Sandra L. Barnes
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823249565
- eISBN:
- 9780823252619
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823249565.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Black megachurches and their pastors are often accused of: failing to use their considerable resources to help the poor; focusing on Prosperity Theology rather than social justice; requiring ...
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Black megachurches and their pastors are often accused of: failing to use their considerable resources to help the poor; focusing on Prosperity Theology rather than social justice; requiring excessive monetary and time commitments of members; and, pilfering church coffers for the pastor's personal use. The debate continues about whether these congregations are doing all they can to address challenges in the Black community. Live Long and Prosper examines some of the motivations and subsequent programmatic efforts of Black megachurches in light of Prosperity or “Health and Wealth” Theology. This theology emphasizes two characteristics - physical health and economic wealth - as examples of godly living and faith. This book considers how Black megachurches address two pressing social problems in the Black community – HIV/AIDS (a “health” issue) and poverty (a “wealth” issue) – and whether and how their efforts are influenced by church and clergy profiles, theology, in general, and Prosperity Theology, in particular. Frame analysis informs this mixed-methodological study to compare and contrast experiences, theological beliefs, pastoral profiles, and programs among Black megachurches. Live Long and Prosper is a must read for academics and students in sociology, sociology of religion, cultural studies, and ethnic studies as well as for mainstream readers interested in some of the contemporary Black megachurch's response to social problems.Less
Black megachurches and their pastors are often accused of: failing to use their considerable resources to help the poor; focusing on Prosperity Theology rather than social justice; requiring excessive monetary and time commitments of members; and, pilfering church coffers for the pastor's personal use. The debate continues about whether these congregations are doing all they can to address challenges in the Black community. Live Long and Prosper examines some of the motivations and subsequent programmatic efforts of Black megachurches in light of Prosperity or “Health and Wealth” Theology. This theology emphasizes two characteristics - physical health and economic wealth - as examples of godly living and faith. This book considers how Black megachurches address two pressing social problems in the Black community – HIV/AIDS (a “health” issue) and poverty (a “wealth” issue) – and whether and how their efforts are influenced by church and clergy profiles, theology, in general, and Prosperity Theology, in particular. Frame analysis informs this mixed-methodological study to compare and contrast experiences, theological beliefs, pastoral profiles, and programs among Black megachurches. Live Long and Prosper is a must read for academics and students in sociology, sociology of religion, cultural studies, and ethnic studies as well as for mainstream readers interested in some of the contemporary Black megachurch's response to social problems.
Gail M. Presbey
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823239825
- eISBN:
- 9780823239863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823239825.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The manipulation of fear is a tool of choice, both for state governments and terrorists. In this current time, in which Americans are asked to send their sons and daughters to wage a War on Terror ...
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The manipulation of fear is a tool of choice, both for state governments and terrorists. In this current time, in which Americans are asked to send their sons and daughters to wage a War on Terror and to sacrifice their civil liberties as well as substantial amount of public funding to wage that war, Presbey’s chapter could not be more timely. She weaves a synthetic account and makes use of classical and modern Western philosophical thought, Catholic social teaching, contemporary social analyses and a biographical sketch of Berrigan’s life. She then examines the public use of fear, be it in the workplace, in political debate, or in warfare, and finally considers Berrigan’s own grappling with fear, his courageous, challenging response to fear, and his reaching out in service to those society tends to fear, such as persons living with AIDs.Less
The manipulation of fear is a tool of choice, both for state governments and terrorists. In this current time, in which Americans are asked to send their sons and daughters to wage a War on Terror and to sacrifice their civil liberties as well as substantial amount of public funding to wage that war, Presbey’s chapter could not be more timely. She weaves a synthetic account and makes use of classical and modern Western philosophical thought, Catholic social teaching, contemporary social analyses and a biographical sketch of Berrigan’s life. She then examines the public use of fear, be it in the workplace, in political debate, or in warfare, and finally considers Berrigan’s own grappling with fear, his courageous, challenging response to fear, and his reaching out in service to those society tends to fear, such as persons living with AIDs.
Sandra L. Barnes
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823249565
- eISBN:
- 9780823252619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823249565.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The chapter summarizes the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Black community and the Black Church's limited response to it as the context for an analysis of Black megachurch responses to the social problem. ...
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The chapter summarizes the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Black community and the Black Church's limited response to it as the context for an analysis of Black megachurch responses to the social problem. Findings show that the vast majority of the sample churches sponsor programs to combat HIV/AIDS. Moreover, they tend to understand the pandemic based on the following four frames; sexuality, health, poverty, and prosperity. The chapter also describes mediating factors and processes strategically used during the framing process to combat stigma and foster member support. The profiles of activists Black megachurches and some of the efforts are provided.Less
The chapter summarizes the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Black community and the Black Church's limited response to it as the context for an analysis of Black megachurch responses to the social problem. Findings show that the vast majority of the sample churches sponsor programs to combat HIV/AIDS. Moreover, they tend to understand the pandemic based on the following four frames; sexuality, health, poverty, and prosperity. The chapter also describes mediating factors and processes strategically used during the framing process to combat stigma and foster member support. The profiles of activists Black megachurches and some of the efforts are provided.
Aaron Goodfellow
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823261857
- eISBN:
- 9780823268900
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823261857.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
Based on a detailed exploration of a single case, this chapter discusses the place of STDs, the STD clinic in the life and relations of one woman. Inspired by Veena Das’s idea that that bio-medical ...
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Based on a detailed exploration of a single case, this chapter discusses the place of STDs, the STD clinic in the life and relations of one woman. Inspired by Veena Das’s idea that that bio-medical spaces are extensions of other spaces and are continually bending towards other imaginaries the author shows how diagnostic utterances lean towards other social imaginaries by the circulation of medical technologies. Drawing on Marcel Mauss’s writing on the gift, the author looks at the power residing in objects of health care, to ask if there are unanticipated agencies and unexpected affects that circulate with objects such as condoms, STD testing and the availability of free clinical services and to show how these objects operate within the broad constellations of desire that configure the relationship between life, death, and sex.Less
Based on a detailed exploration of a single case, this chapter discusses the place of STDs, the STD clinic in the life and relations of one woman. Inspired by Veena Das’s idea that that bio-medical spaces are extensions of other spaces and are continually bending towards other imaginaries the author shows how diagnostic utterances lean towards other social imaginaries by the circulation of medical technologies. Drawing on Marcel Mauss’s writing on the gift, the author looks at the power residing in objects of health care, to ask if there are unanticipated agencies and unexpected affects that circulate with objects such as condoms, STD testing and the availability of free clinical services and to show how these objects operate within the broad constellations of desire that configure the relationship between life, death, and sex.
David L. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823271030
- eISBN:
- 9780823271085
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823271030.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
Clark meditates on the Spanish artist’s “unsparing vision of the degradation of humanity.” Clark not only revisits the images of humiliation, torture, and horror that engraved in this series, he asks ...
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Clark meditates on the Spanish artist’s “unsparing vision of the degradation of humanity.” Clark not only revisits the images of humiliation, torture, and horror that engraved in this series, he asks what it means to “think Goya” today, a Goya who “imagines the worst and dwells with it.” Clark not only looks at the artist’s images but reads them, including the simple but arresting caption about seeing that Goya affixes to the engravings: “I saw it” (Yo lo vi). Clark’s Goya is the artist who not only confronts us with a horror to behold but who demands that we tarry uncomfortably with the images we behold and with the act of beholding. Clark concludes with a reflection on the notion of the political funeral of ACT UP as a form of mobilization profoundly proximate to the kind of thinking that Goya allows.Less
Clark meditates on the Spanish artist’s “unsparing vision of the degradation of humanity.” Clark not only revisits the images of humiliation, torture, and horror that engraved in this series, he asks what it means to “think Goya” today, a Goya who “imagines the worst and dwells with it.” Clark not only looks at the artist’s images but reads them, including the simple but arresting caption about seeing that Goya affixes to the engravings: “I saw it” (Yo lo vi). Clark’s Goya is the artist who not only confronts us with a horror to behold but who demands that we tarry uncomfortably with the images we behold and with the act of beholding. Clark concludes with a reflection on the notion of the political funeral of ACT UP as a form of mobilization profoundly proximate to the kind of thinking that Goya allows.
Sandra L. Barnes
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823249565
- eISBN:
- 9780823252619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823249565.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The chapter introduces the book's premise as a mixed-methodological study of large Black churches in the United States and their responses to HIV/AIDS and poverty - two pressing social problems in ...
More
The chapter introduces the book's premise as a mixed-methodological study of large Black churches in the United States and their responses to HIV/AIDS and poverty - two pressing social problems in the Black community. It focuses on the contemporary black megachurch from a yet to be examined perspective by specifically studying how congregational culture believed to be steeped in Health and Wealth (or Prosperity) theology potentially affects clergy outlooks and church-led programs to combat poverty and HIV/AIDS. It also describes the books goals to move beyond anecdotes to identify some of the facets of black megachurch profiles that can either engender or undermine organized efforts to combat the two social problems. Analyses of clergy interviews, sermons, secondary data on Black churches, and census data inform the process. The chapter introduces the book's analytical processes, frame analysis, as well as key concepts and subsequent chapters.Less
The chapter introduces the book's premise as a mixed-methodological study of large Black churches in the United States and their responses to HIV/AIDS and poverty - two pressing social problems in the Black community. It focuses on the contemporary black megachurch from a yet to be examined perspective by specifically studying how congregational culture believed to be steeped in Health and Wealth (or Prosperity) theology potentially affects clergy outlooks and church-led programs to combat poverty and HIV/AIDS. It also describes the books goals to move beyond anecdotes to identify some of the facets of black megachurch profiles that can either engender or undermine organized efforts to combat the two social problems. Analyses of clergy interviews, sermons, secondary data on Black churches, and census data inform the process. The chapter introduces the book's analytical processes, frame analysis, as well as key concepts and subsequent chapters.
