In these worrying, anxious, and upsetting times, it can be hard not to despair about the future. But in his editor’s letter for the Revealer’s June 2022 issue, Brett Krutzsch encourages us to reflect on a Raymond Williams quote: “To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing.” This issue thus considers our present political situation and what can be done to make sense of it.
Our June issue opens with Anna Piela and Joanna Krotofil’s “What Poland’s Anti-Abortion Laws Foretell about the United States,” where they explain how Poland’s criminalization of abortion can provide a roadmap for what is about to happen in the United States and what activists in states where abortion will remain legal need to do now.
Next, in “Pentecostals’ Political Warfare,” Miguel Petrosky explains how Pentecostal beliefs have influenced Republican Party politics, why many Pentecostals are ready for a spiritual and literal battle over elections, and what everyone needs to understand in order to quell potential violence.
Then, in “Translating Religion for the Masses,” contributing editor Kali Handelman interviews Peter Manseau, Director of the Smithsonian’s Center for the Understanding of Religion in American History, to see what he thinks about the place of religion in U.S. history and how that influences our lives today.
Our June issue also considers intersections of religion, culture, and power. In the third installment of our Catholic Horrors series, Kathleen Holscher explores two films that use gothic horror techniques to shed light on abuses that took place at institutions run by Catholic leaders with the support of the government, like American Indian boarding schools.
Next, Vani Kannan reviews the book Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance and considers what it means for a Black, queer woman to critique the white supremacy of yoga practice in America while also trying to avoid culturally appropriating South Asian traditions.
And in “Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die,” Sharrona Pearl, a medical ethics expert, reviews the film The God Committee, which explores how hospitals decide who should receive life-saving organ transplants and the factors that complicate how to make those decisions fairly.
The June issue also features a special episode of the Revealer podcast: “Pray Away on Netflix, Conversion Therapy, and Ex-LGBTQ Ministries.” Kristine Stolakis, director of Netflix’s acclaimed documentary Pray Away, and Lynne Gerber, author of the book Seeking the Straight and Narrow, join us to discuss what happens when people go to Christian organizations that promise to change their sexuality or gender identity. We explore the beliefs these organizations promote, why such groups remain prominent today, and how to end conversion therapy for good. You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
