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Beyond the Congregation : The World of Christian Nonprofits

Christopher Scheitle

Christianity in the United States has long been organized around congregations and denominations. However, a different type of organization operating outside of these traditional structures is claiming an increasingly important place in the religious market. The growth of Christian nonprofits, popularly called "parachurch" organizations, has been recognized by churchgoers and social scientists alike as an important development that is transforming the composition and dynamics of American Christianity. The size, resources, and activities of this population have made it the public face of American Christianity and altered the relationship between individuals, churches and denominations. Beyond the Congregation utilizes data on almost 2,000 of the largest and most influential Christian nonprofits in the United States to answer some of the key questions raised by these organizations. What explains the growth of Christian nonprofits? What activities are they pursuing? How are they funded and how do they use those funds? Beyond the Congregation provides a much needed examination of these issues that is accessible and informative for scholars, nonprofit executives, religious leaders and the general public.
God's Harp String : The Life and Legacy of the Benedictine Monk Swami Abhishiktananda

William Skudlarek OSB

In 1948, the French Benedictine monk Henri Le Saux (1910-1973) visited India for the first time and began a twenty-five year long quest to fathom the depths of Vedanta and the Upanishads. Abhishiktananda ("Bliss of the Anointed One"), as Le Saux renamed himself, sought to retain his abiding Christian faith while personally immersing himself in Hindu spirituality. He also encountered some of the extraordinary sages of the Indian subcontinent, such as Sri Ramana Maharshi and Gnanananda.
These articles about Abhishiktananda, gathered on the one hundred anniversary of his birth, provide not only personal recollections of this remarkable man, but examine the legacy of the life and work of one of the first practitioners of Hindu-Christian dialogue.
How to Mentor Undergraduate Researchers

Louise Temple, Thomas Q. Sibley, and Amy J. Orr
¡Viva la historieta! Mexican Comics, NAFTA, and the Politics of Globalization

Bruce Campbell

¡Viva la historieta! critically examines the participation of Mexican comic books in the continuing debate over the character and consequences of globalization in Mexico. The focus of the book is on graphic narratives produced by and for Mexicans in the period following the 1994 implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), an economic accord that institutionalized the free-market vision of relationships among the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Eight chapters cover a broad range of contemporary Mexican comics, including works of propaganda, romance and adventure, graphic novels, a corporate "brand" series, didactic single-issue books, and a superhero parody series. Each chapter offers an examination of the ways in which specific comics or comic book series represent Mexico's national identity, the U.S.'s influence, and globalization's effects on technology and economics since the passage of NAFTA.

Through careful attention to how recent Mexican comics portray a changing nation, author Bruce Campbell reveals a contentious range of perspectives on the problems and promises of globalization. At the same time, Campbell argues that the contrasting views of globalization that circulate widely in Mexican historietas reflect a still unsettled relationship between Mexico and its superpower neighbor.
Going Blind: a memoir

Mara Faulkner OSB

Mara Faulkner grew up in a family shaped by Irish ancestry, a close-to-the-bone existence in rural North Dakota, and the secret of her father's blindness--along with the silence and shame surrounding it. Dennis Faulkner had retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disease that gradually blinded him and one that may blind many members of his family, including the author. Moving and insightful, Going Blind explores blindness in its many permutations--within the context of the author's family, more broadly, as a disability marked by misconceptions, and as a widely used cultural metaphor. Mara Faulkner delicately weaves her family's story into an analysis of the roots and ramifications of the various metaphorical meanings of blindness, touching on the Catholic Church of the 1940s and 1950s, Japanese internment, the Germans from Russia who dominated her hometown, and the experiences of Native people in North Dakota. Neither sentimental nor dispassionate, the author asks whether it's possible to find gifts when sight is lost.
The Cross of Gold Revisited: Neo-Populist Party Emergence in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand

G. Claire Haeg

The Commonwealth countries of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are the oft-forgotten backwaters of the scholarship of advanced industrial nations. Historically, these three countries have been too politically stable to rouse much international attention. Yet in the last decades of the 20th Century each of these countries endured significant social and political upheaval which resulted in the creation of a neo-populist party. In Australia, the infamous Pauline Hanson rose to prominence in 1996 and won election to national parliament, thereafter forming Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. In Canada, Preston Manning fractured the conservative party to form the Reform Party, and eventually rode a wave of populist resentment to become opposition leader.In New Zealand, a former cabinet minister - Winston Peters - split from the National Party and created the New Zealand First Party. Virulently anti-globalization and anti-immigrant in message, these parties had enormous impact on the mainstream political agenda in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and each party has left a political and cultural legacy.
Technology and Religion: Remaining Human in a Co-Created World

Noreen L. Herzfeld

Technology is changing all the time, but does it also have the ability to change us and the way we approach religion and spirituality? In Technology and Religion: Remaining Human in a Co-created World, Noreen Herzfeld examines this and other provocative questions as she provides an accessible and fascinating overview of the relationship between religion and the ever-broadening world of technology.
In order to consider fully a topic as wide as technology, Herzfeld approaches the field from three different angles: technologies of the human body—such as genetic engineering, stem cells, cloning, pharmaceutical technologies, mechanical enhancement and cyborgs; technologies of the human mind—like human and artificial intelligence, virtual reality and cyberspace; and technologies of the external environment—such as nanotechnology, genetically modified crops and new agricultural technologies, and energy technology. She takes a similarly broad approach to the field of religion, focusing on how these issues interface with the three Abrahamic traditions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Throughout, readers will find nuanced examinations of the moral and ethical issues surrounding new technologies from the perspectives of these faith traditions.
The result is a multifaceted look at the ongoing dialogue between these two subjects that are not commonly associated with one another. This volume is the third title published in the new Templeton Science and Religion Series.
The Bracelet

Betsy Johnson-Miller

"The adventure begins when fourteen-year-old Litney Way finds an unusual bracelet at a garage sale. To her shock and surprise, inside the bracelet's box is a note ... from her own mother! The bracelet leads Litney on an adventure she never could have imagined. Who would have thought a fourteen-year-old could fight evil and save her world? Who would have thought a bracelet would be the key to everything?"
The Collegeville Prayer of the Faithful : General Intercessions for Years A, B, C

Michael Kwatera OSB

"Let us bring our prayers to the Lord." Each week when the community comes together for Mass, we gather to listen to the Word, to partake of the Eucharist, and to pray. The Prayer of the Faithful is marked by the same needs from week to week, but it is always an opportunity to approach God collectively in a way that reflects the richness of our particular celebration. This series of prayers by Father Michael Kwatera is rooted in the present moment: the liturgical season, lectionary readings, and the needs of the church. He draws on the readings, as well as the significance of feasts and of other celebrations. He is also attuned to the many ways we approach God, in language that is clear and attentive to the oral quality of the prayer. "To place prayerful words on human lips and in human hearts is a most sacred work," writes Father Kwatera in the introduction. The fruit of this work is a set of texts that invites the community to draw near to God each week in prayer. The Collegeville Prayer of the Faithful—a convenient compilation of the previously published volumes, with additional feasts added—includes a CD-ROM of intercessions that can be easily adapted for parish use. Each prayer is provided in a Word file that allows users to easily personalize the intercessions for their own parish.
Historical Dimensions of Islam: Pre-Modern and Modern Periods

James E. Lindsay and Jon Armajani

This Festschrift consists of twelve chapters first delivered as papers forming the foundations of these chapters at a special conference in honor of Professor Humphreys, which took place in October 2007 at the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. These chapters were written as a tribute to Professor Humphreys by twelve of his former graduate students and reflect the broad chronological and disciplinary scope of Professor Humphreys teaching and erudition. In geographical range, they stretch from Morocco to the Punjab; in time from the ancient Near East to the present; and in approach from hard-core political analysis to post-modernist and post-colonialist discourse. The chapters by Lindsay, Sizgorich, and Bigelow reflect on the persistent power of sacred figures in Islamic societies and the apparently disparate ways in which these figures manifest sanctity, as well as the complex political roles they play both ideologically and in everyday life. Cory's chapter on the ruined al-Bad palace of the Sa d sultans in Marrakesh is illustrated by exquisite color photos and diagrams, and Stockdale shows how art transmutes the tangible present into the mystical realm of an imagined past. The contributions of Jones, Hoffman, Keaney, and Armajani explore the ways in which Muslims have constructed their past and how Muslims draw on the past in order to define who they are as Muslims, while Khalid discusses the issues as Muslim reformers and modernists in Bukhara struggled to build their societies along lines both modern and Islamic, between the end of Czarist rule and the imposition of the Soviet system. Finally, there is the world of power politics to reconcile with the lofty ideals of justice that are explored in the contributions of Howes (in examining a medieval Islamic polity that strove to define earthly rule in transcendent terms) and Darling, who explores the metaphors of social harmony. The final chapter, Thoughts in Retrospect by Professor Humphreys, stands as an eloquent commentary on the contributions by his former students
God Drops and Loses Things

Kilian McDonnell OSB

Out of a lifetime of familiarity with the great biblical narratives, Kilian McDonnell draws a portrait of the biblical God charged with vitality, at once prodigal in mercy and ruthless, thunderous, and painfully silent. It is dangerous to love this God, who exacts of "the God-mad Abraham" a faithfulness beyond sanity: "If God makes a covenant in blood with you, why are you surprised to see your flesh upon the altar?" Despite our longing, such apparent capriciousness can be reconciled only in the mysterium tremendum invisible to human eyes; for Father Kilian, such is "fire's absolute autonomy that scolds me / for putting dirty sandals on glowing cinders, / but invites me to approach barefoot." Equally compelling is the character of Jesus Christ as a true son of God hungry for human contact, who likes hanging out with a fallible humankind and often happens to drop by at mealtime. The children of God who people these poems have God's own murderous prodigality in their genes. They are jealous, weak, and proud. They compete, lie, steal, cheat, betray, repent, and despair; and God loves them. Conscious of their dignity as children of God, they are quick to take exception. Father Kilian says of the poems themselves, "I am contending with God." In God Drops and Loses Things, his third collection, the poems are by turns edgy, affectionate, gentle, deeply moving, and always compassionate.
Approaching God : the Way of Abraham Joshua Heschel

John C. Merkle

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) is widely regarded as one of the most creative religious thinkers of the twentieth century, and John Merkle is well known as a leading guide to Heschel's thought. In accessible and engaging language, Merkle's Approaching God: The Way of Abraham Joshua Heschel introduces readers to Heschel's life and works in the service of God and to the very heart of his theological perspective. This book clearly explains Heschel's reasons for affirming the reality and revelation of God, what he recommends as ways of responding to God, and why he thinks it is important to accept religious diversity as the will of God. Deeply rooted in tradition, Heschel's message was, in its day, both timely and ahead of its time. This book shows just how relevant his message is for those seeking God 'and an enlightened perspective on God' in the twenty-first century.
Majority Rule versus Consensus: The Political Thought of John C. Calhoun

James H. Read

John C. Calhoun may be best known for his stature in the U.S. Senate and his controversial defense of slavery, but he is also a key figure in American political thought. The staunchest advocate of the consensus model of government as an alternative to majority rule, he proposed government not by one, by few, or by many, but by all: each key group enjoying veto rights over collective decisions.

Some consider consensus preferable to majority rule in deeply divided societies, and consensus theory has been advocated in such contemporary works as Lani Guinier's The Tyranny of the Majority.James Read's book, the first historically informed, theoretically sophisticated critique of Calhoun's political thought, goes beyond other studies to ask key questions about the feasibility of consensus. Read critically examines Calhoun's arguments, considering both their antebellum context—including Calhoun's spirited defense of slavery—and modern-day attempts to apply consensus models in Northern Ireland, the former Yugoslavia, and South Africa.

Read sheds new light on the crisis leading up to the Civil War by exploring Calhoun's conviction that his uncompromising defense of slavery would help preserve the Union. He also juxtaposes Calhoun's thought with that of Jefferson and Madison, whose legacies Calhoun invoked to support his claim that states had the right to nullify federal law, and he contrasts Madison's ultimate faith in majority rule with Calhoun's ultimate rejection of it.

Read argues that, although Calhoun's critique of majority rule deserves careful attention, his remedy is unworkable and in the end unjust. Read demonstrates that governments ruled by consensustend to be ineffective, that they are better at preventing common action than achieving common goods, and that they privilege strategically placed minorities rather than producing genuine consensus.

Majority Rule versus Consensusis a provocative work that sheds new light on the promise and limitations of democracy, showing that, despite the failure of Calhoun's remedy, his diagnosis of the potential injustice of majority rule must be taken seriously. It discourages uncritical celebrations of democracy in favor of reflection on how committed democrats can better address the problems that Calhoun attempted to solve.
This book is part of the American Political Thought series.
Sharing Sacred Space: Interreligious Dialogue as Spiritual Encounter

Benoit Standaert OSB and William Skudlarek OSB

If interreligious dialogue is to bear fruit—the fruit of mutual understanding, respect, and peace—it needs to be rooted in the specific spiritual space or milieu of each religious tradition. For Christians, that milieu is "Jesus space," a space shaped by faith in the paschal mysteries and nurtured by prayer, study, and love. With Jesus space as his starting point Benoît Standaert invites us to join him as he visits different religious spaces—those of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and agnostics. If we are willing to enter into and even dwell for a time in another spiritual space, we will be able to return to the space we call home, enriched by the gifts we have received and prepared to live in peace with those who dwell in a spiritual space that is very different from our own.
Homilies for Weekdays : Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials

Don Talafous OSB

Homilies for Weekdays: Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials is a requested and welcome addition to the first two volumes of weekday homilies by Father Don Talafous, OSB. Here, he offers creative homily suggestions for solemnities, feasts, and obligatory memorials that fall on weekdays. Readers will deeply appreciate the faithful representation of the Scripture readings and their practical applications for Christian living.
The Adventures of the Parrot

Gary Brown

Fritz, better known as the Parrot, solves cases using mathematical reasoning and metaphors from modern game theory.
United States-Cuban Relations: A Critical History

Esteban Morales Dominguez and Gary Prevost

United States-Cuban Relations breaks new ground in its treatment of this long and tumultuous relationship. The overall approach, mirroring the political science background of both authors, does not focus on historical detail that has been provided by many other works, but rather on a broad analysis of trends and patterns that have marked the long relationship between the two countries. Dominguez and Prevost argue that U.S. policy toward Cuba is driven in significant measure by developments on the ground in Cuba. From the U.S. intervention at the time of the Cuban Independence War to the most recent revisions of U.S. policy in the wake of the Powell Commission, the authors demonstrate how U.S. policy adjusts to developments and perceived reality on the island. The final chapters of the book focus on the contemporary period, with particular emphasis on the changing dynamic toward Cuba from U.S. civil society. Dominguez and Prevost describe how the U.S. business community, fearful of being isolated from Cuba's reinsertion in the world's capitalist markets, have united with long-standing opponents of the U.S. embargo to win the right to sell food and medicines to Cuba over the last four years. Ultimately, the authors are realists about the possibility of better relations between the U.S. and Cuba, pointing out that, short of the collapse of Cuba's current political and economic system, fundamental change in U.S. policy toward the island is unlikely in the immediate future.
Vote Catholic? Beyond the Political Din

Bernard F. Evans

Voting your conscience can be a challenge. In our emotionally charged political environment, many people are asking about the role of faith in elections. Of course, faith should inform the political choices we make and the way we use our time to try to improve the world. It seems the loudest Catholic political voices fall in one of two choruses-that of "the left," advocating for social justice issues, and of "the right," claiming abortion as the single most important issue. In Vote Catholic, Bernard Evans helps us get beyond the sometimes deafening din of these choruses. He takes us to the heart of an important third voice-Catholic social teaching-and shows how this teaching can inform Catholics as they wrestle with political choices. Without putting forward a particular platform or advocating particular candidates or positions, he presents a clear set of principles from the teachings to guide our decision-making process. With special attention to the Catholic position on life and human dignity, Evans shows that the issues and the solutions are more complex than our "headline news" world suggests. Complex though the issues are, Evans's straightforward presentation will help readers go to the polls with faith and confidence.
What Every Catholic Needs to Know about the Eucharist : A Guide for the Liturgical Assembly

Michael Kwatera OSB

The primary focus of this book, described as a "reflection on Eucharist," is on the importance of the assembly in the eucharistic liturgy. Using the catechetical method, Kwatera begins with the familiar and moves to the spiritual. In a down-to-earth and easily readable style that is crisply articulate, he discusses the meaning of liturgy and its individual parts. He emphasizes the importance of God's action in calling the assembly together as a worshipping body, not as a collection of individuals. He discusses the active particiation of the assemlby and explains why this is essential to liturgy. He reminds us throughout the book that liturgy is to make a difference in what we do when we leave the communal celebration. he answers the questions "What is the assembly?" and "What is its purpose?"

Far more than being simply a "reflection on Eucharist," this book gives us our "marching orders" for participating with understanding, for appreciating the "real presence" in its various forms, one of which is the assembly, and for understanding the Eucharist as relational.
The National Environmental Policy Act: Judicial Misconstruction, Legislative Indifference, and Executive Neglect

Matthew J. Lindstrom and Zachary A. Smith

Environmental degradation and the compromised integrity of the earth's ecological system were growing public concerns in the mid to late 1960s. These issues spurred Congress to pass the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the first law to focus such environmental concerns into a comprehensive national policy. The new legislation encompassed an array of environmental values and ethics, as well as administrative tools to achieve the ecological goals of the nation while taking into account other important societal needs. Though NEPA has had a positive effect on U.S. environmental policy and the national quality of life, this challenging new book shows how federal courts and agencies have failed to implement many of the values and goals fundamental to the success of NEPA. To explain this divergence, authors Matthew J. Lindstrom and Zachary A. Smith examine NEPA's origins, address how NEPA has been implemented and enforced, and highlight the shortcomings of its practice. Lindstrom and Smith strongly argue that if NEPA were fully and properly implemented, it would prove to be a valuable and realistic tool for balancing the needs of the world population and the protection of the earth's environment. They offer a new, hopeful look at how the law's structure can be properly utilized in order to give future generations hope of living on a sustainable planet. This book is well suited for audiences interested in public policy formation and implementation, especially environmental policy administrators, environmental historians, and those involved in environmental law, its policy, and its politics.
The Pro-life Wisdom of Fr. Paul Marx, the Apostle of Life.

Paul Marx OSB

This collection of quotes by Father Paul Marx, OSB, gathered by his friends and co-workers clearly demonstrates the prescience of Father Marx in immediately recognizing what would follow from the widespread acceptance of contraception and abortion by Western society. As early as the late 1960s he foresaw in great detail the disasters that would follow in leading to what Pope John Paul II called the Culture of Death. Not satisfied with merely watching these disasters develop, he took courageous action to the extent of going undercover to attend conferences as "Dr. Marx," where the captains and the kings of the future Culture of Death laid their plans and set their agendas. He was on the ground floor as the death culture took shape, precisely recognizing the gathering darkness for what it was. He saw the path laid out not only for widespread contraception and abortion but all the other evils that followed in the wake of the cheapening of Human Life: euthanasia, theological dissent, embryonic stem cell research, population control, and amoral "sex education," and founded Human Life International as a single clearinghouse to deal with them all on the international level. Today many of these evils require entire separate agencies to deal with them; and this too is the fuit of Father Marx's work, and indeed his legacy. This collection not only shows his insight and courage but also his unfailing joy, love, kindness, humor, and wit, which confounded his opponents and endeared him to millions. Today Human Life International carries on his work with the mission to create effective opposition to the Culture of Death around the world.
Vertical Association Rule Mining: From Data Representation to Data Mining

Imad Rahal and William Perrizo
Doorstep Democracy: Face-to-Face Politics in the Heartland

James H. Read

The quest for elected office—one conversation at a time

At once a memoir of a hard-fought contest and a meditation on the state of American democracy, Doorstep Democracy refuses the “red state” versus “blue state” view of American voters. James Read shows the power of kitchen-table politics and proves how conversations between citizens concerned about their communities can get us beyond the television ads, mass mailings, and sound bites to rejuvenate American democracy.
Doorstep Democracy : Face-to-Face Politics in the Heartland

James H. Read

The famous Tip O'Neill axiom "all politics is local" comes alive in this chronicle of Democrat James H. Read's hard-fought but unsuccessful (by 98 votes) bid for state legislature in the socially conservative communities of Stearns and Morrison counties in Minnesota. Read door-knocked 7500 households during his campaign, visiting voters and engaging in genuine dialogue on doorsteps from St. Anthony to St. Joseph.
At once a memoir of a hard-fought contest and a meditation on the state of American democracy, Doorstep Democracy shows the power and importance of kitchen-table politics-people sitting down together to tackle the issues that affect us-and proves that voters and candidates can be convinced to change their minds. Read ultimately demonstrates how conversations between citizens concerned about their communities can get us beyond the television ads, mass mailings, and sound bites to rejuvenate American democracy.
Late Medieval Mysticism of the Low Countries

Helen Rolfson OSF, Rik Van Nieuwenhove, and Rob Faesen

This book contains translations and introductions to some of the major representatives of the spiritual tradition of the Low Countries from ca. 1350 onwards.