The Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice
@religionandjustice.bsky.social
Investigate. Educate. Organize.
Working at the intersection of religion, economics, and ecology.
Chaired by Joerg Rieger @ Vanderbilt Divinity School
https://linktr.ee/religionandjustice
Joerg Michael Rieger is a German and American professor of Christian theology whose work emphasizes economic justice and political movements. Rieger is also an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church. .. more
Political science
30%
Sociology
23%
STARTING IN ONE HOUR: vanderbilt.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
JOIN US ON NOVEMBER 4, 2025 FOR
Unite and Conquer: The False Promises of Christian Nationalism
with Joerg Rieger, Jorge Aquino, Tripp Fuller, and Gab Lisi
bit.ly/uniteandconq...
Unite and Conquer: The False Promises of Christian Nationalism
with Joerg Rieger, Jorge Aquino, Tripp Fuller, and Gab Lisi
bit.ly/uniteandconq...
Politics of Solidarity: Political Theology Beyond Politics as Usual
Joerg Rieger at Theology Beer Camp
processthis.substack.com
Drawing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s legacy and his own German-American perspective, Rieger argues that all theology is inherently political - and that we need to move beyond traditional political theology to address the deeper economic forces shaping our world.
The Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice celebrates the warm Pasifika welcome for our founder Joerg Rieger & Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger by the Pacific Conference of Churches.
Honored in a traditional ceremony, they join a week of lectures, workshops & talanoa on justice, faith & community.
Honored in a traditional ceremony, they join a week of lectures, workshops & talanoa on justice, faith & community.
Prof. Dr. Joerg Rieger – Does Religion Still Matter in the Twenty-First Century?
YouTube video by Evangelická teologická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy
www.youtube.com
Rieger reads scripture as God’s solidarity with the oppressed. In creation, God “getting divine hands dirty,” Exodus where God “joins the struggle on the side of the oppressed,” and Jesus “born into the working class [who] never moves up and out."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSGy...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSGy...
We are excited to share the launch of The Journal of Contemporary Pasifika Theologies (CPT), a peer-reviewed, open-access journal amplifying theological scholarship rooted in the Pasifika region.
cpt.pcu.ac.fj/index.php/cp...
cpt.pcu.ac.fj/index.php/cp...
Re-Thinking Religion | Labor Day 2025 with Joerg Rieger, Cassandra Gould, and Aaron Stauffer
YouTube video by Religion and Justice
youtu.be
It is time to re-think religion. Since January 6, 2021, Christianity in the United States has predominantly been associated with white Christian nationalism and the politics of neoliberal capitalism. How can we re-think religion to be part of the solution?
youtu.be/ZRKpSHZDF9g
youtu.be/ZRKpSHZDF9g
Northey Lecture - Joerg Rieger
Get tickets on Humanitix - Northey Lecture - Joerg Rieger hosted by Monica Melanchthon. Centre for Theology & Ministry, 29 College Cres, Parkville VIC 3052, Australia. Thursday 4th September 2025. Fin...
events.humanitix.com
Northey Lecture – Joerg Rieger
Considering the multiple relations of religion and power, what difference does religion make, for good and for ill, and what might be the constructive contributions of theology be in fostering global solidarities?
REGISTER HERE: events.humanitix.com/northey-lect...
Considering the multiple relations of religion and power, what difference does religion make, for good and for ill, and what might be the constructive contributions of theology be in fostering global solidarities?
REGISTER HERE: events.humanitix.com/northey-lect...
Was Pope Francis a “Marxist Pope,” or something more nuanced? Fr. Bruce Morrill helps us sort faith, economics, and ecology—Jesuits, Vatican II, liberation theology, Pope Francis’s critique of “an economy that kills” from Laudato Si’ to Fratelli Tutti.
Out now: www.buzzsprout.com/2237315/epis...
Out now: www.buzzsprout.com/2237315/epis...
Faith, labor & democracy meet Aug 18 in our Labor Day webinar “Re-thinking Religion.” Panel: Joerg Rieger, Cassandra Gould & Aaron Stauffer. Take on Christian nationalism, capitalism & solidarity economies. Free RSVP: linktr.ee/religionandj...
Throwback to 2022, when Richard Wolff and Joerg Rieger discussed the troubling history of how Christianity in the U.S. is used to promote capitalism and conservatism.
Reposted by Joerg Rieger
From Mourning to Solidarity - Institute for Christian Socialism
How Dorothee Soëlle’s theology of suffering helps draw out mourning’s political possibilities.
christiansocialism.com
Now Live: On mourning and the transformation of suffering into solidarity.
christiansocialism.com/2025/07/23/f....
@religionandjustice.bsky.social
christiansocialism.com/2025/07/23/f....
@religionandjustice.bsky.social
On July 2, Joerg Rieger delivered the keynote “Christian Nationalism in the United States: History, Power, and Alternatives” at an ecumenical consultation in Seoul.
Check out the conference's joint communique: www.oikoumene.org/resources/do...
Check out the conference's joint communique: www.oikoumene.org/resources/do...
“Building strong community relationships is essential for any genuine social change.” — Aaron Stauffer
Hear more on @trippfuller.bsky.social's Homebrewed Christianity: democratic practice, class analysis & Solidarity Circles.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
Hear more on @trippfuller.bsky.social's Homebrewed Christianity: democratic practice, class analysis & Solidarity Circles.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
Reposted by Joerg Rieger
Freedom’s False Promises - Institute for Christian Socialism
At its core, what we are lacking is a power analysis—a clear, honest account of who holds power, how they wield it, and at whose expense. Without this analysis, we are left to blame ourselves for the ...
christiansocialism.com
Live at The Bias. Gab Lisi reflects upon the urgent need for power analyses—clear, honest accounts of who holds power, how they wield it, and at whose expense.
christiansocialism.com/2025/06/20/f...
christiansocialism.com/2025/06/20/f...
What happens when we read theology through the lens of power, capital, and everyday labor?
Rieger traces the long arc from the Roman Empire to today’s “Capitalocene,” arguing that empires may shift forms, but grassroots creativity keeps breaking through.
LISTEN: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVQU...
Rieger traces the long arc from the Roman Empire to today’s “Capitalocene,” arguing that empires may shift forms, but grassroots creativity keeps breaking through.
LISTEN: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVQU...
Decolonizing Development and Religion examines how economic initiatives, grassroots theologians, and Indigenous perspectives unsettle the colonial assumptions that still shape global “development.”
tr.ee/HRbYcaT1F7
tr.ee/HRbYcaT1F7
Pride, Power & Collective Liberation | Deep Solidarity — The Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice
Queer, working-class, and Catholic, Gab Lisi engages with Pride through Joerg Rieger's deep solidarity—exposing false freedoms and calling for collective liberation for all.
www.religionandjustice.org
In a new Religion & Justice blog, Gab Lisi traces Pride from Stonewall to top-surgery scars to Catholic social teaching—showing why solidarity, not branding, is the heart of liberation. Read here → www.religionandjustice.org/blog/pride-p...
Rieger’s WCC keynote argued U.S. slavery created an economy wherein elites maintain control through divide-and-conquer racism that pits Black and white workers against each other and unite-and-conquer tactics that lures poor whites into identifying with elites.
Watch: linktr.ee/religionandjustice
Watch: linktr.ee/religionandjustice
Reposted by Joerg Rieger
Joerg Rieger argues that true democracy would not only require political power, but economic power.
Image: Victor Dubreuil, “Safe Money,” c.1898 or later. U.S. National Gallery of Art. Common Domain
Link in bio.
Image: Victor Dubreuil, “Safe Money,” c.1898 or later. U.S. National Gallery of Art. Common Domain
Link in bio.
Leadership grows from “relational power”—trust woven in shared struggle and rooted in sacred value, says Aaron Stauffer.
Reflect, then schedule one intentional 1-on-1 this week to listen for what’s sacred.
Applications for the next Solidarity Circles cohort are open. Link in bio.
Reflect, then schedule one intentional 1-on-1 this week to listen for what’s sacred.
Applications for the next Solidarity Circles cohort are open. Link in bio.
Reposted by Joerg Rieger
"Labor organizations with Muslim majority workplaces must engage with their members in their faith and as workers." @profhuq.bsky.social
scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol69/iss...
scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol69/iss...
UPCOMING LECTURE | The God of Jesus and the God of Caesar - Christian Faith, Empire and Resistance
May 14, 2025, 7:00 PM–until 8:30 PM
Lecture Hall of the Faculty of Theology, Beethovenstraße 25, 04107 Leipzig (@unileipzig.bsky.social)
May 14, 2025, 7:00 PM–until 8:30 PM
Lecture Hall of the Faculty of Theology, Beethovenstraße 25, 04107 Leipzig (@unileipzig.bsky.social)
Join Solidarity Circles, a 9-month virtual peer-network designed to help align your institution or community with the solidarity economy.
🔗 Learn more and apply today: tr.ee/bxPEC55K-o
🔗 Learn more and apply today: tr.ee/bxPEC55K-o
As industrial forces continue to extract and exploit not just natural resources but also human labor, Joerg Rieger explores how religion and theology can play a crucial role in envisioning alternatives.
Read it here: linktr.ee/religionandj...
Read it here: linktr.ee/religionandj...
What if “justice” isn’t enough?
In this episode of Religion and Justice, theologians David True and Tom James argue that love — not as sentiment, but as desire — might be the force that breaks systems open.
We talk eros, capitalism, and the politics of longing.
religionandjustice.buzzsprout.com
In this episode of Religion and Justice, theologians David True and Tom James argue that love — not as sentiment, but as desire — might be the force that breaks systems open.
We talk eros, capitalism, and the politics of longing.
religionandjustice.buzzsprout.com
Slavery was the ultimate labor distortion – empowering workers today would be a form of reparations
Rebalancing labor relations so that workers are empowered would be an effective way to address racial wealth disparities and atone for the legacy of slavery, a scholar argues.
theconversation.com
"Addressing the ongoing legacy of slavery and systemic racism requires not only economic solutions but also improving labor relations and protecting workers.
Reparations that fail to pay attention to improving labor relations may not achieve economic equality."
theconversation.com/slavery-was-...
Reparations that fail to pay attention to improving labor relations may not achieve economic equality."
theconversation.com/slavery-was-...
ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR OUR 2025-26 COHORT!
Broadly understood, the cooperative and solidarity economy are ways of addressing longstanding economic inequalities within our society, including white supremacy and gender and sex inequities.
🔗 Apply Now: us4.list-manage.com/survey?u=d12...
Broadly understood, the cooperative and solidarity economy are ways of addressing longstanding economic inequalities within our society, including white supremacy and gender and sex inequities.
🔗 Apply Now: us4.list-manage.com/survey?u=d12...
REGISTER NOW | We've organized an eco-justice teach-in titled "Liberating People, Planet, and Religion." being held on April 12, 2025 (virtual option) at Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville!
REGISTER: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
REGISTER: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...