Resisting Structural Evil

Resisting Structural Evil
Author: Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2013
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1451462670

Reorienting Christian ethics from its usual anthropocentrism to an ecocentrism entails a new framework that Moe-Lobeda lays out in her first chapters, culminating in a creative rethinking of how it is that we understand morally.

Resisting Structural Evil

Resisting Structural Evil
Author: Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2013-02-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1451426399

Ecojustice, social justice, and the Christian conscience ""This is a grand prophetic book motivated by love and focused on justicesocial justice, ecological justice, and dignity for 'the least of these.' Don't miss it!"" --Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary ""This book is a gift to all consumers looking for a way out of their addiction. Those of us (myself included) who know our excessive consumption is causing ecological and economic disasters should read Professor Moe-Lobedas new book. It is the best one-volume analysis of our moral dilemma I know of and, even better, it suggests principles and practices to help deal with it."" --Sallie McFague, Vancouver School of Theology ""Cynthia Moe-Lobeda's Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological and Economic Transformation takes the form of a powerful contribution to Christian ethics, but in fact it is also a major contribution to anyone in any religious or spiritual tradition who seeks to maintain both a commitment to God and to global healing and transformation. Easily accessible and charming in presentation, deep in its ability to confront difficult issues squarely and in a nuanced way, courageous in insisting that we see reality not only as it is but as it could be if we were willing to be ""unrealistic"" for a few moments, manifesting daring of thought combined with a pervasive humilitythis is a true classic of spiritual progressive consciousness, packed full of ideas that should be taught in every college and university and religious seminary, every church, synagogue, mosque and ashram!"" --Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor, Tikkun Magazine; Chair, The Network of Spiritual Progressives ""Cynthia Moe-Lobeda's book is one of the strongest statements yet to be made on the intricate connections between ecology and justice. The powerful stories and persuasive arguments lay the groundwork for the necessary transformations ahead. It will be a catalyst for change!"" --Mary Evelyn Tucker, Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University Key Features: Mapping the ethical terrain of an imperiled planet Convincingly showing how ecojustice relates to economic justice Rethinking Christian ethics in light of the ecological crisis The increasingly pressing situation of Planet Earth poses urgent ethical questions for Christians. But, as Cynthia Moe-Lobeda argues, the future of the earth is not simply a matter of protecting species and habitats but of rethinking the very meaning of Christian ethics. The earth crisis cannot be understood apart from the larger human crisiseconomic equity, social values, and human purpose are bound up with the planet's survival. In a sense, she says, the whole earth is a moral community. Reorienting Christian ethics from its usual anthropocentrism to an ecocentrism entails a new framework that Moe-Lobeda lays out in her first chapters, culminating in a creative rethinking of how it is that we understand morally. With this ""moral epistemology"" in place, she unfolds her notion of ""moral vision"" and applies it to the present situation in a full-fledged earth-honoring, justice-seeking Christian ethical stance.

Radical Reform

Radical Reform
Author: Tariq Ramadan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2009-02-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0195331710

In this new book, Tariq Ramadan argues that it is crucial to find theoretical and practical solutions that will enable Western Muslims to remain faithful to Islamic ethics while fully living within their societies and their time. He notes that Muslim scholars often refer to the notion of ijtihad (critical and renewed reading of the foundational texts) as the only way for Muslims to take up these modern challenges. But, Ramadan argues, in practice such readings have effectively reached the limits of their ability to serve the faithful in the West as well as the East. In this book he sets forward a radical new concept of ijtihad, which puts context -- including the knowledge derived from the hard and human sciences, cultures and their geographic and historical contingencies -- on an equal footing with the scriptures as a source of Islamic law.

Everyday Justice

Everyday Justice
Author: Julie Clawson
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2010-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1458766845

WHERE DOES YOUR CHOCOLATE COME FROM? DOES IT MAT TER IF YOUR COFFEE IS FAIR TRADE OR NOT? It matters - more than you might think. Julie Clawson takes us on a tour of everyday life and shows how our ordinary lifestyle choices have big implications for justice around the world. She unpacks how we get our food and clothing and shows us the surprising costs of consumer waste. How we live can make a difference not only for our own health but also for the well-being of people across the globe. The more sustainable our lifestyle, the more just our world will be. Everyday justice is one way of loving God and loving our neighbors. So don't panic. We can live more ethically, through the little and big decisions we make every day. Find out how.

Womanist Theological Ethics

Womanist Theological Ethics
Author: Katie Geneva Cannon
Publisher: Presbyterian Publishing Corp
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2011-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0664235379

Writing across theological disciplines, nine African American women scholars reflect on what it means to live as responsible doers of justice. With some classic essays and some contributions published here for the first time, each chapter in this new volume in the Library of Theological Ethics series presents analytical strategies for understanding the story of womanist scholarship in the service of the black community. The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.

The Violence of Climate Change

The Violence of Climate Change
Author: Kevin J. O'Brien
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2017
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1626164355

It is beyond debate that human beings are the primary cause of climate change. Many think of climate change as primarily a scientific, economic, or political problem, and those perspectives inform Kevin O'Brien's analysis. But O'Brien argues that we should respond to climate change first and foremost as a case of systematic and structural violence. As he points out, global warming is primarily caused by the carbon emissions of the affluent, emissions that harm the poor first and worst. Climate change divides human beings from one another and from the earth; in short, global warming and climate change is violence. In order to sustain a constructive and creative response to this violence, he contends, society needs practical examples of activism and nonviolent peacemaking. O'Brien identifies five such examples from US history, providing brief biographies of heroic individuals whose idealism and social commitment and political savvy can model the fight against climate change and for climate justice: Quaker abolitionist John Woolman; social reformer Jane Addams; Catholic worker advocate Dorothy Day; civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.; and union organizer Cesar Chavez. These moral exemplars, all of whom were motivated by their Christian faith, serve as witnesses to those seeking to make peace in response to the violence of climate change.

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology
Author: John Hart
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 559
Release: 2017-05-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1118465563

In the face of the current environmental crisis—which clearly has moral and spiritual dimensions—members of all the world’s faiths have come to recognize the critical importance of religion’s relationship to ecology. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology offers a comprehensive overview of the history and the latest developments in religious engagement with environmental issues throughout the world. Newly commissioned essays from noted scholars of diverse faiths and scientific traditions present the most cutting-edge thinking on religion’s relationship to the environment. Initial readings explore the ways traditional concepts of nature in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and other religious traditions have been shaped by the environmental crisis. Readings then address the changing nature of theology and religious thought in response to the challenges of protecting the environment. Various conceptual issues and themes that transcend individual traditions—climate change, bio-ethics, social justice, ecofeminism, and more—are then analyzed before a final section examines some of the immediate challenges we face in caring for the Earth while looking to the future of religious environmentalism. Timely and thought-provoking, Companion to Religion and Ecology offers illuminating insights into the role of religion in the ongoing struggle to secure the future well-being of our natural world. With a foreword by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and an Afterword by John Cobb

Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life

Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life
Author: Bruce C. Birch
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2018-05-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1451438540

Earth is changing in ways it hasn't for hundreds of thousands of years. At the same time, Christianity is breaking away from its millennium-long geographical and cultural center in the Euro-West. Its growth is in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, primarily in Pentecostal, evangelical, and independent churches. These dramatically changed planetary and ecclesial landscapes have led many to conclude that we need a new way of thinking about our collective existence: who are we and what is the nature of our responsibility in this deeply altered world? To address that question, biblical scholars Bruce C. Birch and Jacqueline E. Lapsley and Christian ethicists Larry L. Rasmussen and Cynthia Moe-Lobeda carry on "a new conversation" that engages how Christians are to understand the authority and use of Scripture, the basic elements of any full-bodied Christian ethic attuned to our circumstances, and the nature of our responsibility to our planetary neighbors and creation itself.

Resisting Exclusion

Resisting Exclusion
Author: Eva Harasta
Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2019-11-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3374061761

As societies live with diversity and yet struggle with both social fragmentation and increasing economic inequalities, populism is once again rising. Populist ethno-nationalist discourse seeks to ignite fear and hate, promote marginalization and exclusion of those who are regarded as not belonging to "the people". What is the role and responsibility of theology and the churches in the midst of these developments? Church leaders and teaching theologians from eighteen different countries offer analyses, trace emerging global trends and outline some country-specific developing situations. Examples are given of how churches take up the challenge to resist exclusion and advocate for strengthening participatory processes and people's agency. Widerstand gegen Ausgrenzung. Globale theologische Antworten auf den Populismus In Zeiten, in denen Gesellschaften mit der Vielfalt leben und dennoch mit sozialer Fragmentierung und zunehmenden wirtschaftlichen Ungleichheiten zu kämpfen haben, nimmt der Populismus wieder zu. Der populistische ethno-nationalistische Diskurs zielt darauf ab, Angst und Hass zu schüren und die Marginalisierung und Ausgrenzung derjenigen zu fördern, die als nicht zum "Volk" gehörend betrachtet werden. Welche Rolle und Verantwortung haben die Theologie und die Kirchen angesichts dieser Entwicklungen? Kirchenleitende und Theologen aus achtzehn verschiedenen Ländern erstellen Analysen, verfolgen neue globale Tendenzen und beschreiben einige länderspezifische Entwicklungssituationen. Anhand von Beispielen wird gezeigt, wie Kirchen die Herausforderung annehmen, der Ausgrenzung zu widerstehen und sich für die Stärkung von partizipativen Prozessen und der Handlungskompetenz der Menschen einzusetzen.

The Book of Why

The Book of Why
Author: Judea Pearl
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2018-05-15
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0465097618

A Turing Award-winning computer scientist and statistician shows how understanding causality has revolutionized science and will revolutionize artificial intelligence "Correlation is not causation." This mantra, chanted by scientists for more than a century, has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. Today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, instigated by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and established causality -- the study of cause and effect -- on a firm scientific basis. His work explains how we can know easy things, like whether it was rain or a sprinkler that made a sidewalk wet; and how to answer hard questions, like whether a drug cured an illness. Pearl's work enables us to know not just whether one thing causes another: it lets us explore the world that is and the worlds that could have been. It shows us the essence of human thought and key to artificial intelligence. Anyone who wants to understand either needs The Book of Why.