> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.loganmartinisaac.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # All of Me or None of Me: Why I Left Sojourners - URL: https://www.loganmartinisaac.com/i-left-sojourners/ - Published: 2026-07-07T15:59:51.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-03T19:31:00.000Z - Author: Logan Martin Isaac - Tags: Bona Fides, Sojourners For fifteen years, Sojourners magazine used my writing to build their credibility on military issues. When I asked them to remove my unpaid work in January 2025, they refused. What their COO said during our negotiation β€” which I[ recorded](https://gijustice.com/20250129-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) β€” exposed everything wrong with how progressive institutions treat veteran voices. ### **What They Wanted** From 2007-2011, I wrote for Sojourners about conscience and war. Rose Berger helped me write better. The editing was substantive, even if it tended toward civilian catharsis rather than truly dialogical. I thought they were genuinely interested in centering veteran voices. It was performative. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/6a/176af55d-3866-4b2a-84a2-298ad9e4b215/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-08.57.33.png)](https://wng.org/sift/wallis-and-land-1617252346?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) Detail from 2011 'debate' tour featuring Jim Wallis and Richard Land. In November 2011, Sojourners CEO Jim Wallis held a National Press Club event on "moral issues in the election." \[all the links to which are now broken 🀷\] He discussed poverty, immigration, abortion, and gay marriage. He didn't mention veterans or military suicide in the media cycle leading up to Veterans Day in 2011, when 17 current and former soldiers were dying by suicide every day, when active duty suicides exceeded combat deaths. It was also less than a week before the After the Yellow Ribbon conference at Duke University, an event Sojourners refused to cover. I wrote a measured piece noting this omission. Managing editor Cathleen Falsani[ told me β€” three times in one email](https://gijustice.com/record/20111116-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) β€” that it was rejected "because of its criticism of Mr. Wallis." When I pushed back, she cited her brother's military service and Berger implied my service had made me "[distraught](https://gijustice.com/20111108-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com)." They wanted my anti-war testimony. They didn't want accountability for ignoring the plight of veterans. ### **The Pattern Continued** In 2021, I tried again. An [Advent piece on Luke's military themes](https://gijustice.com/20211215-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) was summarily rejected by Opinion editor Josiah Daniels within the hour. In August 2024, during the Vance-Walz military service controversy, I[ pitched a piece](https://gijustice.com/20240808-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) about how Vance was exploiting survivor's guilt for political points, exactly the kind of moral-issues-in-the-election content Sojourners claims to prioritize. They ignored it completely. In November, Daniels[ rejected a follow-up pitch](https://gijustice.com/20241114-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) and accused me of trying to improperly "influence" their editorial process when I'd simply asked for guidance β€” because they'd never responded to the August submission in the first place. I wrote back: "I do not deserve to be humiliated for trying to work within a biased system." ### **The Breaking Point** In January 2025, I asked them to[ remove my unpaid writing](https://gijustice.com/20250122-1117-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com). They ignored the request, then cited a copyright policy I never signed. I demanded a Zoom meeting with COO Matt Murphy. What he said[ vindicated every suspicion](https://gijustice.com/20250129-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) I'd harbored for fifteen years. **On tokenization:** Murphy said they weren't tokenizing me because "the pages aren't getting so much traffic that tokenizing you would be the concern." He missed the point. Tokenization isn't about traffic β€” it's about using veteran voices for institutional credibility while refusing to center veteran priorities. He proved this by admitting they wanted to keep my articles because removing them would hurt their "journalistic credibility" with partner organizations. **On priorities:** Murphy claimed veteran issues weren't a "priority" in 2011 due to "limited staff." I asked him to repeat that. "Saying war wasn't a priority in 2011? That's objectively bullshit. Acknowledging that's a luxury I don't get to have." **On power:** When I pointed out that Sojourners has more power than me, Murphy offered bridge-building metaphors. There's no bridge between unequal parties when the party with power exploits it at the expense of the other. My most devastating realization: the benefits Sojourners received severely outweighed the benefit my community received. That's not subjective. On[ February 1, 2025](https://gijustice.com/20250131-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com), Sojourners removed all my unpaid articles. Murphy asked me to remove the video of our conversation. I declined. ### **Not the End of the Pattern** In May 2026, I submitted[ one more piece](https://gijustice.com/20260513-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) β€” a direct response to a Sojourners essay on the imprecatory psalms, arguing those psalms belong especially to those whose bodies are already inside the cost of empire. I shared it with the author, who I knew from seminary, privately before submitting. No reply for five days. Then [a form rejection](https://gijustice.com/20260519-0910-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com). Then silence on my follow-up. In June, I[ wrote to the staff directly](https://gijustice.com/20260605-sojo/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com) and told them what I'm telling you now: their silence is the answer, and I'm treating it as one. ### **What This Means** Progressive institutions don't get to cherry-pick which parts of veteran experience fit their narrative. They don't get to use our voices for credibility while sidelining a [catastrophe of Biblical scale](https://bsky.app/profile/loganmartinisaac.com/post/3mq2wy5gnw22i?ref=loganmartinisaac.com). They don't get to reject our criticism while strip-mining our pain for political points. Solidarity means you accept all of a person. If you can’t bear their pain, you don’t get to harvest their personal struggles for your own catharsis. [*Full documentation: gijustice.com/tag/sojourners*](https://gijustice.com/tag/sojourners/?ref=loganmartinisaac.com)