Faith and Activism Series, Religion in Public, Centre for Religion and Public Life, University of Leeds

Description

Conversations about North American religion and politics are often dominated by focus on more conservative Christian communities, to the neglect of feminist, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized voices. Meeting in the interstitial gaps between institutional authorities, my participants strive to create together the justice and equitable relationships which hegemonic powers have not delivered. Identifying against and across traditional religious boundaries through the use of the term spiritual is just one of many ways that religiously motivated activists for progressive social change tell their stories about counter-solidarity with each other, and with others marginalized by hegemonic systems of power. This story is in dialogue not only with broader social assumptions about religion, but also academic theories about the default relationship of religious communities to conservative values.