“People come to socialism for different reasons, and for many it
is through their faith. How can we feed the hungry and heal the sick
when someone is making profits by preventing it? This book explores
the rich history of religious thinkers standing with the working
class against exploitation by the owning class.”--Maria Svart,
National Director, Democratic Socialists of America
For
most of this nation’s history, religious socialists made their case
to a population that was, for the most part, hospitable to religion
and resistant to socialism. Today, those trends are moving in
opposite directions. A majority of young people and persons of color
in the U.S. express support for socialism. At the same time, even as
religious affiliation has dropped, most Americans still say religion
is important to them.
Religious
Socialism provides an
introduction to how those powerful forces come together in the form
of religious socialism, the intersection between a devotion to God
and a system that promotes social justice in the world. Many of its
champions would embrace the words of Eugene Debs, who ran for
president several times on the Socialist ticket: "Socialism is
Christianity in action.” Most of the figures in this book are
Christian, including contemporary figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio
Cortez and Cornel West, but others profiled are Jewish, Buddhist, and
Muslim socialists.
