In 2012, I was lucky enough to attend a remarkable weekend-long Class Action Train-the-Trainers mega-workshop. I did not attend to learn techniques to raise awareness about class and classism but instead to improve my skills as a trainer on the topic of communications and marketing. While the focus of the Class Action workshop was, of course, on social class […]
Religion and Class
The Prosperity Gospel and Classism
As a Christian and a formerly homeless person, I have seen how classism seems to run rampant in American Christianity. This is especially evident in what is often called the Prosperity Gospel. The Prosperity Gospel, in short, is a particularly inviting deception that equates spiritual blessings with material success. Of course, it is entirely conceivable […]
Mirroring Administrative Attitudes: One Year Into Trump’s Rhetoric
Kalkaska, or Trout Town USA, is a picturesque northern Michigan town touting a population of just over 2,000. Located in the snow belt with its Trout Festival and Winterfest the area offers a modest place for a modest life. Growing up there and graduating in 2009, life seemed simple enough. Of extremely modest means, my […]
Witness Web
A group of members – currently 20 and growing – at First Parish in Framingham Unitarian Universalist is going to be staying abreast of various issues in our national lives that are at risk in these times. They are creating a Witness Web. Anyone can go onto the site in Google+ and click on any of […]
10 Times Classism Hurt Jesus
When I hear people ask, What can religion do to address classism and poverty? I think instead, What does classism do to religion? Classism hurts Jesus, y’all. We may be struggling/working poor, fallible and often defiant, but Jesus still loves us (the Bible told me so). Here are 10 times when Christian churches denied that […]
Does Organized Christianity Justify Class Bias
… and Make It Appear Inevitable? I’m British. I’m white though not ethnically English. I’m from a poor working-class background in a Northern English city. I am lucky enough to have a university education. I passionately believe in social justice and that everybody should have the same chances for health care, educational opportunities, career advancement, […]
Rich People’s Church, Poor People’s Church
I have much to say on the topic of religion and class, but let me begin with a disclaimer. I know people who experienced the same churches I did and did not come away angry, feeling they were warped by them. So I recognize that more than one experience is possible. Like many poor and […]
Pope Francis’ Call to Action
Paving a New Path for Economic Equality Last Thursday my heart swelled with pride as I listened to Pope Francis call the U.S. Congress to action against the extreme economic inequality in the United States and throughout the world. In his opening remarks, he reminded Congress of their larger mission to “defend and preserve the […]
Through the Front Door
In recent news, New York City council members revealed that a new Manhattan high-rise, in which 20% of the units will be reserved for subsidized housing, will have a separate entrance for those units. In the basest terms, low-income residents will be entering through the “back door,” reminiscent of that reserved for servants in earlier […]
