Are you struggling to reconcile your faith with the headlines about the human-made famine that is causing the deaths of innocent civilians in Gaza? You're not alone. All people of good conscience should feel unease. When Jesus wept, it was for the suffering of all humanity. What if we applied that same deep empathy to the heartbreaking crisis unfolding right now? In this episode, we are joined by Rev. Dr. Timothy Murphy, the senior pastor at Plymouth Congregational Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to discuss the war in Gaza, his hunger strike to raise awareness about the famine, and what progressive Christians can do to motivate our elected officials to use their power to get humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
The Progressive Christians Podcast is a ministry of The Loft, a worship community of Westwood United Methodist Church. If you have an idea for the show or want to connect with us, please email us at progressivechristians@theloftla.org.
Show Notes
- Rev. Dr. Timothy Murphy Bio/Church Website- https://www.plymouthfw.org/staff
- Rev. Dr. Murphy’s Hunger Strike- https://www.journalgazette.net/local/plymouth-pastors-stage-hunger-strike-to-prompt-israel-to-allow-food-other-aid-into-gaza/article_7f53926e-b15e-479d-9cfc-9c9de6eca0f6.html#:~:text=Plymouth's%20senior%20pastor%20was%20on,last%20two%20weeks%20or%20more.
- Orientalism- Edward Said https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/159783/orientalism-by-edward-w-said/
- The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine- Rashid I. Khalidi https://guardianbookshop.com/the-hundred-years-war-on-palestine-9781781259344/?utm_source=editoriallink&utm_medium=merch&utm_campaign=article
- Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn- Daniel Gordis https://www.harpercollins.com/products/israel-daniel-gordis?variant=32122925121570
- My Name is Rachel Corrie- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_Rachel_Corrie
- Marjorie Spiegle- The Dreaded Comparison https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Dreaded_Comparison.html?id=8u_tAAAAMAAJ
- Caste- Isabel Wilkerson https://www.nationalbook.org/books/caste-the-origins-of-our-discontents/
- The Mathematics of Starvation: How Israel Caused a Famine in Gaza https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/31/the-mathematics-of-starvation-how-israel-caused-a-famine-in-gaza
- Zeteo report on starvation (Behind a Paywall): https://zeteo.com/p/61-of-everyone-whos-starved-to-death?utm_source=unread-posts-digest-email&inbox=true&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true
- https://www.btselem.org/publications/202507_our_genocide
- The Israel Lobby and American Foreign Policy- John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374531508/theisraellobbyandusforeignpolicy/
- Jewish Voice for Peace- On Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Dangerous Conflation https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/11/09/antisemitism-dangerous/
- What Antisemitism? - David Klion on Zeteo (Paywall) https://zeteo.com/p/what-antisemitism-adl-prostrated-musk-trump?utm_source=publication-search
- Majority of Israelis Do NOT Support Netenyahu’s Actions in Gaza- https://www.timesofisrael.com/72-5-of-israelis-believe-netanyahu-should-take-responsibility-for-oct-7-and-resign/
- This American Life Episode with reports from American Doctors in Gaza: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/859/transcript
- Institute for Middle East Understanding Explainer on ADL https://imeu.org/article/explainer-the-anti-defamation-league-adl
