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Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Ethics & moral philosophy > Practical & applied ethics
Volatile social dissonance in America's urban landscape is the
backdrop as Valerie Miles-Tribble examines tensions in ecclesiology
and public theology, focusing on theoethical dilemmas that
complicate churches' public justice witness as prophetic change
agents. She attributes churches' reticence to confront unjust
disparities to conflicting views, for example, of Black Lives
Matter protests as "mere politics," and disparities in leader and
congregant preparation for public justice roles. As a practical
theologian with experience in organizational leadership,
Miles-Tribble applies adaptive change theory, public justice
theory, and a womanist communitarian perspective, engaging Emilie
Townes' construct of cultural evil as she presents a model of
social reform activism re-envisioned as public discipleship. She
contends that urban churches are urgently needed to embrace active
prophetic roles and thus increase public justice witness. "Black
Lives Matter times" compel churches to connect faith with public
roles as spiritual catalysts of change.
By critically surveying various approaches to Christian ecological
ethics alongside the vexing moral ambiguities of the Anthropocene,
Ecology of Vocation offers an integrative approach to responsible
living vis a vis one of Protestantism's key theological resources
the doctrine of vocation. Drawing on H. Richard Niebuhr's germinal
ethical framework with a decidedly ecofeminist perspective, Kiara
A. Jorgenson demonstrates how vocation's emphasis on right
relationship over right behavior or intentions practically speaks
to the embodied realities of planetary interrelatedness. By
excavating the ecological promise of the early Reformers'
democratized renderings of calling and linking their concerns to
the contemporary context, she argues that vocation cannot be
reduced to the particular aim of monetized work, nor to an elitist
escape from it. Rather, vocation must be recast as the dynamic and
vibrant space between the myriad roles any of us inhabits at any
given time in a particular place. When understood in this light,
vocation signals much more than a job, a passion, or a quest for
self-discovery. An alternative understanding of vocation's very
ecology can extend Christian conceptions of the neighbor beyond the
human and lead the church to more faithfully pursue lives
characterized by humility, restraint, wisdom, justice, and love.
For many, U2's Bono is an icon of both evangelical spirituality and
secular moral activism. In this book, Chad E. Seales examines the
religious and spiritual culture that has built up around the rock
star over the course of his career and considers how Bono engages
with that religion in his music and in his activism. Looking at
Bono and his work within a wider critique of white American
evangelicalism, Seales traces Bono's career, from his background in
religious groups in the 1970s to his rise to stardom in the 1980s
and his relationship with political and economic figures, such as
Jeffrey Sachs, Bill Clinton, and Jesse Helms. In doing so, Seales
shows us a different Bono, one who uses the spiritual meaning of
church tradition to advocate for the promise that free markets and
for-profits will bring justice and freedom to the world's poor.
Engaging with scholarship in popular culture, music, religious
studies, race, and economic development, Seales makes the
compelling case that neoliberal capitalism is a religion and that
Bono is its best-known celebrity revivalist. Engagingly written and
bitingly critical, Religion Around Bono promises to transform our
understanding of the rock star's career and advocacy. Those
interested in the intersection of rock music, religion, and
activism will find Seales's study provocative and enlightening.
The crisis of multiculturalism in the West and the failure of the
Arab uprisings in the Middle East have pushed the question of how
to live peacefully within a diverse society to the forefront of
global discussion. Against this backdrop, Indonesia has taken on a
particular importance: with a population of 265 million people
(87.7 percent of whom are Muslim), Indonesia is both the largest
Muslim-majority country in the world and the third-largest
democracy. In light of its return to electoral democracy from the
authoritarianism of the former New Order regime, some analysts have
argued that Indonesia offers clear proof of the compatibility of
Islam and democracy. Skeptics argue, however, that the growing
religious intolerance that has marred the country's political
transition discredits any claim of the country to democratic
exemplarity. Based on a twenty-month project carried out in several
regions of Indonesia, Indonesian Pluralities: Islam, Citizenship,
and Democracy shows that, in assessing the quality and dynamics of
democracy and citizenship in Indonesia today, we must examine not
only elections and official politics, but also the less formal, yet
more pervasive, processes of social recognition at work in this
deeply plural society. The contributors demonstrate that, in fact,
citizen ethics are not static discourses but living traditions that
co-evolve in relation to broader patterns of politics, gender,
religious resurgence, and ethnicity in society. Indonesian
Pluralities offers important insights on the state of Indonesian
politics and society more than twenty years after its return to
democracy. It will appeal to political scholars, public analysts,
and those interested in Islam, Southeast Asia, citizenship, and
peace and conflict studies around the world. Contributors: Robert
W. Hefner, Erica M. Larson, Kelli Swazey, Mohammad Iqbal Ahnaf,
Marthen Tahun, Alimatul Qibtiyah, and Zainal Abidin Bagir
This book walks readers through relevant Scripture passages on the
topic of concience-a largely neglected topic in the church today-to
offer guiding principles and practical advice for aligning our
consciences with God's will.
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