How Democratic is Dionysian Hierarchy? | Contending Modernities If ecclesiastical or clerical hierarchy is modeled on that of the heavens, on what authority could an ordinary person dispute this power arrangement, modify it, or dissent from it?

In the next post in our series on David Newheiser's _Hope in a Secular Age_, Eva Braunstein reflects on the challenges of recovering a figure like Dionysius for democratic political projects in the present.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Weaponizing Indigeneity: Zionist Media Discourse on Possessing Palestine | Contending Modernities Indigenous peoples articulate Land as part of an interconnected web of relations and responsibilities, a mode of relating that cannot be reconciled with the structural violence of modern nation-states...

Sabina Ali describes how “a moral and political framework developed...by Indigenous peoples to challenge dispossession and assert sovereignty is redeployed to defend a powerful settler state and the ongoing occupation and displacement of Palestinians.”
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Introduction to Symposium on Hope in a Secular Age | Contending Modernities Hope thrives not in certainty but in the creative tension of becoming—a disciplined assertion that even amidst dislocation, the potential for renewal persists.

Read Devin Singh and Rick Elgendy's intro and Ted Vial's contribution to CM's symposium on David Newheiser's _Hope in a Secular Age_ Vial asks, "What are the practices that lead to creative engagement in the face of climate change and White nationalism?" contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Letter from Scholars of the Holocaust, Jewish History, and Antisemitism Against the Adoption of the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism in New Jersey | Contending Modernities Targeting Jews for the way they express themselves as Jews is very clearly not part of a struggle against antisemitism, but antisemitic itself.

In this letter, expert scholars urge state leaders in New Jersey to hold fast in their decision not to proceed with a vote on Bill A3558, which would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances's definition of antisemitism.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

The End of Antisemitism: How the Fight Against Hate Became a Weapon of Repression | Contending Modernities By insisting that Israel deserved special treatment because of Jewish suffering the Israeli state and its supporters reinforced and exploited the very logic of antisemitism they claimed to oppose.

Barry Trachtenberg argues that the term antisemitism has become a "weapon in the hands of those who would silence critique, expand state violence, and perpetuate genocide."
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

Dilexi Te: An Invitation to Reflect on Catholic Social Doctrine alongside the Early Church | Contending Modernities Dilexi te is a call to accompany the vulnerable, excluded, and marginalized as God accompanies them.

Is the Catholic Church's critique of private property new? Meghan J. Clark argues that the roots of this critique, present in both Pope Francis's and Pope Leo's teachings, has its roots in the early Christian community.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

It was fantastic seeing Ebrahim Moosa with a proof of ENGAGING THE MADRASA! This volume delves into the #Intellectual and #Political challenges that the #Muslim scholarly community faces. #Madrasa #Tradition #Modernity @cmnd.bsky.social

Preorder via our #AARSBL25 exhibit: undpress.nd.edu/aar-...

Mysticism, the Ordinary, and the Sacred: An Interview with Andrew Prevot | Contending Modernities Theological mysticism is not anti-normative per se. It is only hostile to those norms that unjustly stigmatize, imperil, or otherwise harm the precious, mysterious creatures God has made.

In an interview with Josh Lupo, Andrew Prevot discusses his book, _The Mysticism of Ordinary Life: Theology, Philosophy, and Feminism_. They delve into how Prevot draws on feminism and womanism in his development of a theology of the mystical ordinary.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Against Abolition, Against Reform: The Case for a Transformational Vision of Restorative Justice | Contending Modernities Approached holistically, restorative justice is a theory of justice with concrete practices that foster moral and spiritual forms of association between people.

In his response, Springs reflects on the abolition vs. reform debate, the place of critical praxis in his methodology, and the potential challenges to his argument that Black theory and decolonial theory pose. @nyupress.bsky.social contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Restorative Justice and Prison Education as Transformative Visions of Justice | Contending Modernities And for just a second I felt that transformative flash. I felt that maybe this book has the power to stop bullets.

In her post on Jason Springs's _Restorative Justice and Lived Religion_, Connie Mick reflects on her how work as an instructor in an Indiana correctional facility resonates with the aims of restorative justice as Springs describes them.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

The Influencer in Eden: De/coloniality of the AI Data Paradigm and the Counter-exegesis of Human Life | Contending Modernities Where ancient readers saw gaps and filled them with giants and fallen angels, modern humanity sees those same spaces and fills them with AI-mediated imaginations.

Ki-Eun Jang argues that artificial intelligence, in the form of large language models, allows users to repackage and circulate biblical narratives in ways that reinforce colonial forms of knowledge.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/decolonialit...

Resurrecting the Corporate Body: On the Flight of a Legal Fugitive | Contending Modernities The modern economy reproduces a political theology of obligation, binding collective life to an abstract order while evacuating it of covenantal purpose

In "Resurrecting the Corporate Body," Brandon Taylor reflects on the moral framework that shaped the original understanding of the idea of the corporation and just how far it has drifted from that framework in the neoliberal era.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Charlie Kirk’s Assassination and “Judeo-Christian” Racism by Atalia Omer From Pink- to White-Washing  As journalist Ali Harb noted, the loud outpouring of eulogies and tributes for Charlie Kirk by Israeli and other Jewish Zionist leaders was deafening. Isra...

In her piece for CM Co-Director Atalia Omer writes, "The Gaza genocide has compelled Israeli and Zionist representatives to emphasize their alignment with White supremacy rather than Christian eschatology."
studychristianzionism.org/charlie-kirk...

Reflections on Restorative Justice as Lived Religion: Comparative Notes from a Rural Reservation Town in Upper Michigan | Contending Modernities How might construing restorative justice practices as lived religion inform a moral and spiritual account of the broader ways we dwell together in communities?

In this response post, @dramycarr.bsky.social tests Springs’s transformative theory of justice and reconciliation by drawing on a story of corruption and reconciliation from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Please join us for this online conversation tomorrow at 8am EST

Is Restorative Justice a Tradition? Reframing the Practices and Values of Restorative Justice | Contending Modernities Springs's account of restorative justice might be strengthened by reframing it not only as a set of practices and a theory of justice but as a moral tradition.

Responding to _Restorative Justice and Lived Religion_, Josh Lupo writes, "Springs's account of restorative justice might be strengthened by reframing it not only as a set of practices and a theory of justice but as a moral tradition in its own right."
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Notes from the Funhouse: Disciplinarity and the Haunting Aporia of Black Lived Religion in the United States | Contending Modernities This funhouse of academic disciplinarity order features shifting floors, trick mirrors, and other devices designed to scare and deceive those who teach, write, and establish our scholarly becoming wit...

Welcome to the funhouse: Read James Howard Hill Jr.'s reflections on lived religion, whiteness, and Black Theory in the study of religion in his contribution to our symposium on Springs's _Restorative Justice and Lived Religion_
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Introduction to Symposium On Restorative Justice and Lived Religion | Contending Modernities Justice as the human work of seeking justice in the world coincides with God’s work of revealing the divine justice in creation.

Today, our symposium on Jason Springs's _Restorative Justice and Lived Religion_ launches with an introduction from @theologygurl.bsky.social and the first contribution from James Howard Hill Jr. @nyupress.bsky.social
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

God is Getting Tired | Contending Modernities It’s clear that God is getting tired

"God is tired and defeated and They’ve decided that it’s time /
To vacate Their home in the sky and move down to a tent in Gaza." Read "God is Getting Tired," a poem by Thandi Gamedze.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

The Enigma of Pope Francis | Contending Modernities That Pope Francis seemed to resist the logic of the progressive/conservative binary is an indication of how ill-equipped we are to make sense of religious actors using categories derived from a politi...

Our series on Pope Francis's legacy addresses his reception among US Catholic neotraditionalists, his advocacy for Palestinians, his defiance of easy political categorizations, and the influence of liberation theology on his thought.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

Pope Francis, Liberalism, and a New Theology of Poverty | Contending Modernities The way of poverty, as lived by the earliest followers of Jesus, was the stubborn anchor and controversial standard of Francis’s reform papacy.

David Lantigua writes, "Against both political liberalism and economic neoliberalism, Francis identified popular piety in the streets and the social function of property as antidotes to the privatization of religion and the new tyranny of money."
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

Cracks in the Wall: Pope Francis and Palestine | Contending Modernities Through both his public declarations and private acts, Pope Francis offered a holistic witness to Palestinian humanity.

John and Samuel Munayer write, "For Palestinians, especially Palestinian Christians, Pope Francis’s legacy is a call to believe that even within ancient institutions and hegemonies, cracks can form, light can enter, and solidarity can emerge."
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

YouTube video by The Institute of Ismaili Studies Understanding of Islam Today: Bridging Tradition with Modernity through a New Theory of Knowledge

Watch CM Co-Director Ebrahim Moosa present his lecture, "Understanding of Islam Today: Bridging Tradition with Modernity through a New Theory of Knowledge" hosted by The Institute for Ismaili Studies.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IK4...

Papal Sins Part II: The Four Papal "Sins" | Contending Modernities According to his detractors, Francis, in addition to “downplaying” the Church’s condemnation of abortion, failed sufficiently to condemn so-called sexual sins.

In part II of his essay on the legacy of Pope Francis among neotraditionalist US Catholics, Scott Appleby details the four sins of which his critics claim he is guilty: downplaying sins of the flesh, pride, political heresy, and ecclesiological heresy.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

Zohran Mamdani and Strategic Islamophobia | Contending Modernities Islamophobia is one of the ideological currents that significantly undergirds our current world order . . . and Zohran Mamdani’s election disrupts the flow of that ideological current.

On Mamdani's victory in the democratic primary for NYC mayor, Sarah Eltantawi writes, “Islamophobia is one of the ideological currents that significantly undergirds our current world order...and his election disrupts the flow of that ideological current.”
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

The Eyes of Silwan: The “Undefeated” Powers of Palestinian Struggle | Contending Modernities The eyes of Silwan represent the power of the dead for the living in Palestine.

Mark Lewis Taylor writes of occupation and resistance in Silwan: "Maybe as we stood there in Silwan, we were watching 'slow genocide' as a structural process, while nearby, Gazans were experiencing genocide as a stark and brutal event."
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

Papal Sins Part I: Opposition to Pope Francis in the American Catholic Church | Contending Modernities The U.S. Catholic community—numbering 53 million self-identified Catholic adults, or roughly one-fifth of the U.S. population—is complex and layered (as is the phrase “opposition to Pope Francis”).

CM Co-Director Scott Appleby explores neotraditionalist Catholic critiques of Pope Francis among the laity, the clergy, and professionally organized groups for what they saw as too progressive and "pastoral" a pontificate. @keoughglobalnd.bsky.social contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...

Bibles Belong to All of Us: Elizabeth Shkaman Hurd Interviews Hannah Strømmen | Contending Modernities Taking affective investments seriously can be transformative for understanding the staying power of trends and tendencies in biblical reception.

In the second part of their CM conversation, @bethhurd.bsky.social and Hannah Strømmen discuss the role of masculinity in far-right movements today and the importance of focusing on affect when studying them.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

Bibles Belong to All of Us: Masculinity, Civilization, and the Bibles of the Far Right | Contending Modernities What does a focus on biblical assemblages together with the far-right allow us to see anew?

In part one of this conversation, @bethhurd.bsky.social reflects on the various "biblical assemblages" that Hannah Strømmen investigates in _The Bibles of the Far Right_, focusing in particular on "masculine maximalism" across far-right movements today.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-m...

The Enigma of Pope Francis | Contending Modernities That Pope Francis seemed to resist the logic of the progressive/conservative binary is an indication of how ill-equipped we are to make sense of religious actors using categories derived from a politi...

Sarah Shortall reflects on why Francis's theology scrambles Left/Right divisions on US culture war issues, arguing that this was due to his prioritization of issues facing the Global South and to his Jesuit training.
contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-curre...