Institute for Christian Socialism
While the story of Jesus’ birth among the outcast laid the foundation for Christian opposition to empire, it has as often been used as an affirmation of those powers. Can Christmas really be “reclaimed” as radical?
“That the pax Christi was intended precisely for those who could expect nothing from the pax romana gave me a new key to the Christmas narrative and to the whole New Testament”
Mary, a character of contradiction and scandal, is easily made “decent.” But Christians who want to grapple with the God who liberates the poor must see the Mary who was indecent.
The Socialist Decision, Paul Tillich’s tour de force on the imperative of socialism in the 20th century, is too little known or read. But it contains powerful insights into the continuities of conservative “romanticism” and the challenges of building socialism.
Critical race theory and intersectionality help us see that “whiteness” keeps everyone in bondage. In the undercommons and ghettos of the Black radical tradition, there are voices crying out in the wilderness, imagining new ways of relating to one another before it’s too late.
Theologians Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon recently denounced the “bourgeois” distortions of pastoral care in Christian Century. But their criticisms get some crucial things wrong about the state of the church under neoliberal capitalism.
Slavery and its legacy have disrupted the cause of labor for hundreds of years. Today, we need to connect the demand for reparations with the fight for worker empowerment.
Reactionary anticolonialism has existed ever since secularism’s arrival in Europe. Despite its disingenuousness, it bears a family resemblance to militant anticolonialism—even that of Aimé Césaire.
On the strike line, the rhetoric of clergy paints a vivid picture of the stakes of worker struggles: God is here with the workers, not their bosses. In St Louis, Episcopalian clergy are mapping out the future of the religious left.
Arise Chicago has been partnering with low-wage immigrant workers for years. Here are the stories of their courage and devastation in the face of Covid-19.