Trump administration officials, on Monday evening, promptly announced what they had suggested: that they will freeze $2.2 billion in multiyear grants.

Still, one hopes that other universities that find themselves in the administration’s crosshairs — and there are many of them now — follow Harvard’s example and make self-respect, and respect for the law, unsurprising again.

—M. Gessen is a The New York Times columnist.

This column appeared April 15, 2025.

A public statement signed by the presidents of more than 150 colleges and universities appeared on April 22, 2025, condemning U.S. President Donald Trump's "political interference" on campuses The open letter, organized by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU), is titled “A Call for Constructive Engagement," At the time of this writing, the only Seventh-day Adventist representative to sign the statement is “Weymouth Spence, President, Washington Adventist University.” JustLove Collective applauds Dr. Spence and WAU.

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InSpire Research can become Resistance.

PERSPECTIVE

I see disaster everywhere; I also see generosity and resistance everywhere.

—Rebecca Solnit

A FRESH SPLASH OF GRACE

He approached every morning as if it were a fresh splash of grace, a clean slate, an opportunity— granted through baptism—to breathe more life into the world.

Guilt and resentment were not in his vocabulary. Critique didn’t seem to faze him.

—Peter W. Marty, on the passing of his extraordinary father, Martin Marty (1928-2025)

—Steven Pressfield

NOT FOR COWARDS First, this is not a method for cowards; it does resist. The nonviolent resister is just as strongly opposed to the evil against which he protests as is the person who uses violence.

–Martin Luther King, Jr.

OUR CALLING To the wrongs that need resistance, To the right that needs assistance, To the future in the distance, Give yourselves.

–Carrie Chapman Catt

ACQUISITIONS FEARFUL DESPOTS

The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.

–Thomas Paine

Portion of Americans who say that the United States should “take control of” Canada: 1/4 Portion of Canadians who say that California, Oregon, and Washington should become “part of” Canada: 1/3 –Harper’s Index, May 2025

JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO/POPE FRANCIS DIES AT 88 For 12 years, Francis led more than one billion Catholics and reshaped the faith to make it more inclusive. He clashed with traditionalists as he reached out to migrants, gay Catholics and victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. He sought to improve relations with Muslim clerics. He criticized the powerful for their role in climate change and called for an end to wars. He filled Catholic leadership with bishops who reflected the worldwide congregation.

–Lauren Jackson and Claire Fahy in NYT “The Morning,” April 21, 2025

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InterAct

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO COURAGE IN TRUMP’S AGE OF FEAR A t-shirt recently seen in a casual fast-food restaurant said, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”

That pretty much sums up the administration of a president who often campaigned on the promise of punishing his enemies and seeking retribution against those who insisted on old-fashioned values such as patriotism, integrity, honesty, justice, generosity, and transparency. Now barely 100 days into one of the most dysfunctional administrations in United States history, what can rank and file citizens like us do to fight back?

History has shown that authoritarian rulers and regimes can be successfully challenged.¹

How many?

Non-violence is more effective than violent campaigns, and do better when they build momentum over time. Opposition movements are largely successful when what percentage of the population participates?

A. 2 percent R. 3.5 percent C. 7 percent D. 20 percent Answer: B. 3.5 percent. When different segments of society withdraw their support from an authoritarian leader—business leaders, religious institutions, unions, the military—those leaders either have to modify their behaviors or risk losing their power.

Establish a political stance of non-cooperation Learn to identify different law enforcement officers and immigration agents, and which ones have jurisdiction in different state, local, and private institutions (churches, schools, community centers, and so on). In most communities immigration officers are required to show which kinds of identification?

A. A driver’s license B. A search warrant C. A court order signed by a judge D. A Target rewards card Answer: C. And not only must the court order be signed by a judge, it must name those who are being sought. Suspicious vehicles and uniformed officers around buildings or communities should be filmed as they are asked to respond to questions about the purpose of their presence. A videotaping phone is the most effective weapon.

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Compartmentalize

Prioritize joy

Another strategy against authoritarianism is compartmentalization. Don’t volunteer any information about anyone to anyone you don’t know.

During the cold war citizens of East Germany (as in many repressive regimes) were required to report the suspicious behavior of their neighbors, coworkers, even family members. Technology and social media is a curse as well as a blessing. Which technologies can be weaponized by authoritarian regimes?

In the days following President Trump’s takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., he vowed on social media, “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS.” That was all a group of performers needed to dress in drag to sing and dance in front of the Kennedy Center. Civil disobedience needn’t be about violence and confrontation. It can come in the form of block parties, drum circles, book clubs, meet & greets, and so on. An authoritarian government can consolidate power over the courts, legislators, and military and intelligence services, but it can’t suppress the human spirit. Which of the following can you join to build community and resist authoritarianism? (It’s a rhetorical question.)

A. Mobile phones R. Social media sites C. Websites D. All of the above Answer: D, all of the above. Nobody using modern technology should assume that their words and actions are private. Electronic locators are in our phones, our appliances, even our cars. This is not to make us paranoid, just to make us aware.

A. Public library R. Recreation center C. Homeless shelter D. JustLove Collective

¹ This article is based on “So You Want to Be a Dissident?: A Practical Guide to Courage in Trump’s Age of Fear,” from The New Yorker, April 12, 2025. bit.ly/PulsePracticalGuide

—Stephen Chavez

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The Pulse

THE HOME OF THE BRAVE I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the idea of bravery. About what it takes to stand up, to make yourself heard, to be a force that forces a system to change.

This kind of bravery comes in different forms. Not all of them are loud. Some are quiet.

Some are small. But each action is a part of what we all must do.

Our national anthem famously proclaims this land, the United States of America, to be “the home of the brave.” In California this week, dozens of people formed a human chain blocking the entrance to the Travis Air Force base. They were protesting the American military’s continued role in the genocidal slaughter of the Palestinian people, and they were also protesting the use of American military planes to facilitate Donald Trump’s wrongful and illegal mass deportations of immigrants. Twelve of the protestors were arrested, including these three women in the photo below, two of them grandmothers, after they bravely refused to stop blocking the entrance to the Air Force base.

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They each wore placards around their necks with the names and the ages of Palestinian children killed — a 1-year old, a 3-year old, and a 5-year old, each one murdered by our weapons and our money.

In a Florida high school recently, a student who has a girl’s legal birth name asked their teacher to call them by another name — a gender-neutral name. The teacher, Melissa Calhoun, who has been teaching in Broward County for more than a decade, complied — she began referring to the student by the name the student had requested, understanding the importance — psychologically and socially — of this action and what it meant for the high school student’s own well-being. For this simple, quiet, brave action, Ms. Calhoun has been fired. The state of Florida, overrun by the (scandal-ridden) “Moms for Liberty” has passed legislation, now being copied in other states and by the Trump administration, that makes it illegal for a teacher to call a student by any name other than their birth name as assigned by their parents. Ms. Calhoun knew this, and she did it anyway. Not to make a statement, but because it was the right and brave thing to do.

So, on Thursday afternoon this week, the students at Satellite High School held a mass protest and walked out of class and out of the

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school, filling the parking lot and the streets in support of their teacher and in support of their fellow student.

Across the country in Idaho, middle school teacher Sarah Inama found herself in a similar situation. For years now, Ms. Inama’s classroom where she teaches History and World Civilizations has featured a poster that says “EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE” with the word “EVERYONE” in multi-colored letters and below the words are pictures of 10 hands, each with a heart in the middle of their palm, each hand a different shade skin tone.

Then, just a few weeks ago, Ms. Inama was approached by the school principal and the assistant principal and was told that the poster had to come down.

She said that they told her, “Teachers aren't allowed to have posters that show their personal or political opinions on things, and this is now seen as a personal opinion.”

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The Lewis and Clark Middle School teacher was confused but she complied — she took down the “offending” sign. But then she thought about it. And then Ms. Inama put the sign right back up.

She took the issue up with the school board, going over the principal’s head — which the principal then claimed was an act of “insubordination.” And the district people agreed with the principal, telling Ms. Inama that “political environments ebb and flow” and that in the current environment, the sign was “controversial.”

Controversial? The sign says EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE. If that’s controversial, let’s just send the Statue of Liberty back to France and remove that glass case on the Cornell campus showing off the Gettysburg Address.

When the local public radio station’s news department called the school district to get clarity on its stance, they were told that it

Pulse / JustLove Collective / May 2025 / Issue 16

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wasn’t the words on the sign that were the

support of Ms. Inama and in support of her poster. Then, just last Sunday, the kids and their parents took to the streets of Boise, in front of the Idaho state capitol, and protested en masse again — this time holding up their hands of all different shades of humanity, with hearts drawn onto their palms.

There are many ways to be brave. We will all need to find our own ways during this wretched time. We may not even see the opportunity coming. I doubt either of these teachers knew that their simple act — a simple brave act — of treating their students like real human beings, with respect and compassion… I doubt they thought this was a brave act when they did it.

This is the energy that we all must have in our everyday lives right now.

This is what is at stake.

Everyone is welcome here. We must protect this, and we must protect each other. In the land of the free and the home of the brave.

problem… IT WAS THE DIFFERENT COLORED LETTERS AND VARYING SKIN COLORS OF THE HANDS. That’s right, folks — this depiction of humanity involving people of various Brown and Black skin colors instead of only White people’s hands made the school district determine that the sign does in fact “potentially express viewpoints regarding specific identity groups.”

What a bunch of useless weenies these people are. Of course it expresses viewpoints regarding specific identity groups… and that specific identity group is… HUMANS! We come in many shades. And the administrators of the school district would know this if they, I don’t know, took Ms. Inama’s world civilization class instead of trying to disrupt it.

Here is a picture of this horrendously offensive sign that suggests White people aren’t the only people on earth and that, in America, in a middle school classroom, in a class about the history of human life on Earth, “Everyone is Welcome Here.”

And just as in Florida, the students rallied behind their teacher. The kids held protests in

—Michael Moore is a documentary filmmaker, producer, and author

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#ourchurchtoo

NO AFFILIATION It is paramount that we explicitly condemn our denomination’s affiliation with Christian nationalism, MAGA, and this administration. This is the same error the Seventh-day Adventist Church made in Nazi Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler. We came alongside the Nazis to help promote a plant-based diet and the health message. But if our health message promotes only the consumption of a plant-based diet but has no interest in protecting immigrants, denouncing racism, ensuring access to quality healthcare, or enhancing the accessibility of education for all, then our understanding of health is extremely misguided. For Jesus said in Matthew 15:11, “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

—–Claudia Allen is the new Executive Director of Adventist Peace Fellowship

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JustSmile

They ’re ea ting the c hecks !

They ’re ea ting the b alanc es!

E THIS IS TH T WHO IMMIGRAN OUR JOBS IS TAKING

God is nonbinary

Make Russia Great Again

I am

MAD SCIENTIST

ve ups ry et

Pulse / JustLove Collective / May 2025 / Issue 14

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JustSmile

You wanted cheap eggs but instead got Measles

One if by land, Two if by D.C. Ia

lwa wh ys wo y n did n’t some dered bo do abo som dy eth ut Th t hat ing I W en I rea .

AS liz SO ME ed BO DY .

Every disaster movie starts with the government ignoring a scientist

Special Music

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RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES

(To the tune of “Blowing in the Wind”) How many times can a man tell a lie before you can call him a liar?

How many laws can a government break before they are tossed in the fire?

And how many times can a state crush dissent before it has reached its desire?

[Refrain] The answer, my friends, is right before our eyes The answer is right before our eyes How many times can some people be fooled before they admit to the facts?

How many times can democracy bend before it implodes from attacks?

And how many evils must Congress accept before it determines to act?

[Refrain] The answer, my friends, is right before our eyes The answer is right before our eyes How many men can a country deport before it will grieve for the cost?

How many jobs can be purged and defiled before a fine line has been crossed?

And how many signs can we safely ignore till we realize freedom was lost?

[Refrain] The answer, my friends, is right before our eyes The answer is right before our eyes

—Chris Blake

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INSPIRATION COLLECTIVE Podcasts we just love

A House on Fire: This Adventist Peace Fellowship podcast series is based on the excellent book on race and racism

Red Letter Christian Podcast: Christian commentary on the way of Jesus in the world today

Adventist Voices: Weekly podcast and companion to Spectrum designed to foster community through conversation

Adventist Pilgrimage: A lively monthly podcast focusing on the academic side of Adventist history

The Social Jesus Podcast talks about the intersection of Jesus, faith, and social justice today

Just Liberty: A fresh, balanced take on religious liberty—where justice and liberty meet

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The Pulse

WHAT ARE THEY BANNING? Banning books is a regular practice on the way to authoritarianism. History teaches us that.

Tyrants require people not to think or read things that could make them think. Despots want people to obey and not to reflect or ask questions.

When friends began writing to say that one of my books, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America had just been banned, I was, of course, startled. But I was not surprised when I saw all the other books which were banned by the U.S. Naval Academy library. As the press coverage came in, a pattern was easy to see. The banned books were about race, or race and gender, and finally about America’s history and future. What they were banning was the truth about American history in regard to race.

When I brought in my New York Times on Saturday, April 12, I quickly saw the front page article, Angelou’s ‘Caged Bird’ Is Out , But Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ Stays: 381 Books Are Banned From Naval Academy. That’s where I started my Saturday morning reading and discovered that a word search had been done to find books that “needed further review.”

The Pulse

Half of those books were then banned by an order of the Trump Administration with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in charge. As the Times headline said, the books that were banned, including Angelou’s historic 1970 memoir which had remained on their list of best sellers for two years, were dramatically contrasted by the books left on the shelves of the Naval Academy Library.

As Jesus reminds us, only the truth can make you free.

One such book, The Bell Curve, states that Black people are genetically less intelligent than White people. That one stayed, but a critique of The Bell Curve was removed. A novel that features an immigrant takeover of the Western world, The Camp of Saints, also remained.

Embraced by white supremacists, it is also a favorite of White House Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller. The Times said, “The Department of the Navy’s purge of 381 books there picked sides in the racism debate, and those that examine and criticize historical and current racism against African Americans lost.” I think all those books and any others should remain on the shelves of libraries for future leaders to read.

Pulse / JustLove Collective / May 2025 / Issue 14

Truth or consequences When I shared the news with my very diverse Ethics class at the McCourt School of Public Policy– and told them one of the books they were reading was now banned at the Naval Academy– they also didn’t seem surprised and offered their professor warm words of affirmation.

This week, The American Academy of Religion hosted a webinar with several of the banned authors of books on race. I was in the great company of kindred spirits and friends: Michael Eric Dyson, Anthea Butler, Bryan N. Massingale, and Robert P. Jones. Here is a new bookshelf piece by Robby Jones about all our banned books. It was quite a wonderful conversation about what was being banned– the truth– and what those consequences were for American society, as we come up to the nation’s 250-year anniversary. The deepest meaning of freedom is now at stake in America.

And as Jesus reminds us, only the truth can make you free.

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The banned authors and our books are not the real issue here. I invite you to listen to this conversation about the core questions of truth and freedom with my esteemed and beloved colleagues. It’s a great back and forth about the past, the present, and the future. At the end, we engaged in a discussion of the meaning of hope–especially at a time like this. Please take a listen and I think you’ll be glad you did.

—Jim Wallis is the founder of Sojourners and the author of many books, including America’s Original Sin. This article was published on April 17, 2025.

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We exist.

We belong.

We’re not going anywhere.

sdakinship.org

Pulse / JustLove Collective / May 2025 / Issue 14

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JLC BOOK CIRCLE Join us for a quarterly, live book circle hosted by the JustLove Collective, to explore transformative ideas. Our inaugural session read Troubling the Water by Ben McBride, where we unpacked themes of justice, faith, and renewal. Each session invites us to reimagine faith as a force for social transformation.

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