This month’s issue of the Revealer feels like a grab bag of all the most urgent crises facing our nation. First up, Bradley Onishi‘s “God is Ultimate Masculinity: Evangelical Visions of Manhood in the Wake of the Atlanta Massacre.” In this deeply reflective piece, Onishi recalls the messages he received about masculinity during his youth in an evangelical church, and explains how the romanticization of toxic masculinity needs to be interrogated and confronted if we are to ever combat pervasive problems like gun violence and domestic abuse.
Mary-Jane Rubenstein, in “The New Corporate Space Race,” tackles the ethicals of space exploration and colonization, and poses the uncomfortable question: Are the attempts to settle and terraform other planets motivated by a rebranded Manifest Destiny? Rubenstein suggests that alternative interpretations of space colonization – perhaps informed by indigenous mythology and relationships to land – need to be included in discussions of extraterrestrial settlement.
Daniel José Camacho illustrates the long history of disinformation in “The Internet’s Unofficial Patron Saint.” Camacho uses the example of Saint Isidore of Seville, who published a widely circulated and extremely biased encyclopedia, to examine the process by which people have embraced false information for centuries.
In an excerpt from Prosperity Gospel Latinos and Their American Dream, Tony Tian-Ren Lin explores the lives of Latino immigrants who subscribe to Prosperity Gospel Pentecostalism. Many of these faithful have found hope in the theology, particularly as they face systemic injustice and discrimination after arriving in America. The editor of the Revealer, Dr. Brett Krutzsch, also had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Tian-Ren Lin for this month’s episode of The Revealer Podcast.
Finally, two pieces in the April issue explore the role of religious leaders during challenging times. Sara Kamali’s “Malcolm X: Why El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Matters” examines how Malcolm X’s conversion to Sunni Islam influenced his message, and how his teachings can inform today’s battle for racial justice. And in “Is Charismatic Leadership Sustainable?”, Sarah Ngu investigates the rise and fall of a mysterious, Charismatic Christian leader in Thailand.
This month’s issue is dedicated to confronting some of the most pressing issues facing our world today. The editorial staff at the Revealer is committed to shining a light on the problems we must overcome together, as well as facilitating conversations that can move us forward. And these articles – sharply insightful and brilliantly illuminating – are valuable contributions to the various public conversations that are so critical in this moment.
