Citation:
Smith, Margaret Eastman. 2023.“Empowerment and Disempowerment in Moral Re-Armament”. in Uses and Abuses of Power in Alternative Spiritualities. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
Abstract: Seven distinctive features of the movement are explored in this paper: outreach to the world; divine “guidance”; metaphor of “family”; centrality of morality; notion of collective leadership; exhortations to sacrifice and service; attitudes towards resources. The paper highlights distinctive facets of this under-researched movement and shows how the “shadow” can creep into a well-meaning group, thus providing object lessons for initiators of alternative spiritualities.Presenter bio: Margaret Eastman Smith, Ph.D., is Director of Trauma Healing and Community Resilience at the Institute of World Affairs in Washington, DC. She taught for eighteen years in American University’s International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program. Before earning her doctorate at Tufts University, she worked seventeen years for the program of Moral Re-Armament on four continents.
Affiliation: Institute of World Affairs