Faith in Freedom

Faith in Freedom
Author: Andrew R. Polk
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2021-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 150175923X

In Faith in Freedom, Andrew R. Polk argues that the American civil religion so many have identified as indigenous to the founding ideology was, in fact, the result of a strategic campaign of religious propaganda. Far from being the natural result of the nation's religious underpinning or the later spiritual machinations of conservative Protestants, American civil religion and the resultant "Christian nationalism" of today were crafted by secular elites in the middle of the twentieth century. Polk's genealogy of the national motto, "In God We Trust," revises the very meaning of the contemporary American nation. Polk shows how Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, working with politicians, advertising executives, and military public relations experts, exploited denominational religious affiliations and beliefs in order to unite Americans during the Second World War and, then, the early Cold War. Armed opposition to the Soviet Union was coupled with militant support for free economic markets, local control of education and housing, and liberties of speech and worship. These preferences were cultivated by state actors so as to support a set of right-wing positions including anti-communism, the Jim Crow status quo, and limited taxation and regulation. Faith in Freedom is a pioneering work of American religious history. By assessing the ideas, policies, and actions of three US Presidents and their White House staff, Polk sheds light on the origins of the ideological, religious, and partisan divides that describe the American polity today.

Freedom Faith

Freedom Faith
Author: Courtney Pace
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2019-06-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0820355054

Freedom Faith is the first full-length critical study of Rev. Dr. Prathia Laura Ann Hall (1940–2002), an undersung leader in both the civil rights movement and African American theology. Freedom faith was the central concept of Hall’s theology: the belief that God created humans to be free and assists and equips those who work for freedom. Hall rooted her work simultaneously in social justice, Christian practice, and womanist thought. Courtney Pace examines Hall’s life and philosophy, particularly through the lens of her civil rights activism, her teaching career, and her ministry as a womanist preacher. Moving along the trajectory of Hall’s life and civic service, Freedom Faith focuses on her intellectual and theological development and her radiating influence on such figures as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Marian Wright Edelman, and the early generations of womanist scholars. Hall was one of the first women ordained in the American Baptist Churches, USA, was the pastor of Mt. Sharon Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and in later life joined the faculty at the Boston University School of Theology as the Martin Luther King Chair in Social Ethics. In activism and ministry, Hall was a pioneer, fusing womanist thought with Christian ethics and visions of social justice.

Faith and Freedom

Faith and Freedom
Author: Michah Gottlieb
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2011-03-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199838240

The recent renewal of the faith-reason debate has focused attention on earlier episodes in its history. One of its memorable highlights occurred during the Enlightenment, with the outbreak of the "Pantheism Controversy" between the eighteenth century Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and the Christian Counter-Enlightenment thinker Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi. While Mendelssohn argued that reason confirmed belief in a providential God and in an immortal soul, Jacobi claimed that its consistent application led ineluctably to atheism and fatalism. At present, there are two leading interpretations of Moses Mendelssohn's thought. One casts him as a Jewish traditionalist who draws on German philosophy to support his premodern Jewish beliefs, while the other portrays him as a secret Deist who seeks to encourage his fellow Jews to integrate into German society and so disingenuously defends Judaism to avoid arousing their opposition. By exploring the Pantheism Controversy and Mendelssohn's relation to his two greatest Jewish philosophical predecessors, the medieval Rabbi Moses Maimonides and the seventeenth century heretic Baruch Spinoza, Michah Gottlieb presents a new reading of Mendelssohn arguing that he defends Jewish religious concepts sincerely, but gives them a humanistic interpretation appropriate to life in a free, diverse modern society. Gottlieb argues that the faith-reason debate is best understood not primarily as an argument about metaphysical questions, such as whether or not God exists, but rather as a contest between two competing conceptions of human dignity and freedom. Mendelssohn, Gottlieb contends, gives expression to a humanistic religious perspective worthy of renewed consideration today.

Freedom, Faith, and Dogma

Freedom, Faith, and Dogma
Author: V. S. Soloviev
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780791475362

A collection of works by nineteenth-century Russian religious philosopher V. S. Soloviev, critic of secularization, anti-Semitism, and the religious life of his time.

Faith, Freedom, and the Future

Faith, Freedom, and the Future
Author: Michael Nazir-Ali
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2016-05-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532600240

With unique insight and wisdom, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali surveys the current challenges facing today's church and provides a compelling hope-filled vision of what a living Christian faith, and its comprehensive outworking, can offer society today. Bishop Michael boldly tackles a range of pressing and controversial issues with astute scholarship and understanding--including: the challenges of Islam, freedom and conscience, the 'modern family', bioethics, and the uncertain future of the worldwide Anglican Communion and, by implication, other mainline denominations.

Faith Seeking Freedom

Faith Seeking Freedom
Author: Norman Horn
Publisher:
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2020-11-10
Genre:
ISBN: 9781733658447

Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking "Agh! I wish I had said?"In the moment, we sometimes struggle to respond with clear and concise answers to the many questions we are asked on everything from faith to politics. This can be especially true when the topic is faith and politics. In Faith Seeking Freedom: Libertarian Christian Answers To Tough Questions, the Libertarian Christian Institute has gathered together some of the brightest minds at the intersection of Christianity and Libertarianism to answer over 100 of the most commonly asked questions on the topic.

This Life

This Life
Author: Martin Hägglund
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2020-02-04
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1101873736

Winner of the René Wellek Prize Named a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Millions, and The Sydney Morning Herald This Life offers a profoundly inspiring basis for transforming our lives, demonstrating that our commitment to freedom and democracy should lead us beyond both religion and capitalism. Philosopher Martin Hägglund argues that we need to cultivate not a religious faith in eternity but a secular faith devoted to our finite life together. He shows that all spiritual questions of freedom are inseparable from economic and material conditions: what matters is how we treat one another in this life and what we do with our time. Engaging with great philosophers from Aristotle to Hegel and Marx, literary writers from Dante to Proust and Knausgaard, political economists from Mill to Keynes and Hayek, and religious thinkers from Augustine to Kierkegaard and Martin Luther King, Jr., Hägglund points the way to an emancipated life.

Faith in Freedom

Faith in Freedom
Author: Thomas Szasz
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2017-07-12
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1351520741

The libertarian philosophy of freedom is characterized by two fundamental beliefs: the right to be left alone and the duty to leave others alone. Psychiatric practice routinely violates both of these beliefs. It is based on the notion that self-ownership—exemplified by suicide—is a not an inherent right, but a privilege subject to the review of psychiatrists as representatives of society. In Faith in Freedom, Thomas Szasz raises fundamental questions about psychiatric practices that inhibit an individual's right to freedom. His questions are fundamental. Is suicide an exercise of rightful self-ownership or a manifestation of mental disorder? Does involuntary confinement under psychiatric auspices constitute unjust imprisonment, or is it therapeutically justified hospitalization? Should forced psychiatric drugging be interpreted as assault and battery on the person or is it medical treatment? The ethical standards of psychiatric practice mandate that psychiatrists employ coercion. Forgoing such "intervention" is considered a dereliction of the psychiatrists' "duty to protect." How should friends of freedom—especially libertarians—deal with the conflict between elementary libertarian principles and prevailing psychiatric practices? In Faith in Freedom, Thomas Szasz addresses this question more directly and more profoundly than in any of his previous works.

For God and Country

For God and Country
Author: Ralph Reed
Publisher: Regnery
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2020-03-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1684510570

Donald Trump—Defender of Religious Freedom In 2016, many Christian leaders at first opposed candidate Donald Trump. He was a former social liberal, and his occasional vulgarity, multiple marriages and divorces, and tabloid scandals made it impossible for him to defend Christian values in public life. Or so they thought. Trump nevertheless won four-fifths of the Evangelical vote in 2016, as well as the majority of the Catholic vote. And in 2020, the idea that he can’t represent Christians is demonstrably false. He has been the most ardent and effective presidential defender of religious liberty and the pro-life cause since Ronald Reagan—and perhaps in U.S. history. In For God and Country, Dr. Ralph Reed draws on his deep knowledge of American history, his unsurpassed experience as a political strategist, his personal dealings with President Trump and the First Family, and his moral commitment as a Christian to show why Catholics and Evangelicals should continue to strongly support their unlikely champion. In For God and Country, Reed reveals: The sincerity of President Trump’s defense of the Christian faith—and why he has delivered policy victories when other pro-Christian presidents haven’t Why Trump is the most pro-Israel president in American history How liberals hope to demoralize Christians—and thus defeat Donald Trump and reverse his pro-life, pro-family, pro–religious freedom policies Why Never-Trump Christians naively preach de facto political surrender For God and Country is not just required reading for the 2020 election; it is required reading for every conservative Christian who loves America and wants to return it to Christian values.