Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.27 (675 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0190847379 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 296 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-03-21 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Heath W. Carter is an associate professor at Valparaiso University, where he teaches a variety of courses on the history of the modern United States. He is co-editor of both The Pew and the Picket Line: Christianity and the American Working Class and Turning Points in the History of American<
Andrew T. Le Peau said Chicago, Labor and Religion--An Irresistible Mix. The story goes that a small group of radical, white, male leaders created social Christianity, supported by the middle classes. Heath Carter's account of Chicago, labor and the churches offers a different tale.In Union Made (Oxford), Carter tells about dozens of ordinary working folk, black and white, men and women, who played an essential role (along with much less heralded clergy). They were central in bringing Scripture to bear on the inequalities of the day.Consistently they made it clear they were not rejecting Christianity or the church. Instead they were rejecting the form of Christianity and the church that was beh
The city's trade unionists, socialists, and anarchists advanced theological critiques of laissez faire capitalism and protested "scab ministers" who cozied up to the business elite. Carter advances a bold new interpretation of the origins of American Social Christianity. The major characters--blacksmiths, glove makers, teamsters, printers, and the like--have been mostly forgotten, but as Carter convincingly argues, their collective contribution to American Social Christianity was no less significant than that of Walter Rauschenbusch or Jane Addams. While historians have often attributed the rise of the Social Gospel to middle-class ministers, seminary professors, and social reformers, this book places working people at the very center of the story. In Gilded Age America, rampant inequality gave rise to a new form of Christianity, one that sought to ease the sufferings of the poor not simply by saving their souls, but by transforming society. In Union Made, Heath W. Their criticisms compounded church leaders' anxieties about losing the poor, such that by the turn-of-the-century many leading Christians were arguing that the only way to salvage hopes of a Chris
Social Christianity made resistance against industrial capitalism and its barons a possible and necessary thing. Carter, in contrast, furthers our understanding of the complexities of the working-class religious experiences by including the detailed ideas of Catholics, women, black workers, and other non-native-born rank and file workers. Union Made provides crucial insights into how many skilled workers rejected socialism or secularism in favor of a reformist Christianity that conceived of a new and more equitable cooperation between laborers and the church. "The author's respect for those