Unhardening the heart . By Althea Downing-Sherer Illustration by Iris Pope This Valentine’s Day, as some of us face the perils of online dating or despair over unrequited crushes, Achsah Guibbory urges us to reframe love: not as conquest, but as devotion.  Achsah Guibbory is a professor of 17th-century English literature at Barnard College, specializing in John Milton and John Donne. She has published multiple books, including Returning to John Donne; Christian Identity, Jews

What it means to be Christian during the resurgence of the religious right.  By Althea Downing-Sherer Illustration by Em Bennet When people discover that my dad is a pastor, I feel compelled to assure them that I’m not that  kind of Christian: “But don’t worry, he’s, like, a really woke  pastor.” With a pride flag fluttering high above our church’s entrance to prevent local dissenters from stealing it and with church members prepping donations of school supplies, my church do