In the first video in our Mimetic Invitation Series, “The Problem is the Solution”, we explore René Girard’s discovery of mimetic desire.

In this featured guest post, Nonviolent Peaceforce co-founder Mel Duncan explores how we can approach conflict without taking sides in a world divided by partisanship.

America’s response to September 11, 2001 was scapegoating and violence. Lindsey Paris-Lopez explains how these tools will never bring lasting peace using the Bible story of Jonah and the Whale.

The theological and practical case for prison reform and restorative justice is grounded in the truth revealed by Jesus. He demonstrated how punitive and sacrificial systems reinforce rather than quell violence explains Lindsey Paris-Lopez.

Portlander, protestor, and Pastor Adam Ericksen reveals the sacrificial system operating in Portland and throughout America.

In unprecedented times, the Islamic holiday Eid Al Adha (also called the “Festival of the Sacrifice”) can’t be celebrated according to tradition. Lindsey Paris-Lopez ponders on sacrifice, community, and calls for empathy as we all embark on a pilgrimage to find compassion within ourselves.

Asking, “How would Jesus police?,” Lindsey Paris-Lopez reframes our understanding of service and protection through the lens of mercy, not sacrifice.

Guest author Paul Dumouchel explains the relationships, power dynamics, and victims of rival and displaced conflicts.

Lindsey Paris-Lopez draws on Martin Luther King Jr.’s triple evils – racism, militarism, and materialism – as the three pillars of American exceptionalism then offers ways to transform them.

Pastor Adam Ericksen examines the misportrayal of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s approach to nonviolence and invites us to confront our own participation in systems of injustice.