The American democratic socialist tradition began with radical democrats of the early American Re... more The American democratic socialist tradition began with radical democrats of the early American Republic, acquired movement infrastructure with the founding of the Knights of Labor and the Socialist Party, and established a socialist flank in the American Federation of Labor. Scholarship on American socialism has been overdetermined by two contrasting ways of looking down on it represented by Ira Kipnis and Daniel Bell, and has persistently underestimated the importance of religious socialism, through which most of the early movement’s female and African American socialists came into the movement.
It is a great privilege for me to address this remarkable gathering of ecumenical social justice ... more It is a great privilege for me to address this remarkable gathering of ecumenical social justice advocates. I've been asked to speak about the economic crisis of our time and the involvement of Christian communities in struggles for social justice, and I'm going to begin by saying something about the tradition of ecumenical social ethics that we share. The idea that our faith calls us to create a just society is as old as the biblical message of letting justice flow like a river and pouring yourself out for the poor and vulnerable, as in the magnificent text from Isaiah 58 that underlies this conference. This scriptural idea was renewed in the early 1880s by the Social Gospel Movement, which created the field that I teach, social ethics. Long before the Social Gospel arose, there were Christian movements in this country that opposed slavery, war, economic oppression, male supremacism, and alcohol. But the Social Gospel introduced something new-the idea that salvation has to be personal and social to be saving. The Social Gospel Movement was the greatest surge of social justice activism ever waged by the mainline churches in this country. It was not a coincidence that the social gospel, social ethics, sociology, socialism, and the very ideas of social structure, social salvation, and social justice all arose at the same time; also corporate capitalism and the trade unions. There were 17 things wrong with the Social Gospel Movement, beginning with the fact that most of it was moralistic, idealistic, and not very brave about racial justice. We have paid a steep price in the churches for the fact that the Social Gospel failed to interrogate white supremacism as a structure of power based on privilege that presumes to define what is normal. But for all the things the Social Gospel got wrong, it got some crucial things right. It recovered the centrality of the Kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus. It taught that Christianity has a mission to transform the structures of society in the direction of social justice. It created the Ecumenical Movement in this country. It was the wellspring of the Civil Rights Movement through the ministries of Reverdy Ransom, Benjamin Mays, Ida Wells-Barnett, Mordecai Johnson, and Martin Luther King Jr. For decades it was a mostly Protestant enterprise in this country, but John Ryan planted the seeds of a Catholic Social Gospel that became a movement in the 1920s.
... Book design by Sharon Adams Cover design by Night dr Day Design First edition Published by We... more ... Book design by Sharon Adams Cover design by Night dr Day Design First edition Published by Westminster John Knox Press Louisville, Kentucky This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39.48 standard. ...
The American democratic socialist tradition began with radical democrats of the early American Re... more The American democratic socialist tradition began with radical democrats of the early American Republic, acquired movement infrastructure with the founding of the Knights of Labor and the Socialist Party, and established a socialist flank in the American Federation of Labor. Scholarship on American socialism has been overdetermined by two contrasting ways of looking down on it represented by Ira Kipnis and Daniel Bell, and has persistently underestimated the importance of religious socialism, through which most of the early movement’s female and African American socialists came into the movement.
It is a great privilege for me to address this remarkable gathering of ecumenical social justice ... more It is a great privilege for me to address this remarkable gathering of ecumenical social justice advocates. I've been asked to speak about the economic crisis of our time and the involvement of Christian communities in struggles for social justice, and I'm going to begin by saying something about the tradition of ecumenical social ethics that we share. The idea that our faith calls us to create a just society is as old as the biblical message of letting justice flow like a river and pouring yourself out for the poor and vulnerable, as in the magnificent text from Isaiah 58 that underlies this conference. This scriptural idea was renewed in the early 1880s by the Social Gospel Movement, which created the field that I teach, social ethics. Long before the Social Gospel arose, there were Christian movements in this country that opposed slavery, war, economic oppression, male supremacism, and alcohol. But the Social Gospel introduced something new-the idea that salvation has to be personal and social to be saving. The Social Gospel Movement was the greatest surge of social justice activism ever waged by the mainline churches in this country. It was not a coincidence that the social gospel, social ethics, sociology, socialism, and the very ideas of social structure, social salvation, and social justice all arose at the same time; also corporate capitalism and the trade unions. There were 17 things wrong with the Social Gospel Movement, beginning with the fact that most of it was moralistic, idealistic, and not very brave about racial justice. We have paid a steep price in the churches for the fact that the Social Gospel failed to interrogate white supremacism as a structure of power based on privilege that presumes to define what is normal. But for all the things the Social Gospel got wrong, it got some crucial things right. It recovered the centrality of the Kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus. It taught that Christianity has a mission to transform the structures of society in the direction of social justice. It created the Ecumenical Movement in this country. It was the wellspring of the Civil Rights Movement through the ministries of Reverdy Ransom, Benjamin Mays, Ida Wells-Barnett, Mordecai Johnson, and Martin Luther King Jr. For decades it was a mostly Protestant enterprise in this country, but John Ryan planted the seeds of a Catholic Social Gospel that became a movement in the 1920s.
... Book design by Sharon Adams Cover design by Night dr Day Design First edition Published by We... more ... Book design by Sharon Adams Cover design by Night dr Day Design First edition Published by Westminster John Knox Press Louisville, Kentucky This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39.48 standard. ...
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