Dear Revealer readers,

For me, the following story encapsulates 2021: In early summer, the New York City mayor’s office announced they would host a “Welcome Back” concert in Central Park. With the vaccine rollout going well, they scheduled the concert for August. Celebrity singers like Jennifer Hudson and Paul Simon committed to performing. The New York City Police and Parks departments collaborated to host 60,000+ attendees. Such a spectacle, the mayor’s office believed, would showcase New York City’s triumphant victory over the virus and broadcast to the world that Manhattan was open for tourism once again. “Welcome Back,” they named the event.

Revealer Editor, Brett Krutzsch

On Saturday, August 21, the concert opened with a performance by the New York Philharmonic. The next several performances went well. But dark clouds started to form over Central Park’s Great Lawn. As Barry Manilow sang a medley of his hits, rain fell on the crowd. Manilow’s microphone suddenly went silent, and someone announced over the PA system that everyone should exit the park and take cover. The concertgoers scattered as thunder boomed above them. Unwilling to accept what was happening, Mayor de Blasio grabbed a microphone and told the crowd to stay in Central Park. Even with lightning flashing in the sky, the mayor insisted the concert would resume. But the planet had other plans. Hurricane Henri was barreling toward the East Coast. Over the next several hours, the hurricane deluged Central Park with more rain than the park had seen in its 163-year-history. The concert never resumed. New York City’s victory-over-the-virus celebration washed away as the city’s elected leader refused to believe that danger was imminent.

The Welcome Back concert is, to me, the emblematic story of 2021. The year started with high hopes that vaccines would end the pandemic. But then came Delta, a variant that barreled through the country like a hurricane and made clear that the pandemic’s end was not in sight. Likewise, the mayor standing on stage, claiming everything will be okay, is the story of too many politicians who have stared directly at clear COVID and climate data and told people not to worry. And a hurricane walloping New York City in the middle of August reminded us that, even if we end the pandemic, the climate crisis will not allow the celebration to last long.

2021 was a year of emotional whiplash. January started with an insurrection on our Capitol, followed by the inauguration of a new President and the hope for less political polarization. But social divisions became even more visible as white nationalists and Christian nationalists, and the many people who are both, fought vaccine mandates, mask mandates, history lessons about racism, and access to safe abortions. At the same time, 2021 was a year when friends saw one another for the first time in months, when industries hard-hit by the pandemic rebounded, and when museums, theaters, and galleries re-opened to a public craving the arts.

The Revealer’s December issue considers these wide-ranging issues that we are facing and offers incisive perspectives on them. The issue opens with Anne Mocko’s “Covid and the King,” where she considers how Hindu nationalism helps explain why the dethroned King of Nepal risked death from COVID when he agreed to participate in India’s Kumbh Mela festival this year. Next, in “The Crusade Against Critical Race Theory,” Jessica Johnson reports on how Christian nationalism has shaped recent protests against teaching about racism in public schools. Then, in an excerpt from Fear in Our Hearts: What Islamophobia Tells Us about America, Caleb Elfenbein shares how Muslim communities have attempted to combat anti-Muslim prejudice through an array of outreach efforts to “humanize” Muslims. Along similar lines, in “The Rise of the Muslim Sitcom,” Kristian Petersen examines how Muslim-produced sitcoms on broadcast television use humor to portray Muslims as relatable Americans, even as such sitcoms reproduce common cultural stereotypes about Islam.

The December issue also includes articles that offer much hope. In “Sharing Sikh Wisdom with the World,” Kali Handelman interviews Simran Jeet Singh, a frequent Revealer contributor, about his forthcoming book on the Sikh tradition and how Sikh teachings can help everyone who cares about equality and social harmony. And I am excited to share our annual “Winter Reading Recommendations” of new books by Revealer writers. All of this year’s suggestions offer important insights about our world.

The issue also contains the newest episode of the Revealer podcast, “Combating Islamophobia in America,” in which Caleb Elfenbein joins us to discuss what Islamophobia reveals about life in the United States today. We explore why anti-Muslim fear persists throughout the country, how Muslim communities have responded to Islamophobia, and what everyone can do so that Muslims can thrive in the United States. You can listen to this important episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

As I reflect on the past year, I take comfort in thinking about the articles we have been able to publish in the Revealer. Our writers have offered remarkably astute observations about religion’s place in so many of the issues facing our country and world. I have learned much from their sharp analysis. Their insights have given me clarity, hope, and a reminder that many people are working – day in and day out – to improve life for many others. That work can seem slow and arduous. But it continues. And my hope is that all of us remember, as we say goodbye to this year and look ahead to the next, that countless people want a world with more justice and equality. Let us hold on to that knowledge as we embark on this new year.

Yours,
Brett Krutzsch, Ph.D.

P.S. We do not publish a January issue, so we will be back with a new issue of the Revealer in February 2022. We cannot wait for you to see what we have in store in 2022!