Fast Facts
- Features run 1200-2500 words (General information)
- Submissions close September 16, 2024 (Ready? Submit here.)
- Questions? Email editors@friendsjournal.org
In the December issue we’re going to be exploring an issue that both informs yet transcends theology and politics. We’re calling it spiritual optimism vs. spiritual pessimism.
People can look at the same data and come to vastly different conclusions about its impact on us—and how able we are to respond to it.
Social groups often coalesce around shared responses. Is the world going to “hell in a handbasket,” as one of my neighbors used to say, or does the universe “bend toward justice” a phrase beloved by Martin Luther King Jr.? What’s fascinating is that you can find examples of both sentiments on opposite sides of the political spectrum. The MAGA-hat wearing doomsayer might point to threatening “tides” of “illegal” migrants, but I’ve heard people equally terrified by the existential threats of climate change.
There are many real and present dangers to keep us up at night: in addition to demographic changes and the climate crisis, we can point to rising authoritarianism, nuclear escalation, sexual and reproductive coercion, new forms of deceptive AI, ever-increasing wealth disparity, the erosion of privacy in our digital lives, the housing crisis. The list could go on and on. I don’t want to imply that these aren’t real policy concerns or that we shouldn’t get fired up about them. But how should we respond to them? What gives us hope? What keeps us in despair?
Optimists might point to promising new leadership in politics, proven efforts that have already reduced the effects of climate change, AI’s role in advancing healthcare research, new laws that combat racist policies, undeniably positive uses of social media, and inspiring revitalization work in our own faith communities.
Lastly, a note for those in the United States to point out that due to timing it will be tricky to incorporate any election-related content on this theme: while political campaigns often spin on dueling appeals to optimism and pessimism, the November U.S. presidential election will be taking place well after after this issue’s September 16 submission deadline, and it will have already taken place before it arrives online and in mailboxes in early December. (If you’d like a more time-sensitive piece about this year’s election cycle, you can send it as a General Submission for us to consider for online-first publication.
Submit: Spiritual Optimism vs. Spiritual Pessimism
Other upcoming issues:
- How Meetings Use Money (January issue, due Oct. 22)
- February Open Issue (due Nov. 18)
- Neurodiversity (March issue, due Dec. 16)
Learn more general information at Friendsjournal.org/submissions.
