Book Examines Religion’s Role in Social Justice

Meredith Whitnah, associate professor and chair of the Westmont sociology department, illuminates the role of race and gender in religious responses to social injustice in a reading and Q&A with Provost Kim Denu about Whitnah’s new book, “Faith and the Fragility of Justice: Responses to Gender-Based Violence in South Africa, “on Friday, April 25, from 3:30-5 p.m. in Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. The event, which includes refreshments, is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

While the volume examines South African Christian organizations’ responses to apartheid, Whitnah says it also covers much more than that. “It’s about what we’re paying attention to and how we can marshal our deepest commitments to respond to the needs of the world around us,” she says. “I hope people come away both challenged and inspired to consider how they, too, can engage in the fragile pursuit of justice in their own communities.”

A graduate of Gordon College, Whitnah earned a master’s and a doctorate at the University of Notre Dame. She traces her interest in the subject to a summer college internship when she met several women who had experienced domestic violence. “Their stories were unique, but they shared a common thread: their churches didn’t believe them,” Whitnah says. “I was so struck by this theme, it made me want to learn more, to understand how and why it can be hard for religious organizations to see these issues and respond effectively to them.”

She also enjoyed reading South African fiction, and when she was about 12 she borrowed her sister’s copy of Alan Paton’s book, “Cry the Beloved Country.” “I found the story and the country captivating and did high school and college projects on issues in South Africa to learn more about the place and its people,” she says. “My work is centered on two commitments: Listen deeply to the voices of people who are suffering; and foster curiosity about why things are the way we are. I think we need to rightly understand the social issues around us to respond effectively to them.”

Whitnah began teaching at Westmont in January 2015 and says her book is the first to document the voices of women within the South African Council of Churches, one of the most prominent (and well-studied) anti-apartheid Christian organizations in South Africa, famously led by Desmond Tutu.