The Telos Channel

What do we do when it feels like we take one step forward toward peace and justice, but two steps back? When the temptation to nihilism is strong, is there room for hope?

In the newest single in the Peace Songs album, Kate Gungor, John Guerra, and Diana Gameros explored the possibility of hope in the face of nihilism. They declare with us that hope is not a feeling, but an action. It is something we do—like the patient, a...

Last week, the Israeli Knesset passed a law that has the international community, and large portions of Israeli society, asking: what’s happening to democracy in Israel? 

We discussed the law, the months-long protest movement against it, and what it all means for peace, justice, and human rights for all people in the region—both Israeli and Palestinian.

And to make things even more interesting, we did all of this with the newest memb...

On June 29th, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in cases against the University of North Carolina and Harvard University that race-conscious admissions practices, otherwise known as affirmative action, are unconstitutional, as they violate the 14th Amendment requirement of equal protection under the law.

In this episode, we opened a conversation on our team about this ruling. We discussed the history and argument for the ...

You may not know it, but you’ve probably seen Joan Trumpauer Mulholland’s mugshot. Or the back of her head in the world-famous photo of the Woolworth’s sit-in in Jackson, MS as civil rights activists were harassed and assaulted by a mob of white segregationists. 

Joan was an activist in the Civil Rights movement who by the age of 23, had spent two months on death row at Parchman prison for participating in the Freedom Rides of 1961,...

A reflection and short history on one of the most important Civil Rights families you might not have heard of. 

Medgar Evers was an icon in the Civil Rights Movement (also known as the Southern Freedom Movement) in Mississippi until his untimely assassination in his family’s home on June 12, 1963. Yet, many of us have never heard about his impact on the movement or the way his assassination reverberates still today in some communiti...

Meet Peace Songs, the album by the Good Shepherd Music Collective in partnership with Telos, coming this September!

In this short, musician, pastor, and Telos team member David Gungor invites us into stories and inspiration behind this exciting new project, which is based on Telos’ Principles and Practices of Peacemaking. 

David had his first experience with Telos in 2013 with a group of Christian leaders. After it, he embarked on a ...

Featuring special guest Yigal Elhanan - member of the Parents Circle and community liaison at Akevot, the Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research 

75 years of Israeli independence comes at a pivotal moment in Israeli history: the peace process has all but died, the most right-wing government in its history has ascended into power, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting weekly for months in defense of ...

Last week, Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa mosque, beating those inside and arresting hundreds of Palestinians worshipers. In an echo of 2021, it appeared that the convergence of Ramadan, Passover, and Easter in the holy city would spark another escalation as rockets and bombs lighted the skies above Israel's borders and the Gaza Strip. In this episode, we detail the events and offer the necessary context often missing from mai...

Could this moment in Israel/Palestine offer a strategic reset for US engagement in the region? While Israelis were taking to the streets, we sat down with Palestinian-American businessman and commentator Sam Bahour to hear his thoughts on the current moment—locating it in the larger context, recognizing opportunities for transformation of the deeper realities, and charting a path forward.

 We recorded this episode prior to...

What does it take to flourish? Both personally and collectively, even in the midst of profound and seemingly intractable conflict? Andrew DeCort, Christian peacemaker, teacher, and author has an idea. He says the formative practices of the prayer offered by Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, what many of us know today as the “Lord’s Prayer,” can shape us into the kind of people with the groundedness and courage necessary to be...

Ten Palestinians killed in Jenin. Seven Jewish worshipers killed in Jerusalem. And more since then…What’s happening? Where are things headed, and what can we do about it?

This week, we discuss the escalating violence in Israel/Palestine that has caught international attention, unpack what CIA Director William Burns means when he says it bears an “unhappy resemblance” to the Second Intifada, and what it looks like to speak honestly a...

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting in the streets of Tel Aviv since the inauguration of the new government on December 29, voicing their concern over the government’s proposals to erode basic democratic ideals of judicial review. But ever more presently, its most extreme elements now have control over the administration of the Palestinian territories, and the nearly 5 million Palestinians who have no vote for th...

What just happened in Brazil? We’re asking that question too. 

This week, we brought on a special guest to help put the events in Brasilia on Sunday in context, especially considering the larger trends of democratic backsliding happening across the globe. And we ask what we as peacemakers should take note of now that the new government in Israel has officially been inaugurated.

Read and share the Principles and Practices of Peacemaki...

It’s the holiday season! For most of us, that means the storm before the calm. So this week, we invited Telos co-founder Todd Deatherage on the call to help us slow down, reflect, and look back on some of the wins of the past few months. 

One way we did this was to discuss the liturgical holiday of Advent, which Christians practice during the weeks leading up to Christmas as a season of waiting and expectation. Todd shares how he ap...

We’ve all been there: the family has finally all sat down at the Thanksgiving table, ready to enjoy a peaceful meal together when that uncle or that cousin says something outlandish and the whole table erupts or goes quiet and everything goes off the rails. In what can be some of the hardest moments with the people we love most, how do we practice peacemaking?

We’ve got a very honest, and very fun conversation for you on how to navi...

It’s election season! Across both Israel and the US, citizens have gone to the polls in the past week to vote on the future of their nations. While the results in the US are yet to be determined at the time of posting, Israel’s results are clear—and they’re concerning for those of us who are working towards a future of mutual flourishing for Israelis and Palestinians.

How will this new government approach the Occupation and Palestin...

Last week most major news outlets were covering the death and funeral arrangements of Queen Elizabeth II. At the same time, Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico just days before the 5 year anniversary of Hurricane Maria, with hardly any headline coverage. In this episode we discuss different conversations around the death of the Queen, the legacy of British Imperialism, and what colonialism has to do with Puerto Rico. 

We also ...

According to new restrictions set in place by the Israeli authorities, any foreign passport holder in the West Bank, including American citizens, will have to declare to the Israeli police if they’ve developed a romantic relationship with a Palestinian within 30 days. 

At least until the government revised the proposed restriction just two weeks ago, after human rights organizations and international media challenged the government ...

After heavy rains in Jackson, Mississippi pushed the city’s water treatment plant past its breaking point, hundreds of thousands of residents were left without running water for days. 

This water crisis isn’t Jackson’s first however—it’s part of a much larger history of neglect, disinvestment, and race. What’s ahead for Mississippi’s capital city, and what can we do to support it? We invited Bishop Ronnie Crudup, Telos board member ...