In the midst of teaching an adult education class on evil from the perspective of progressive Christianity, I was contacted by Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda who had come across this website and wondered if I would be interested in her new book. What followed has been a splendid introduction to the work of a progressive christian ethicist who, despite the fact that she just happens to be Lutheran, I have failed to discover before now! That our little class just happens to be struggling with the problems of systemic evil and looking for signs of hope in the midst of our entanglement with institutions and structures which bind us up in evil that is hurting, oppressing, and condemning whole populations to poverty, prompted me to latch on to Dr. Moe-Lobeda’s invitation to take a look at her new book, if only for the resonance of the title  Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological-Economic Vocation with our current struggles.

Dr. Moe-Lobeda’s resume includes her work as Wismer Professor of Gender and Diversity Studies at Seattle University where she teaches Christian ethics and lectures and consults international on climate justice, economic globalization, white privilege, moral agency, Earth ethics, and being public church. 

Resisting Structural Evil is a must read for those of us who are seeking ways to live in a world where we benefit from systems beyond our control which oppress and abuse whole populations and threaten entire ecosystems. Confronting the evil in which we are all implicated is a task so daunting that many of us are loath to engage the powers of evil lest we be overwhelmed by the multitude of problems in the world. Dr. Moe-Lobeda’s work provides a framework for a spirituality which can nurture and sustain us as we embrace our call to resist evil. After reading her excellent articulation of the moral crisis, enriched by Moe-Lobeda’s ability to embody ethics with stories that resonate with our deep hunger for justice, structural evils are unmasked with an eye to countering hopelessness. Sowing seeds of hope with a spirituality of love that is capable of engaging both Mystery and reality is not for the feint of heart. Yet, Moe-Lobeda’s carefully laid out, totally approachable, framework for the kind of morality capable of  responding to the vision of justice which permeates her work, provides the reader with the courage to see new ways of being Love in the world!

Our little class has already benefited from Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda’s invitation to resist structural evil. We began by devoting ourselves to unpacking the wisdom is the lecture she gave to the Common Good Cafe at University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle, WA. entitled A Spirituality of Resistance. The talk provides a wonderful overview of Dr. Moe-Lobeda’s important work. Watch the video and see for yourself. Then, order her book! I know that we will be spending more time working with her book as we digest the rich nourishment of her wisdom!