ReligionDispatches - Dispatches From Economy

RDPulpit: Obama Missed the Hope in State of the Union Address

Daniel Schultz — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:00:01 PST

In this adapted excerpt from his forthcoming book, RD contributor Daniel Schultz asks whether the president’s State of the Union address will foster hope, ‘newness,’ and faith or just reinforce the base assumptions about power and the economy.

Welcome to the (New) Gilded Age: Supreme Court Delivers the Goods to Corporations

Peter Laarman — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:00:01 PST

The Supreme Court struck down a century of regulations limiting corporate money in politics, clearing the way for a new Gilded Age. In the original Gilded Age (which inspired the Social Gospel movement), opposition was galvanized by a strong anti-corporate Christianity. Where's the religious opposition now?

Resisting the “New Normal” of Parasitic Capitalism in the Two Americas: The Religious Imperative

Peter Laarman — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:01 PST

In a time when “food insecurity” is used as a euphemism for hunger, religious leaders cannot be silent—or turn a deaf ear.

Escalating Afghanistan: What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy?

Peter Laarman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:01 PDT

Don’t the clergy have a duty to challenge the march of folly in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

‘Soul Murder’ in the American Workplace

Peter Laarman — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:00:01 PDT

As the media yawns at the latest unemployment numbers, our columnist seeks religious leadership on the taboo subject of our dysfunctional relationship to work. For even if the economy recovers and “full employment” returns, we will still be encountering a workplace that remains a site of utter terror in some instances and a site of routine abuse and low-grade anxiety in others.

Want to Love Your Neighbor? Pay Fair Wages

Kim Bobo — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:01 PDT

On this Labor Day, consider the results of a new report that reveals the pervasiveness of wage theft in the United States: from less-than-minimum wage pay to unpaid overtime to the refusal of meal breaks, many workers are being matter-of-factly robbed.

The Dirty Little Secret of Every Ponzi Scheme, or: Bernie Madoff’s 150 Year Sentence

Louis A. Ruprecht — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:00:01 PDT

18th-century visionary financier John Law and 21st-century crook Bernie Madoff both had compatriots with a ravenous desire for free money—the vice that drove the systems in which these kindred spirits operated.

Economy Yields Too Few Prophets

Peter Laarman — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:00:01 PDT

Few mainstream journalists are truly capturing the reality of the economy in terms of the nation’s worst off. As of last month, the actual number of workers in crisis is not the 14 million but more like 29 million, or 18 percent of the total workforce. Where are the religious coalitions willing to challenge the president’s policies?

Purchasing Morality: What Happens When “Buying Local” Itself is Marketed?

Laurie Patton — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:01 PDT

Buying locally reminds us that purchasing is a mythical act that cements us to community in some magical way. But what if the very morality of a “local” act is being marketed in its own right? Is it just as moral to help a Palestinian cultural center build community as it is to buy Cisco products whose ads promise the same?

Someone Has Been Giving Away Money

Susan Henking — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:01 PDT

There have always been tensions between religious reasons to give anonymously and social demands for accountability in giving. In this case the money, millions and millions of it, is going to women-led educational institutions.

Gordon Gekko Gets God: The Heritage Foundation of Theology

Peter Laarman — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:00:01 PDT

Even after the “revelation” that letting unregulated moneymen run the country isn't a good idea, the neoliberals at the Heritage Foundation are still churning out the message; like the latest book by “theologian” Jay W. Richards, Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution And Not the Problem.

RDPulpit: EFCA Needed to Stop Employers from Bearing False Witness

Kim Bobo — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:01 PDT

In addition to the direct consequences for workers and their families, one study estimated that for every worker fired, 395 coworkers got the message: attempt to organize and you’ll get fired too.

O(pinn)ion: Cosmic Lessons: When the Ministry Pulls a Madoff

Anthony B. Pinn — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:01 PDT

A minister’s son plays Bernie Madoff and swindles his father’s congregation out of millions. Is it helpful to see events like this in terms of God's plan?

The Ponzi Prosperity Gospel

Pen Itent — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:01 PDT

From an anonymous teacher with an inside view of the Prosperity Gospel. What happens when a theology of giving all you've got for a God who will enrich you meets the poorest and least educated?

How Much is a (Progressive) Pastor Worth?

Preston Davis — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:00:01 PDT

When New York City’s fabled Riverside Church brought in a new, evangelical pastor with a pay package of $600K it made roaring headlines and sparked a lawsuit. Our writer attended the Sunday service and reports back on the "controversy."

Better Gay at Work Than Gay in Church

Paul Gorrell — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:00:01 PDT

A new report on the state of the workplace for LGBT Americans shows that the Fortune 500 is way ahead of churches when it comes to equal rights. In some cases it’s easier to be gay at Chevron than in church on Sunday morning.

RDPulpit: The House Of Rock And Water; Obama, Economy & the Bible

Daniel Schultz — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:00:01 PDT

In a recent speech on the the economy, Obama could have stressed biblical justice; instead he opted for a “post-partisan” emphasis on firm foundations and solidarity in common cause.

I Owe, Therefore I Am: Why Struggling Against the Banks is a Holy Obligation

Peter Laarman — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:00:01 PDT

When we take the approach that “all are sinners,” we confuse big-time criminality with small-time folly. This moral obfuscation allows the far greater misfeasance of corporate creditors to get airbrushed out of the picture.

RDPulpit: A Test of Moral Leadership for President Obama at G-20

Mark S. Hanson — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:00:01 PDT

Lutheran religious leader challenges the President to make good on his campaign pledges to fight for the eradication of extreme poverty.

RDPulpit: No Time for Lukewarm Economic Reform

Peter Laarman — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:01 PDT

New dimensions of criminality and injustice in the world of finance are revealed every day. So why are religious progressives—who know a thing or two about revelation—still posing, equivocating, and trimming around the edges while poor people suffer at the hands of a predator elite?

Hands in the Till: When Priests Steal

Paul Gorrell — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:01 PST

An awful lot of Catholic priests have been caught embezzling from their parishes lately. Is it a symptom of larger dysfunction in the Church?

Change, Not Charity: What Ails the New Left-Right Coalition Against Poverty

Peter Laarman — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:01 PST

The Poverty Forum’s supposedly cross-the-spectrum plan to reduce poverty runs the gamut—from A to B. While it is perpetually depressing to see the Democrats drinking the Kool-Aid of “No Enemies Among The Privileged,” it actually turns the stomach a bit to see faith leaders who claim to care about the poor slurping up the same reality-free brew.

Liberation Theology is Alive and Well

Mary E. Hunt — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:01 PST

It wasn’t on CNN, but last month hundreds of theologians, activists, and indigenous people came together in Brazil to envision a new world; the gathering stressed diversity and sustainability, migration, and climate change.

O(Pinn)ion: Reevaluating a Faith-Based Nation

Anthony B. Pinn — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:01 PST

While it’s great that Obama’s faith-based program addresses nonbelief, without the proper vigilance we’ll simply get superficial “tolerance” of secularists with an assumed theistic backstory.

Markets and Morality: Faith-Based Investment Group Profiles Polluters

Frederick Clarkson — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:00:01 PST

Religious investors have often served as an early warning system, alerting businesses to ethical or environmental issues that affect society and the planet—and eventually the bottom line. The latest issue? Climate risk.