From “Jungles of Terror” to “God Will Begin a Healing in This City”: Billy Graham and Evangelicals on Cities and Suburbs

2020 ◽  
pp. 009614422094004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Social Issues ◽  
White Flight ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Spiritual Renewal ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Billy Graham ◽  
Structural Responses ◽  
Limited Power ◽  
Conservative Protestants

Evangelist Billy Graham spoke to millions in the postwar era when suburban populations swelled and many white Americans, including conservative Protestants, left cities for suburbs. Adding to research on white flight and the suburbanization of religious groups, this study of Graham’s consistent approach to cities and suburbs over six decades demonstrates how conservative Protestants’ individualistic approach to social and spiritual ills contributed to their negative view of cities and justified settling in suburban locations. Graham discussed numerous urban problems and suggested solutions should begin with individual spiritual renewal. Graham proclaimed heaven as the ultimate city and did not encourage listeners to stay in cities or challenge white flight. As a respected pastor and leader, Graham’s messages highlight how evangelicals could consider cities in need of spiritual renewal but not require structural responses or living in cities as well as the limited power evangelical religious leaders have regarding contentious social issues.

Non-ordained

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanine Kraybill
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Women Religious ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Female Leadership ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Religious Congregations ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Institutional Church

The Catholic Church, constructed on an all-male clerical model, is a hierarchical and gendered institution, creating barriers to female leadership. In interviewing members of the clergy and women religious of the faith, this article examines how female non-ordained and male clerical religious leaders engage and influence social policy. It specifically addresses how women religious maneuver around the institutional constraints of the Church, in order to take action on social issues and effect change. In adding to the scholarship on this topic, I argue that part of the strategy of women religious in navigating barriers of the institutional Church is not only knowing when to act outside of the formal hierarchy, but realizing when it is in the benefit of their social policy objectives to collaborate with it. This maneuvering may not always safeguard women religious from institutional scrutiny, as seen by the 2012 Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, but instead captures the tension between female religious and the clergy. It also highlights how situations of institutional scrutiny can have positive implications for female religious leaders, their policy goals and congregations. Finally, this examination shows how even when women are appointed to leadership posts within the institutional Church, they can face limitations of acceptance and other constraints that are different from their female religious counterparts working within their own respective religious congregations or outside organizations.

Parenting and Politics: The Personal and the Political in the Evangelical Family Values Movement

2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Hilde Løvdal Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Family Values ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Cultural Activism ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Politics And Culture ◽  
Billy Graham ◽  
Christian Family ◽  
Conservative Protestants

Today, evangelical Christians in the U.S. are known for their passion for the so-called traditional family and engagement in political and cultural battles over children and child rearing. That has not always been the case. This article examines how parenting became a cultural and political battleground for evangelicals in the last decades of the 20th century. Conservative Protestants have engaged with politics and culture in the past. They supported the Prohibition movement; they opposed Darwin’s theory of evolution; they worried about the decadent culture of the 1920s. In the late 1900s, however, child rearing and parenting became a catch-all framework for all their concerns. Parenting took on new, profound meaning. Preachers like Billy Graham would reject his former notions that he was called to preach, saying he was first and foremost called to father. Evangelical Christian family experts like James Dobson and Larry Christenson linked parenting to social order. Family experts guided evangelicals in their political and cultural activism, telling them that the personal is political and that political issues can be solved one family at a time.

The Integration of Mission Theology and Practice: Zinzendorf and the Early Moravians

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Cultural Humility ◽  
Spiritual Renewal ◽  
Mission Theology ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The Holy Spirit

AbstractThis paper explores the key characteristics of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf's mission theology that influenced the early Moravian missional practice. After discussing the early eighteenth century European historical context and the Spirit-renewal of the Herrnhut community, the paper considers Zinzendorf's theology on the death of Christ, the prominent role of the Holy Spirit, and harvesting the "first fruits." These theological distinctives contributed in determining the motivation and message of these pioneer Protestant missionaries. It then takes into account some of the subsequent methods such as working with the marginalized, practicing the love of Christ in cultural humility, and preaching the gospel in the vernacular. The main contributions of the early Moravians to mission were that they brought an understanding that spiritual renewal preceded mission renewal, the atoning death of Christ is central to mission theology, and a Protestant recognition that it had an obligation to do mission. On the other hand, the foremost negative aspects of Moravian mission were their obsession with the physical death of Christ and an ignorance of the broader social issues that at times resulted in a lack of contextualization, religious syncretism, indifference to social justice, and extreme subjectivism.

The Book of Mormon

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Perry Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Native Americans ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
William Apess ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
Early American ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Future

This chapter examines the Book of Mormon's racial theology of “white universalism.” It explores the supposed pre-Columbian history that the Book of Mormon contains, notably the origins of Native Americans as a remnant of Israelites called the “Lamanites.” It also explores the future that the Book of Mormon prophesies in which the Lamanites unify with believing “Gentiles” to become one “white and a delightsome” people and together build a New Jerusalem in America before Christ’s return. The chapter also includes an examination of the Book of Mormon prophet, “Samuel, the Lamanite.” Samuel’s case, along with other marginalized early American religious leaders like William Apess and Jerana Lee, shows that non-white Americans have a “privileged sight” onto America and America’s religious communities that fail to live up to their own ideals of inclusion and equality. The views of marginalized figures are thus essential for an accurate accounting of America’s past.

African Americans: Practice Interventions

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon E. Moore
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Residential Segregation ◽  
Teen Pregnancy ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
White Collar ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Female Headed Households ◽  
White Workers ◽  
Wage Earnings

African Americans number about 35 million or 12% of the U.S. population. Their life expectancy is lower than that of White Americans, and despite the educational gains made since mid-1980s, the unemployment gap between African Americans and Whites has increased. Similarly, although the number of African Americans working in white-collar occupations has increased, the disparity in wage earnings between African American and White workers continues. Regardless of social class African Americans are made to be cognizant of their race at all times. Today they are still at risk for social issues such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, incarceration, poverty, high rates of female headed households, infant mortality that is twice as high as Whites, residential segregation, racism, and discrimination. As daunting as these problems are, the strengths of the African American community have allowed it to thrive even amid arduous circumstances.

scholarly journals A review of the use of biological mesh products in modern UK surgical practice: a religious and cultural perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 102 (8) ◽  
pp. 566-570
Author(s):  
RM Koshy ◽  
EG Kane ◽  
C Grocock
Keyword(s):  
Surgical Planning ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Religious Perspective ◽  
Ovid Medline ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

Introduction The UK is an increasingly multicultural society. This change coincides with an increasing use of animal products in medicine and surgery and a change in the UK law of consent. The refusal of Jehovah’s Witnesses to accept blood products is well known, but the use of animal products in surgery is a neglected topic. As society becomes more diverse and medicine becomes ever more advanced, there is increasing potential for a mismatch between what is medically possible and what is acceptable from a religious perspective. Methods Surgical products were identified by searching the literature and contacting manufacturing companies. Literature was identified by using PubMed and OVID (MEDLINE). Religious views were established by contacting national bodies for each group. Findings The views of common UK religious groups and the constituent parts of biological meshes are summarised in tables intended to be used as a reference during clinical practice. On an elective basis, the Islamic, Hindu. Sikh and Jain leaders contacted had strong views on avoiding animal derived products. The Christian and Jewish leaders contacted did not. All religious leaders contacted accepted the use of mesh derived from human tissue. All products, including those of porcine and bovine origin, were acceptable to all leaders contacted if the procedure was performed to save life. The highlighting of this issue should prompt earlier consideration and discussion in the surgical planning and the consenting process with all final decisions taken by both the surgeon and the individual patient.

Shareholder spring and social activism: a study of 2013-2015 proxy filings

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 560-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ram Subramanian
Keyword(s):  
Social Issues ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Dominant Strategy ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Managers ◽  
Fortune 500 Companies ◽  
High Level ◽  
A Company

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine social issue proxy filings by shareholders of US corporations in a period commonly referred to as the “shareholder spring” to understand who the filers are, what issues are typically the focus of the filings, what the dominant strategy is of various filers and the success rate of proxy-based shareholder social activism. Design/methodology/approach Using the shareholder-filed proxy as the unit of analysis, the study parsed the data from 410 proxies to gain insight into the process of shareholder social activism. Findings Religious groups, in contrast to large pension and mutual funds, use a small shareholding approach to form coalitions with other stakeholders to gain voting support. Proxies that call for disclosure elicit greater support than those that demand a change in a company’s business practices. If the goal of shareholder social activism is to keep the proxy issue alive from one shareholder meeting to the next, then non-individual proxy filers can be considered successful. Research limitations/implications While the study only considered proxies for 250 of the Fortune 500 companies, there is evidence that social activism can succeed if a coalition strategy is used and the shareholder’s motives appear to be legitimately altruistic. Practical implications It is important for corporate managers to consider the prevailing shareholder sentiment on social issues because such sentiments largely echo general societal concerns. Social implications While the debate is still unsettled on the shareholder versus the stakeholder argument, there is a high level of scrutiny on how a company operates in the larger societal context. Originality/value Propelled by the Dodd–Frank law and the shareholder spring movement, certain types of shareholders (primarily religious groups) are quite adept at eliciting support for social issues because of both their legitimacy and by the strategy that they follow.

scholarly journals PENDIDIKAN PLURALISME MELALUI KURIKULUM PENDIDIKAN AGAMA ISLAM BERBASIS KEMAJEMUKAN

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 307
Author(s):  
Mutakallim .
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
The Past ◽  
Perennial Philosophy ◽  
The People ◽  
Lasting Peace ◽  
The Face ◽  
Exciting Effect

Experts and religious leaders have tried everything in order to create an intimate and harmonious relationship between religious people in this famous, very pluralistic country of Indonesia. Through writings both books, magazines, journals and even through seminars and pulpits of sermons always suggest the importance of cooperation and dialogue between religious groups. Although it seems, their suggestions have not had such an exciting effect. To gain success for the realization of the noble goal of lasting peace and brotherhood among people who in reality have different religions and faiths, it is necessary to have the courage to invite them to make changes in the field of education, especially through a diversity-based curriculum. Because, through a curriculum like this, it is possible to be able to dismantle the theology of each religion which has tended to be displayed exclusively and dogmatically. A theology which usually only claims that only religion can build worldly welfare and usher in humans in God's heaven. The doors and rooms of heaven are only one that cannot be opened and entered except with the religion that he embraces. Even though such aology, we must admit, is something that is very worrying and can disturb the harmony of the people of religions in the present pluralistic era. An era in which all societies with all their elements are required to be interdependent and collect their fate together in order to create lasting peace. Here lies the challenge for religion (including Islam) to re-define itself in the midst of other religions. Or by borrowing the language John Lyden, an expert on religions, is "what should I think about other religions than one’s own? What should a Muslim think about non-Muslims. Is it still as an enemy or as a friend. Of course there is still the presumption of one religion with another as an enemy. It must be thrown away. Isn't in fact all of us as brothers and friends? Islam through the Qur'an and its Hadith teaches tolerant attitudes. In addition, the importance of reforming the PAI curriculum by presenting the face of tolerant Islam can be explained from the point of view of perennial philosophy, essentialism and progressiveness. In the view of perennialism the curriculum is "construct" which is built to transfer what has happened in the past to the next generation to be preserved, continued or developed. While in the philosophical perspective of progressivism, the position of the curriculum is to build a future life in which the past, present, and various plans for the development and development of the nation are used as the basis for developing future life. From this it is possible to teach the principles of humanist, democratic and equitable Islamic teachings to students. A principle of Islamic teachings that is very relevant to enter the future of the world which is characterized by the existence of cultural and religious diversity.

scholarly journals Ambiguitas Agama sebagai Peluang dalam Menciptakan Perdamaian Agama

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ihsan Ali Fauzi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Conflict Management ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Peace Studies ◽  
Malcolm X ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Dalai Lama ◽  
Religious Issues ◽  
Martin Luther King

Popular news on religious issues tends to simplify the values of religion in socio-political expressions. They attend to blow acts of violence up in the name of religion. In this context, media remark some religious groups by using horrible terms and idioms, such as zealots, extremists, militants, etc. Moreover, they swipe it with taking some appalling photos and pictures. Religious leaders perceive this phenomenon as kind of misunderstanding paradigm in approaching and viewing religion, having known that conflict and violence are not only socio-political expression of religion. There are many untold beautiful expressions of religion, like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Malcolm X, and Dalai Lama. This article attempts to explore how religion can deeply be embodied with peace building, conflict management, and peace studies. It suggests that in order to be a tool of peace building, religion should not be used for proselytizing other people but rather should be put in academic and rational way to spread voices of peace. In addition to this, peace message of religion should also be expressed especially in social media as a counteraction against violent message of religious extremists. And the last thing is that peace building can only be achieved when peace work can bridge religious and secular communities.

Part III, 11 Religious Group Autonomy

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahdar Rex ◽  
Leigh Ian
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Religious Group ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Third ◽  
Matters Of Concern ◽  
The Right

This chapter examines religious group autonomy, which comprises the right of religious communities to determine and administer their own internal religious affairs without interference from the state. It begins with a brief survey of the law's recognition of religious group autonomy. It contrasts a liberal understanding of religious autonomy with that of the religious communities themselves. It then focuses upon three illustrative matters of concern in this area. One is the right of religious groups to select their own religious leaders and ministers. The second is the right of groups to assemble for worship in buildings and locations of their choosing. The third concern is the right of religious communities to determine for themselves who they will marry within the rites of their communities.

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