In The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice from the Civil Rights Movement to Today, Charles Marsh argues that the driving and sustaining force of the Civil Rights Movement and its successors was the Christian faith of its leaders. Throughout the novel, Marsh continuously shows how the Christian faith motivated and sustained leaders and everyday people; they were risking their lives, their family, and their job in hopes of the type of future that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached on. The Beloved Community tells hopeful and inauspicious stories within the larger history of social justice. Marsh makes clear that this history is still being written by those who take the teaching of Jesus in earnest doctrine. Hope, he claims, is
…show more content…
The author introduces an alternative telling of Martin Luther King Jr. that is often times unrecognizable; King is displayed as an up and coming preacher who looked forward to a life of privilege and comfort until he was coerced into leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The author also includes the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and of lesser-known figures such as Clarence Jordan (a Koinonia farm founder) and John Perkins (founder of Voices of Calvary). These men, like many others, came to activism by way of Christian faith and believed the popular notion of the Civil Rights movement as “a secular movement that used religion to its advantage.” Moreover, the author attempts to make clear the limitations of the beloved community ideal pursued by many social activists in the 1960s, the preeminent critique of secularism, between activists and academics, and scrutiny of white evangelical Christians for their shallow, ineffectual concern for the poor and people of color. In his conclusion, Marsh states what he believes is the advocacy of a more rounded and religiously grounded ideal for the …show more content…
Jordan believed that an attempt should be made in order to foster economic development and interracial dialogue throughout the rural black population. In the novel, he states that he was met with opposition, but felt that he must be doing the right thing is he was so persecuted for righteousness’ sake. To coincide with his stance and discussion on economic development and racial dialogue, Jordon provided a safe space for civil rights workers and emphasized reconciliation and restoration for the American
The author introduces an alternative telling of Martin Luther King Jr. that is often times unrecognizable; King is displayed as an up and coming preacher who looked forward to a life of privilege and comfort until he was coerced into leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The author also includes the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and of lesser-known figures such as Clarence Jordan (a Koinonia farm founder) and John Perkins (founder of Voices of Calvary). These men, like many others, came to activism by way of Christian faith and believed the popular notion of the Civil Rights movement as “a secular movement that used religion to its advantage.” Moreover, the author attempts to make clear the limitations of the beloved community ideal pursued by many social activists in the 1960s, the preeminent critique of secularism, between activists and academics, and scrutiny of white evangelical Christians for their shallow, ineffectual concern for the poor and people of color. In his conclusion, Marsh states what he believes is the advocacy of a more rounded and religiously grounded ideal for the …show more content…
Jordan believed that an attempt should be made in order to foster economic development and interracial dialogue throughout the rural black population. In the novel, he states that he was met with opposition, but felt that he must be doing the right thing is he was so persecuted for righteousness’ sake. To coincide with his stance and discussion on economic development and racial dialogue, Jordon provided a safe space for civil rights workers and emphasized reconciliation and restoration for the American