Universalism and Liberation


Book Description

The changing attitude of Catholic culture towards modernity After decades of a problematic, if not plainly hostile, approach to modernity by Catholic culture, the 1960s marked the beginning of a new era. As the Church employed a more positive approach to the world, voices in the Catholic milieu embraced a radical perspective, channeling the need for social justice for the poor and the oppressed. The alternative and complementary world views of ‘universalism’ and ‘liberation’ would drive the engagement of Catholics for generations to come, shaping the idea of international community in Catholic culture. Because of its traditional connection with the papacy and because of its prominent role in the map of European progressive Catholicism, Italy stands out as an ideal case study to follow these dynamics. By locating the Italian scenario in a broader geographical frame, Universalism and Liberation offers a new vantage point from which to investigate the social and political relevance of religion in an age of crisis.




Widening the Circle of Concern


Book Description

Appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in 2017, the UUA Commission on Institutional Change served through June 2020. Widening the Circle of Concern: Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change represents the culmination of the Commission’s work analyzing structural and systemic racism and white supremacy culture within Unitarian Universalism and makes recommendations to advance long-term cultural and institutional change that redeems the essential promise and ideals of Unitarian Universalism. The members and staff of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change were Chair Rev. Leslie Takahashi, Mary Byron, Cir L’Bert Jr., Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore, Dr. Elías Ortega, Caitlin Breedlove, DeReau K. Farrar, and Project Manager Rev. Marcus Fogliano.




Literatures of Liberation


Book Description

In Literatures of Liberation Non-European Universalisms and Democratic Progress, Mukti Lakhi Mangharam explores the role of indigenous, "contextual" universalisms in India and South Africa, examining overlooked regional and vernacular literary forms and providing a fresh approach to current theorizations of postcolonial literatures.




Bluu Notes


Book Description

"Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), both as an organization and as a growing spiritual family, offers BLUU Notes as an exploration of Unitarian Universalism as an orientation toward love and self-love, toward justice and liberation, and toward a call to relationship building that is grounded in accountability and care, all centered in Blackness and all with a belief in the power and possibility of Unitarian Universalism living up to the very best parts of itself"--




The Evangelical Universalist


Book Description

Can an orthodox Christian, committed to the historic faith of the Church and the authority of the Bible, be a universalist? Is it possible to believe that salvation is found only by grace, through faith in Christ, and yet to maintain that in the end all people will be saved? Can one believe passionately in mission if one does not think that anyone will be lost forever? Could universalism be consistent with the teachings of the Bible? In The Evangelical Universalist the author argues that the answer is ‘yes!’ to all of these questions. Weaving together philosophical, theological, and biblical considerations, he seeks to show that being a committed universalist is consistent with the central teachings of the biblical texts and of historic Christian theology.




Darkening the Doorways


Book Description

Profiles, essays, and archival documents of African-American Unitarian Universalists.




Grace Saves All


Book Description

Grace is amazing. About this all Christians agree. Yet nearly all forms of Christianity put significant limits on grace. Those forms of Christianity which proclaim grace alone actually saves typically don’t believe God gives grace to everyone; while those forms of Christianity which proclaim God gives grace to everyone typically don’t believe grace alone actually saves. Must grace either be that which saves alone but doesn’t go to all, or that which goes to all but doesn’t save alone? In Grace Saves All, David Artman argues that grace saves alone and goes to all. This inclusive approach to Christianity is variously called universal reconciliation, universal salvation, or perhaps most accurately, Christian universalism. He contends that the inclusive/Christian universalist approach is necessary because it offers the only Christian theology which successfully defends the goodness of God. For it logically follows that if God is all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful, then God must also be all-saving. Often dismissed as a modern feel-good theology, Christian universalism is an ancient, orthodox, and biblical theology which was expounded by early Christians and early church fathers. Artman brings much deserved attention to this wonderful spirituality.







An Essay on Liberation


Book Description

In this concise and startling book, the author of One-Dimensional Man argues that the time for utopian speculation has come. Marcuse argues that the traditional conceptions of human freedom have been rendered obsolete by the development of advanced industrial society. Social theory can no longer content itself with repeating the formula, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," but must now investigate the nature of human needs themselves. Marcuse's claim is that even if production were controlled and determined by the workers, society would still be repressive—unless the workers themselves had the needs and aspirations of free men. Ranging from philosophical anthropology to aesthetics An Essay on Liberation attempts to outline—in a highly speculative and tentative fashion—the new possibilities for human liberation. TheEssay contains the following chapters: A Biological Foundation for Socialism?, The New Sensibility, Subverting Forces—in Transition, and Solidarity.




Decolonizing Universalism


Book Description

Decolonizing Universalism argues that feminism can respect cultural and religious differences and acknowledge the legacy of imperialism without surrendering its core ethical commitments. Transcending relativism/ universalism debates that reduce feminism to a Western notion, Serene J. Khader proposes a feminist vision that is sensitive to postcolonial and antiracist concerns. Khader criticizes the false universalism of what she calls 'Enlightenment liberalism, ' a worldview according to which the West is the one true exemplar of gender justice and moral progress is best achieved through economic independence and the abandonment of tradition. She argues that anti-imperialist feminists must rediscover the normative core of feminism and rethink the role of moral ideals in transnational feminist praxis. What emerges is a nonideal universalism that rejects missionary feminisms that treat Western intervention and the spread of Enlightenment liberalism as the path to global gender injustice. The book draws on evidence from transnational women's movements and development practice in addition to arguments from political philosophy and postcolonial and decolonial theory, offering a rich moral vision for twenty-first century feminism.