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 Joining HandsPolitics And Religion Together For Social Changeby Roger S. Gottlieb Feb 5, 2004
DescriptionDid Martin Luther King's spiritual understanding of political struggle truly help the Civil Rights movement? Can breast cancer victims incorporate both spiritual wisdom and political action in their fight for life? Confronting questions that challenge the foundations of both politics and spirituality, Roger S. Gottlieb presents a brave new account of how religious ethics and progressive movements share a common vision of a transformed world. In doing so, he offers a bold and eloquent affirmation: that authentic religion requires an activist, transforming presence in the political world, and that the moral and psychological insights of religion are indispensable resources in political struggles for democracy, human rights and ecological sanity. With original and compelling interpretations of Martin Luther King and the civil rights struggle, feminism, disability rights, the global environmental movement, and the fight for breast cancer, Joining Hands will alter the way spiritual seekers, political activists, and society as a whole think about the political role of religion and the spiritual component of politics. Reviews"Roger Gottlieb has produced a profound and significant integration of spiritual and political concerns. Highlighting the spiritual strengths and weaknesses of the civil rights, anti-war, and feminist movements, Gottlieb shows that world-making politics and religion can be partners as they inform and deepen each other. As he ponders his role as a father of a physically challenged child, eschewing a perpetually optimistic version of spirituality, Gottlieb forces us to rethinking our commitment to "rational
autonomy" as central to human identity. Rather than the dogmatic confidence of the true believer, Gottlieb offers faith and hope that leads to individual and collective political action even in the face of sorrow and loss, and without the surety of success." "Gottlieb writes well and with passion." ?Makes refreshing contributions to the fields of social activism, and political science and will probably spark interesting discussion among readers.? ??[an] absorbing look at the merger of religion and politics.? ?Most who write on politics and religion do so from one side or the other. Gottlieb is deeply immersed in both. As a result this is the richest, most accurate and most balanced account to date of an issue that is, or should be, of central importance to all who care about the world's future.? ?It is hard to imagine a more timely work than Joining Hands. In a world increasingly subjected to the catastrophic polarity of violent fundamentalism and spiritless secularism, Roger Gottlieb offers a ?Middle Way,? generous, humane, and authentically hopeful.? ?Gottlieb?s book introduces a fresh voice and a refreshing perspective on a subject that has suffered too long from fixed ideas and static positions. It is a hopeful book at a time when much of the talk about religion and politics is glum. An important contribution.? ?This book is both extraordinarily smart and extraordinarily moving. If we are to solve the massive challenges we face, then the involvement of faith communities is mandatory - and as this novel argument makes clear, that involvement will benefit not only politics but also religion. This is a foundational document for anyone trying to figure out where activism will come from, and what it will look like, in the decades ahead.? ?An exceptionally important book. It shows how politics and spirituality need each other, and how we need both to create a better world.? Selling Territory |
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