Fixing the Moral Deficit

Fixing the Moral Deficit
Author: Ronald J. Sider
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2012-03-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830869735

The national deficit is certainly a crisis. But alongside it a moral deficit is exploding as well. Some want to unjustly thrust the burden of the debt on our grandchildren. Others want to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. But both plans are morally bankrupt. There is a way--a realistic way, a moral way--to fix the deficit. We can break political gridlock with solutions that stand on a foundation of solid values and fair play. If you are tired of politics as usual that fails to operate as if people mattered, take heart in Ron Sider's balanced, practical approach. Consistent with deeply Christian principles, he offers a way forward that truly provides justice for all.

The Deficit Myth

The Deficit Myth
Author: Stephanie Kelton
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2020-06-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1541736206

A New York Times Bestseller The leading thinker and most visible public advocate of modern monetary theory -- the freshest and most important idea about economics in decades -- delivers a radically different, bold, new understanding for how to build a just and prosperous society. Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country. Kelton busts through the myths that prevent us from taking action: that the federal government should budget like a household, that deficits will harm the next generation, crowd out private investment, and undermine long-term growth, and that entitlements are propelling us toward a grave fiscal crisis. MMT, as Kelton shows, shifts the terrain from narrow budgetary questions to one of broader economic and social benefits. With its important new ways of understanding money, taxes, and the critical role of deficit spending, MMT redefines how to responsibly use our resources so that we can maximize our potential as a society. MMT gives us the power to imagine a new politics and a new economy and move from a narrative of scarcity to one of opportunity.

Discerning Ethics

Discerning Ethics
Author: Hak Joon Lee
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830843728

The number of ethical issues that demand a response from Christians today is almost dizzying. How can Christians navigate such matters? With an unflinching yet irenic approach, this volume invites engagement with the biggest ethical issues by drawing on real-life experiences and offering a range of responses to some of the most challenging moral questions confronting the church today.

The Myth of the American Dream

The Myth of the American Dream
Author: D. L. Mayfield
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2020-05-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 083084824X

Affluence, autonomy, safety, and power—the central values of the American dream. But are they compatible with Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves? In essays grouped around these four values, D. L. Mayfield asks us to pay attention to the ways they shape our own choices, and the ways those choices affect our neighbors.

Commonwealth and Covenant

Commonwealth and Covenant
Author: Marcia Pally
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 427
Release: 2016-03-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 146744538X

In Commonwealth and Covenant Marcia Pally argues that in order to address current socioeconomic problems, we need not more economic formulas but rather a better understanding of how the world is set up — an ontology of how we and the world work. Without this, good proposals that arise lack political will and go unimplemented. Pally describes our basic setup as “separability-amid-situatedness” or “distinction-amid-relation.” Though we are all unique individuals, we become our singular selves through our relations and responsibilities to the people and environments around us. Pally argues that our culture’s overemphasis on “separability” — individualism run amok — results in greed, adversarial and deceitful political discourse and chicanery, resource grabbing, broken relationships, and anomie. Maintaining that separability and situatedness can and must be considered together in public policy, Pally draws on intellectual history, philosophy, and — especially — historic Christian and Jewish theologies of relationality to construct a new framework for addressing present economic and political ills.

Just Universities

Just Universities
Author: Gerald J. Beyer
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2021-02-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0823289990

Gerald J. Beyer’s Just Universities discusses ways that U.S. Catholic institutions of higher education have embodied or failed to embody Catholic social teaching in their campus policies and practices. Beyer argues that the corporatization of the university has infected U.S. higher education with hyper-individualistic models and practices that hinder the ability of Catholic institutions to create an environment imbued with bedrock values and principles of Catholic Social Teaching such as respect for human rights, solidarity, and justice. Beyer problematizes corporatized higher education and shows how it has adversely affected efforts at Catholic schools to promote worker justice on campus; equitable admissions; financial aid; retention policies; diversity and inclusion policies that treat people of color, women, and LGBTQ persons as full community members; just investment; and stewardship of resources and the environment.

After Trump

After Trump
Author: Donald Heinz
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2020-03-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532695330

A black social gospel movement arose after the Civil War to mitigate the broken promises of reparations and the reestablishment of white supremacy. After the Gilded Age, a new social gospel arose in the early twentieth century that brought together Christian proclamation and an ethic of social justice that became liberal Protestantism's distinctive contribution to world Christianity, leaving residues in the New Deal and the Great Society. In the face of poverty and bondage in the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. led a second wave of the black social gospel movement and died for it, as prophets do. It birthed new liberation movements on many fronts. Again things fell apart as the Reagan Revolution massively redistributed wealth and social benefits upward and "late capitalism" flourished. In this environment tax cuts for the wealthy and massive inequalities grew, and President Trump inherited the resentments of the Christian Right and the opportunism of economic conservatives. Would a recurring social gospel have made a difference? After Trump, American Christianity faces another crisis of decision. Will the strange God of the Bible be re-called, will the churches re-live as social movements that bring good news to all the people, will American Christianity re-contest the public square and proclaim a new social gospel for our times? This book is an invitation and a manifesto.

Just Politics

Just Politics
Author: Ronald J. Sider
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2012-09-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441239820

Evangelicals today probably have more political influence in the United States than at any time in the last century--but they might not be certain what to do with it. It has been difficult to develop a unified voice on pressing issues such as social justice and moral renewal. Bestselling author and theologian Ron Sider offers a biblically grounded, factually rooted, Christian approach to politics that cuts across ideological divides. Shaped by a careful study of society, this book will guide readers into more thoughtful and effective political activity. It addresses perennially tough questions that often divide the church and includes a case study of the federal deficit debate. Practical, balanced, and nonpartisan, this book will be a welcome resource during the 2012 presidential race. This is a revised version of what was previously published as The Scandal of Evangelical Politics.

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
Author: Ronald J. Sider
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2015-07-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0718037197

In an age obsessed with wealth, Christians seem to have forgotten that scripture encourages believers to give to the poor. Why do 1.3 billion people live in abject poverty? And what should Christians do about it? Despite a dramatic reduction in world hunger, 34,000 children still die daily of starvation and preventable disease, and 1.3 billion people around the world remain in abject poverty. Dr. Ron Sider, a professor of theology, examines the issues of poverty and hunger in modern society. While the Bible is full of instructions to care for the poor and warns against being seduced by riches, it’s been statistically proven that the richer countries become, the less they give. Finding that conservatives blame what they consider to be morally reprehensible individual choices, and liberals blame what they believe to be constrictive social and economic policy, Dr. Sider finds himself agreeing with both sides. First published in 1978, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger has had an enormous impact on how believers (and churches) view questions of poverty and hunger. Dr. Sider’s insights provide a compelling look at what it truly means to follow Christ. This edition of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger is: Newly revised, expanded and updated Listed as one of the 100 most influential books in religion in the 20th century A resource for Christians seeking to overcome poverty and change the economic structures of our world In this fresh look at an age-old problem, Dr. Sider offers a detailed explanation of the causes of poverty and hunger, as well as a comprehensive series of practical solutions for Christians who want to seriously pursue their faith and become better followers of Jesus.