Confounding the Mighty: Stories of Church, Social Class and Solidarity Kindle Edition
by Luke Larner (Author) and think it is very good as it's one of the first collections where the intersections of ethnicity, social class, gender and other factors are considered theologically and in terms of implications for the church. Very much in the tradition of Ken Leech...
I think the problem with flagging up marriage and parenting as a major driver of differnces in outcomes is that it pushes the discussion back onto individual morality. There are so many structural factors that push back against stable relationships, economic precariousness, housing and employment pressures, the cost of weddings (even church fees for them) as well as the cultural stuff of instant personal gratification. In ethnic diversity there are also different models of marriage and family life, including the history of slaveru and colonialism, the caste and honour syste,, arranged marriages and dowries, patriarchal assumptions all of which can bring unhealthy features into marriage and family life and make lifelong marriage seem unattractive. Is their really a universal pattern for Christian marriage and family life - behond a call to faithfullness and self giving love?
In urban and estate churches...whether superdiverse or mainly white working class, there is a big issue here around theology and Christian etihcs.. or is it just church culture... One of our local churches has stopped a divorced woman who is getting together with a new partner from being a Sunday school teacher. Meanwhile in our parish we have just recognized ttwo ALMs living in households where they are not married and have children from earlier partners... But we delight in their growing faith, and their evident gifts.. and that their current relationships seem more stable, caring and loving than previous ones and many in the local estate. And some of our pastoral work has been about supporting women (including local Muslim women) in ending abusive and violent relationships.
I cannot do justice to your rich and detailed essay. You are onto the truth of the matter. My quibbles, and they are quibbles, go to word choice. Prejudice and bigotry at the individual level seem more fundamental to solving the problem than abstract words like "structural," and "institutional racism." Individual choices are more central in the year 2023 than systematic analysis. Thank you for this essay, a nice contribution to the public square.
I've just been reading this
Confounding the Mighty: Stories of Church, Social Class and Solidarity Kindle Edition
by Luke Larner (Author) and think it is very good as it's one of the first collections where the intersections of ethnicity, social class, gender and other factors are considered theologically and in terms of implications for the church. Very much in the tradition of Ken Leech...
I think the problem with flagging up marriage and parenting as a major driver of differnces in outcomes is that it pushes the discussion back onto individual morality. There are so many structural factors that push back against stable relationships, economic precariousness, housing and employment pressures, the cost of weddings (even church fees for them) as well as the cultural stuff of instant personal gratification. In ethnic diversity there are also different models of marriage and family life, including the history of slaveru and colonialism, the caste and honour syste,, arranged marriages and dowries, patriarchal assumptions all of which can bring unhealthy features into marriage and family life and make lifelong marriage seem unattractive. Is their really a universal pattern for Christian marriage and family life - behond a call to faithfullness and self giving love?
In urban and estate churches...whether superdiverse or mainly white working class, there is a big issue here around theology and Christian etihcs.. or is it just church culture... One of our local churches has stopped a divorced woman who is getting together with a new partner from being a Sunday school teacher. Meanwhile in our parish we have just recognized ttwo ALMs living in households where they are not married and have children from earlier partners... But we delight in their growing faith, and their evident gifts.. and that their current relationships seem more stable, caring and loving than previous ones and many in the local estate. And some of our pastoral work has been about supporting women (including local Muslim women) in ending abusive and violent relationships.
I cannot do justice to your rich and detailed essay. You are onto the truth of the matter. My quibbles, and they are quibbles, go to word choice. Prejudice and bigotry at the individual level seem more fundamental to solving the problem than abstract words like "structural," and "institutional racism." Individual choices are more central in the year 2023 than systematic analysis. Thank you for this essay, a nice contribution to the public square.