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“One of the hardest lessons I have learned social justice work is that, even when oppressive systems are confronted and dismantled, those responsible will- more often than not- take hold of the narrative to mitigate responsibility. As a result, the oppressed still tend to bear the brunt of the fallout. And what makes that even harder to process is that many people who would declare themselves "allies to the cause" will passively or actively buy into that false narrative because it is far easier and less costly than to walk in genuine solidarity. I don't say this so that people will feel hopeless about their commitments to justice. Quite the opposite. If you know that this happens, you won't be as crushed when it does.”

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Author:Jamie Arpin-Ricci
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“This emphasis is directed primarily at the here and now, as Christ-embodying communities of active love in the midst of the world. All of creation is caught up in the restorative work. The mission of God’s people is not simply directed at saving people’s souls from a bad life-after-death into a good life-after-death, but it addresses and hopefully touches the injustice and violence around us—poverty, racism, sexism, economic exploitation, war, environmental destruction—where salvation, justice, and peace can merge.”

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Book:Vulnerable Faith: Missional Living in the Radical Way of St. Patrick
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“The mission of God’s people is not simply directed at saving people’s souls from a bad life-after-death into a good life-after-death, but it addresses and hopefully touches the injustice and violence around us—poverty, racism, sexism, economic exploitation, war, environmental destruction—where salvation, justice, and peace can merge.”

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Book:Vulnerable Faith: Missional Living in the Radical Way of St. Patrick
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“Even for those who have chosen to fully accept and affirm their 2SLGBTQIA+ siblings in Christ, until we let go of our narrow and prideful belief in the supremacy of the “normal”, we will not only continue to perpetuate harm to the already vulnerable, but we will deny the Church the opportunity to encounter aspects of the Divine only found in those who “transgress” those false and narrow boundaries.”

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Author:Jamie Arpin-Ricci
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“One of the biggest problems with so-called "cancel culture" is not the "cancelling" itself. Instead, it the crisis of imagination that exposes our collective inability to engage the complexities of social issues with nuance. What generally happens is that when there is any significant call for accountability and justice, it is uncritically deemed "cancel culture", pointing to the few extremes as "proof". Without question, ruthless public shaming and ostracization is never ultimately beneficial to all involved. However, that fact is too often forced through a binary lens that fails to address the individual and systemic issues at play, posit restorative/transformative consequences, and require better, more informed accountability. This is further complicated by the tendency of those with social privilege to lean into the rhetoric of "dialogue" and some variety of "bothsidesism" that fails to address underlying systemic imbalances of power and relative impact of social issues, all while policing tone and emotion as though anger and hurt are disqualifying. If there is a tendency for some to lean too strongly into "cancelling"- a legitimate issue that we need to address- it is largely because it is an attempt at correcting the over-emphasis on biased, normative systems that benefit the privileged and perpetuate harm.”

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“Without question, there have been well-intentioned movements to improve access to this “freedom” (with various degrees of success), but such efforts have largely been about carving out space within the established system. This shuffling of the deck chairs might improve conditions marginally for some but ultimately results in little more than accommodating and perpetuating the very unjust and oppressive systems without addressing the root causes (see neo-liberalism).”

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“Notice how selective that logic is. When a member of a group we already distrust commits harm, the group becomes suspect. When a member of our own group commits harm, the explanation becomes individual, complex, and tragic. We instinctively widen context for those we identify with and narrow it for those we do not. While that reflex is common to all of us, the question is whether we will let it rule us.”

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“In the Christian tradition, the function of the “prophetic” (far from being about soothsaying the future) is about speaking truth to power in the face of injustice. The prophets in the Biblical tradition were disruptive voices in the face of systemic failures to protect the most vulnerable. In our context, the prophetic is a disruption of power and privilege in much the same way as a stick in the spokes- an attempt to immediately stop the forward momentum of harmful and oppressive dynamics. The disruption becomes necessary- even critical- when our mutual and social commitments (including grassroots realities, governmental systems, religious communities, etc.) fail to protect the marginalized- or worse, contribute to their oppression.”

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Author:Jamie Arpin-Ricci
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