Christianity, Nonviolence, and Realism

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course investigates the connections between personal spiritual development and social engagement with justice movements. What, if any, effect does personal belief and faith have in directing political will? How does nonviolent resistance encounter the institutional realities of social advocacy? And lastly, in what ways are religious orientations challenged by globalized financial systems and power structures? The nonviolent religious philosophies of Howard Thurman and Daniel Berrigan will be contextualized within their respective Christian traditions and interreligious commitments. We will then encounter the challenge of Political Realism through the works of Reinhold Niebuhr and Samantha Power to interrogate the place of personal faith commitments within a pluralized society and the concrete realities of war, peace, and international conflict.