Resource theme: Politics and Economics
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Consumerism Workshop
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What You’ll Need The goal of this workshop is to encourage attendees to become aware of their spending habits, their use of money, and the extent to which it affects others. The workshop is presented as a toolkit, giving you material and suggestions for running this with your own group. It can be as high-…
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Christians in Politics Workshop
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What You’ll Need You might like to print out the Bible quotes and discussion statements or display them on a screen. Make sure there are Bibles available for the group and paper and pens for those who like to take notes. Introduction (5 minutes) Make sure the room is arranged in such a way that…
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Jesus is Accused (Mark 3: 20-30)
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Opening Prayer As we gather, we bring to God all that we are – our hopes and fears, our joys and pains, our truths and lies; trusting that God welcomes us just as we are, and works with us. Amen Exegesis This is one of the most difficult episodes in the Bible! What is going…
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Understanding Christian Anarchism
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Anarchism is a way of understanding the dynamics of power and how they relate to justice; it is an enlightenment response to an enlightenment problem – the nation state. Anarchism gives greater importance to social organisation than state-promoting theories like democratic liberalism, or Marxism. The literal meaning of the word anarchy is ‘without ruler’. Most…
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Economics and Politics: Brandscapes
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We live in what the anthropologist John Sherry has referred to as ‘brandscapes’. Brands are a part of modern life, and they are in every sphere of it, including the church. Major corporations like Microsoft often feature on news stories, pop stars are increasingly marketed as brands, and even in the sphere of politics, brand…
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Economics and Politics: How to stand on one leg
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There is an old Jewish story found in the Talmud, the Jewish Oral Law, that relates an incident in the life of Rabbi Hillel. ‘A man who wished to be converted to Judaism came to his school and said: “Convert me on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on…
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Economics and Politics: We Need Limits
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Growth is the mantra of every economist and every business leader, and therefore of every politician. Listeners to Radio 4 at 6.20 every weekday morning can hear the ‘business update’ where they will hear growth extolled and forecast. The perspective is infinity. These people live in a virtual universe, where profits will always go up…
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Render unto Caesar
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Bible Passage Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him. Mark 12:13-17 Reflection Political life is the structures and customs by which human societies are ordered and the responsibilities which all have by virtue of being part of the community. Here…
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Keeping Politics Out Of It
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Bible Passage Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. Psalm 47 Reflection How often have you heard people say, ‘Let’s keep politics out of it’ or ‘Religion and politics don’t mix’? If you have been reading these devotionals, or are involved in SCM, you probably have a different take on the…