An important new volume showcasing a wide range of faith-based responses to one of today's most pressing social issues, challenging us to expand our ways of understanding. Land of Stark Contrasts brings together the work of social scientists, ethicists, and theologians exploring the profound role of religion in understanding and responding to homelessness and housing insecurity in all corners of the United States-from Seattle, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley to Dallas and San Antonio to Washington, D.C., and Boston. Together, the essays of Land of Stark Contrasts chart intriguing ways forward for future initiatives to address the root causes of homelessness. In this way they are essential reading for practical theologians, congregational leaders, and faith-based nonprofit organizers exploring how to combine spiritual and material care for homeless individuals and other vulnerable populations. Social workers, nonprofit managers, and policy specialists seeking to understand how to partner better with faith-based organizations will also find the chapters in this volume an invaluable resource. Contributors include James V. Spickard, Manuel Mejido Costoya and Margaret Breen, Michael R. Fisher Jr., Laura Stivers, Lauren Valk Lawson, Bruce Granville Miller, Nancy A. Khalil, John A. Coleman, S.J., Jeremy Phillip Brown, Paul Houston Blankenship, Maria Teresa Davila, Roberto Mata, and Sathianathan Clarke. Co-published with Seattle University's Center for Religious Wisdom and World Affairs

A major study on the theology of Beloved Community. This long-awaited work by the church's top clergy, scholars, and thought leaders examines the theological foundation of Beloved Community and its threats. It addresses such important topics as the legacy and sin of white supremacy, economic disparity, racial healing, and the call for reparations. The committee's work sheds light on the societal and cultural implications of the largest obstacle to the core mission of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and outlines what is necessary for the future of racial justice. "I am so grateful for the... work of the theologians and bishops who have spent the last five years working on [this study] . . . This is hard and holy work, not to hurt or harm, but to help and heal." -Michael B. Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church

An important new volume showcasing a wide range of faith-based responses to one of today's most pressing social issues, challenging us to expand our ways of understanding. Land of Stark Contrasts brings together the work of social scientists, ethicists, and theologians exploring the profound role of religion in understanding and responding to homelessness and housing insecurity in all corners of the United States-from Seattle, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley to Dallas and San Antonio to Washington, D.C., and Boston. Together, the essays of Land of Stark Contrasts chart intriguing ways forward for future initiatives to address the root causes of homelessness. In this way they are essential reading for practical theologians, congregational leaders, and faith-based nonprofit organizers exploring how to combine spiritual and material care for homeless individuals and other vulnerable populations. Social workers, nonprofit managers, and policy specialists seeking to understand how to partner better with faith-based organizations will also find the chapters in this volume an invaluable resource. Contributors include James V. Spickard, Manuel Mejido Costoya and Margaret Breen, Michael R. Fisher Jr., Laura Stivers, Lauren Valk Lawson, Bruce Granville Miller, Nancy A. Khalil, John A. Coleman, S.J., Jeremy Phillip Brown, Paul Houston Blankenship, Maria Teresa Davila, Roberto Mata, and Sathianathan Clarke. Co-published with Seattle University's Center for Religious Wisdom and World Affairs

A major study on the theology of Beloved Community. This long-awaited work by the church's top clergy, scholars, and thought leaders examines the theological foundation of Beloved Community and its threats. It addresses such important topics as the legacy and sin of white supremacy, economic disparity, racial healing, and the call for reparations. The committee's work sheds light on the societal and cultural implications of the largest obstacle to the core mission of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and outlines what is necessary for the future of racial justice. "I am so grateful for the... work of the theologians and bishops who have spent the last five years working on [this study] . . . This is hard and holy work, not to hurt or harm, but to help and heal." -Michael B. Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church

Why do certain groups and individuals seek to do harm in the name of God? While studies often claim to hold the key to this frightening phenomenon, they seldom account for the crucial role that religious conviction plays, not just in radical Islam, but also in the fundamentalist branches of the world's two other largest religions: Christianity and Hinduism. As the first book to examine violent extremism in all three religions together, Competing Fundamentalisms draws on studies in sociology, psychology, culture, and economicswhile focusing on the central role of religious ideasto paint a richer portrait of this potent force in modern life. Clarke argues that the forces of globalization fuel the aggression of these movements to produce the competing feature of religious fundamentalisms, which have more in common with their counterparts across religious lines than they do with the members of their own religions. He proposes ways to deescalate religious violence in the service of peacemaking. Readers will gain important insights into how violent religious fundamentalism works in the world's three largest religions and learn new strategies for promoting peace in the context of contemporary interreligious conflict.