An Introduction to Prophetic Activism
An Introduction to Prophetic Activism
This introductory chapter provides an overview of prophetic activism. Contemporary prophetic activism has grown in direct response to the steady reversal of both formal and substantive rights triggered by the shift from national to global capitalism and the accompanying rise to power of conservative free-market politics. In the United States, conservatives gained national political power in part by criticizing the marginalized, including “welfare moms,” young urban black and Latino men, gays and lesbians, undocumented immigrants, and Muslims. This book suggests that religion can be and is being used to frame a progressive politics that prophetically calls for justice, peace, and the healing of the world. Indeed, some of the most significant social movements of the twentieth century emerged from exactly such interpretations of ancient religious texts that pointed to the essential dignity and equality of all human beings as rooted in God's love for all humanity.
Keywords: prophetic activism, global capitalism, free-market politics, marginalized groups, religion, progressive politics
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