Mobilizing, Organizing, and Religion: On the Relevance and Irrelevance of Christianity

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Stuttgarter Schulderklärung (Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt), 1945, signed among others by Martin Niemöller, translation mine. Available online: https://www.ekd.de/Stuttgarter-Schulderklarung-11298.htm.

2 Transforming the world is how the United Methodist Church defines its mission. The full mission statement of the United Methodist Church is “to make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” The Book of Discipline, 93.

3 Examples include Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE, www.cluejustice.org), Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ, www.iwj.org), and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW, www.ciw-online.org).

4 The term “inreach” was initially coined by Frederick Herzog. For more sustained reflection on this topic, see Rieger, “Reaching Out and Reaching In.”

5 Davis, “Interview with Jane McAlevey.”

6 See Horsley, Jesus and the Powers. For much earlier, and mostly forgotten discourses on this topic that emerged not in the academy but in the world of organizing and social movements see Burns, The Life and Death of the Radical Historical Jesus.

7 Jesus’ proclamation of “good news to the poor” (Matt. 11:5) cannot be limited to the promise of service. To be truly good news, it has to include the end of poverty.

8 For an account of experiences in the context of specific campaigns see Rieger and Henkel-Rieger, Unified we Are a Force, chapter 6.

9 For a promising effort, spearheaded by the Southeast Center for Cooperative Development, with support of the Louisville Institute, see: https://www.co-opsnow.org/cit-project.

10 Efforts by liberal theologians to copy liberation theologies have generally proven to be counterproductive, especially in the United States.

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Joerg Rieger

Joerg Rieger Distinguished Professor of Theology, Cal Turner Chancellor's Chair in Wesleyan Studies, Director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice, Graduate Department of Religion and Divinity School, Vanderbilt University