Showing posts with label activism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label activism. Show all posts

Zealous Love: A Practical Guide to Social Justice Review

Zealous Love: A Practical Guide to Social Justice
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Zealous Love: A Practical Guide to Social Justice ReviewZealous love consists of eight sections, one each for
* human trafficking,
* unclean water,
* refugees,
* hunger,
* education,
* the environment,
* HIV and AIDS,
* and economic inequality.
Each section consists of an introduction, which the authors call the "briefing." These introductions tend to give numbers and facts that document the problem. (Numerous footnotes seem to indicate that the numbers are at least colorably accurate.) These briefings probably do not tell the reader much that he or she did not already know, at least on some vague level. Though the scale of human trafficking might come as a shock, for example, the existence of the problem shouldn't.
After the briefing are "field notes," first-hand accounts from a variety of sources. Some are from missionaries telling about their experiences among refugees, some from church leaders who have led their churches to reduce Christmas spending or to be more active givers to charity, and some are from people who have simply toned down their lives by eliminating what they do not need.
Each section concludes with a "What Now?" section that asks the reader to reflect and then, perhaps, respond. This section contains a variety of references--websites, addresses, and so forth.
This is a book aimed at Christians, filled with scriptural references. The focus is not on spreading the Word but on alleviating the injustices in the world, and to that end, the book is relatively free of specific doctrine and thus should appeal to all Christians, from the most evangelical to the most progressive or liberal. In other words, "Zealous Love" is not an attempt to proselytize. It is an attempt to get believers to respond to the greatest problems the world faces.
There are a few minor objections I have to the book. The first is that it does not offer as many practical options as I expected. Perhaps it was simply that the words "A Practical Guide to Social Justice" at the top of the front cover led me to expect more. On the other hand, I hardly needed a book to tell me of all the charities at home and abroad for which we can volunteer or to which we can donate. Another small quibble is that the book itself is a rather heavy tome, printed on high-quality glossy paper. It seems to me that this product is not the most eco-friendly.
These qualms are minor, though. For the most part, "Zealous Love" is a very good effort to call upon Christians to work for social justice, not by changing the world individually but by becoming more aware of the problems and working in some way to help alleviate the suffering of others.
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Gustavo Gutierrez: Spiritual Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters) Review

Gustavo Gutierrez: Spiritual Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters)
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Gustavo Gutierrez: Spiritual Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters) ReviewDaniel Groody, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, and colleague of Gutierrez, has managed, in this slim volume, to serve up a tasty buffet of the choicest morsels of Gustavo's writing. And choosing which dishes to include could have only been a daunting task as Gustavo, who turned 83 this year, has been in the kitchen working out these recipes for a long time.
Gustavo Gutierrez: Spiritual Writings is assembled from very recent works including a 2009 Theological Studies article and a forthcoming book, as well as selections from We Drink from Our Own Wells (1983), On Job (1987), The God of Life (1991), his work on Bartolome de Las Casas (1993), The Density of the Present (1996), and the early and formative volume, A Theology of Liberation (1971). The corpus of Gustavo's work represents a lifetime of practice, study, and reflection, from which he has developed a theology of how to be Christian and how to work out the gratuitous love of God which is both a gift and a demand on our lives. Groody's collection is a well done overview and synthesis of Gustavo's thought.
For me, Gutierrez shines brightest when he exegetes Scripture. This collection does not disappoint, including lengthy extracts of Gustavo's work on the Beatitudes, the book of Job, and several other portions of the gospels. His reflections offer a fresh and insightful reading of these passages, prodding the reader to scratch below surface impressions and stretch beyond traditional and usual interpretations to see what scripture might mean from the perspective of those in most need, those for whom the words might have been most intended. These glimpses are tantalizing and draw one back to the original sources to gain a fuller understanding of Gustavo's thought on these scriptures.
The collection contains a section in which Gutierrez commemorates, in brief sketches, the journeys of those who influenced and encouraged him such as Dom Helder Camara and Oscar Romero, and lesser known personalities Sr. Maria Agustina and Vicente Hondarza. Here we are treated to an inside look at the lives of both prominent and ordinary, and see how faithfulness and commitment quietly motivate and sustain through various kinds of suffering and injustice.
The volume concludes with some of Gutierrez' most recent thought on his classic idea of the preferential option for the poor. In part he says, "The preferential option for the poor, if it aims at the promotion of justice, equally implies friendship with the poor and among the poor. Without friendship there is neither authentic solidarity nor a true sharing."
For those familiar with the work of Gustavo Gutierrez, this collection will be a return to the feast of rich ideas and compelling reflection on discipleship and justice. For those new to this pastor and scholar, this volume of insight into the spirituality which has inspired Gustavo's theology will be a perfect introduction and will leave you wanting more.
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The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance Review

The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance
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The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance ReviewDorothee Soelle's "The Silent Cry" appeared shortly before her death, and it's a fitting swansong for a theologian who spent her entire life exploring and living the intersections between action and contemplation. Her exploration of mysticism accomplishes three goals. In the first section of the book, Soelle works out a general definition of mysticism, arguing that it is a sensibility all of us possess even though it's rarely appreciated (much less cultivated) by either society or institutionalized religion. Her reflections (chapter 4) on mysticism's essentially uncommunicable insights into God and reality, and hence its search for a "new language," are particularly good. In the second section of the book, she explores five foci of mystical experience: nature, erotic love, suffering, community, and joy. Each of these contexts can birth awareness of the Beyond that is also Present. The chapter on eroticism is especially insightful. But it's in the third section that Soelle comes into her own and offers truly original and masterful work. Here she argues at great length for the thesis that mysticism isn't at all a private, individualistic mode of experience, but in fact is a mode of social resistance and liberation. Her position might be called "liberation mysticism." Of particular interest are her discussions of voluntary simplicity and nonviolence.
All in all, a fantastic book. It's a very nice complement indeed to Evelyn Underhill's classic study. Thanks, Dorothee!The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance Overview

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Good News About Injustice, Updated 10th Anniversary Edition: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World Review

Good News About Injustice, Updated 10th Anniversary Edition: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World
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Good News About Injustice, Updated 10th Anniversary Edition: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World ReviewHaugen shows very clearly that the gospel includes social action. Scriptures requires the believer to act justly and to seek justice for all. Haugen shows that we can not sit idly by while other human beings are oppressed by people of power. Haugen calls on us to have a full orbed understanding of the gospel and reminds us of what every Christian is called to do......seek justice!Good News About Injustice, Updated 10th Anniversary Edition: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World Overview

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The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear Review

The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear
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The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear ReviewEdited 20 Dec 07 to add links to more recent books along these lines.
My title page, where I put my summary notes, is covered with writing. The first and most important point: this is not a "do gooder feel good" book--it is a compelling, absorbing book that lays out some good insights and provides an antidote to paralysis and dispair. It is, in short, a book that inspires many small actions that in the aggregate could lead to revolutionary improvements in democracy and our quality of life.
It took a lot of work to put this book together, including getting all the copyright permissions, and if I had one complaint, it is that I have already read many of these older items (e.g. Mandela, Havel, Martin Luther King) and it was too difficult to find the original pieces commissioned just for this book. Having said that--as a 52 year old that reads a great deal--I would quickly say that if you want to introduce younger people to great thinkers in the democratic tradition, it would be hard to do better than this book as a "reader."
The book is also complemented by the online aids for further study and for reading group discussion.
I thought of my teen-ager as I read the book, and wrote his name in several places on the margin--this book is relevant to parents dealing with very smart young people who may tend to say "I'm never having children" because the world is going to hell.
At a tactical level, this book complements Bill Moyer's "Doing Democracy," and is a personal counterpart to Jonathan Schell's work, "The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People."
I put the book down with one big thought ably communicated by this book: The problem among us is not that we lack power, but that we lack the will and perspective to use the power that we do have in small ways that add up to big power in the aggregate.
See also, with reviews:
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
Escaping the Matrix: How We the People can change the world
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration
One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents)
The Average American: The Extraordinary Search for the Nation's Most Ordinary CitizenThe Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear Overview

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