{"id":3205,"date":"2014-11-06T18:05:59","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T18:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=3205"},"modified":"2014-11-06T18:06:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T18:06:59","slug":"stickin-it-to-the-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/stickin-it-to-the-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Stickin’ It To The Man!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stickin\u2019 it to the MAN!<\/p>\n

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As long as there are people living in societies there will be social classes.\u00a0 As long as there are social classes, there will be disparities between those classes \u2014 \u201chaves\u201d and \u201chave-nots.\u201d\u00a0 As long as there are \u201chaves\u201d and \u201chave-nots\u201d there will be perceptions of inequality, injustice and oppression; there will always be a privileged class and an underprivileged class.\u00a0 Whatever terminology we choose to use to define these stations in life, and the manners in which they relate to one another, as long as there are people living on the earth there will always be \u201cthe man.\u201d\u00a0 And everyone else will be trying to \u201cstick it\u201d to him.\u00a0 Whether or not \u201cthe man\u201d is actually at fault for whatever societal ill he is being blamed is to be answered case by case but in general, Social Theory will seek to understand and explicate why inequities exist and will try to level them out, all the while elevating the oppressed.\u00a0 This is a good thing\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>Click\u00a0HERE!<\/a><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, Social Theory, as an anthropo\/sociological discipline, exists to ferret out injustices an inequities lurking within our societies.\u00a0 As a result, a paradox of sorts is found.\u00a0 Social Theory is at its best when and where social injustice is at its worst.\u00a0 Should social injustice ever be eradicated, Social Theory would quietly fade away, a no longer necessary hero of yesteryear.\u00a0 We see Social Theory as being \u201cvitally engaged with the repression, oppression and indignity of unequal social relations: it is a deeply political, sometimes melancholic, but profoundly humane critique of the structural forces which underlay the self-destructive pathologies of contemporary societies.\u201d1 \u00a0It seems to me that this should be the organic work of the church.<\/p>\n

I remember reading somewhere about a person being called to set captives free and intervene on behalf of the oppressed, enfranchise the disenfranchised and elevate the poor, to bring liberty to the (unjustly) captured.\u00a0 Who was it that lived by those mandates?\u00a0 Hmm\u2026\u00a0 Well, maybe \u201cContemporary\u201d Social Theory isn\u2019t so contemporary after all.\u00a0 In the important\u00a0 words of Phillip Struckmeyer, \u201cwhy social theory and why not theology?\u201d2 \u00a0Asked a different way, shouldn\u2019t the mandates of scripture be enough to instruct us in the ways of righteousness as individuals and as a society?\u00a0 Why must we leave it to good-hearted pagans and atheists to highlight our inadequacies?<\/p>\n

One thing that I find interesting is that the ones doing the most \u201csticking it\u201d to the privileged class are others from the privileged class that feel guilty for their privilege.\u00a0 The dichotomy presented in that dynamic, oftentimes, is that the social theorists raging against societal injustices and inequalities do so from the safety of their ivory towers, far removed from the unwashed masses for which they are advocating.\u00a0 Very few are willing to get their hands dirty while doing the work of elevating the downtrodden, preferring instead to study from a far, rage from a safe distance, swing the pen instead of the sword.\u00a0 When we find those few, we should link arms with them, be inspired by them, and use whatever is in our hands to contend for justice, remembering that God is near to the broken-hearted and kind to the oppressed.<\/p>\n

Anyone remember this little lady?<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0429\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Or this guy?<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1562\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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They preferred to actually do something about the inequalities they observed instead of just studying them.<\/p>\n

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I wonder what theories they ascribe to?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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1. Elliott, Anthony. Contemporary Social Theory: An introduction<\/i>. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. 2009.\u00a0 342.<\/p>\n

2. Phillip Struckmeyer, \u201cWhy Social Theory, Why Not Theology?\u201d DMINLGP.com<\/i>, November 6, 2014, accessed November 6, 2014, http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/why-social-theory-why-not-theology\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stickin\u2019 it to the MAN!   As long as there are people living in societies there will be social classes.\u00a0 As long as there are social classes, there will be disparities between those classes \u2014 \u201chaves\u201d and \u201chave-nots.\u201d\u00a0 As long as there are \u201chaves\u201d and \u201chave-nots\u201d there will be perceptions of inequality, injustice and oppression; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[238,475,572],"class_list":["post-3205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-elliott","tag-lgp5-2","tag-stick-it-to-the-man","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3205"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3213,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3205\/revisions\/3213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}