David Fagelson is associate professor of justice, law and society for the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D.C. He wrote the article “Rights and Duties: The Ethical Obligation to Serve the Poor” for the journal Law & Inequality (1999).

Fred Glennon is professor of religious studies at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. He wrote the essay “Renewing the Welfare Covenant: Covenant and Responsible Poverty Policy” for the book Living Responsibly in Community (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997).

The Rev. Traci West is professor of ethics and African-American studies at Drew University in Madison, N.J. Among her specialties are welfare policy and justice issues in church and society. She wrote the entry “Agenda for the Churches: Uprooting a National Policy of Morally Stigmatizing Poor Single Black Moms” for the book Welfare Policy: (Feminist Critiques).

Mary Segers is professor of political science at Rutgers University, Newark campus. Her specialties include religion and politics. She co-wrote the book Faith-Based Initiatives and the Bush Administration: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).

The Rev. Thomas J. Massaro is dean of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif. He wrote the book Catholic Social Teaching and United States Welfare Reform. He also co-wrote the article “Compassion in Action: A Letter to President Bush on Social Policy” for the journal America (2001).

Read a letter from Georgetown faculty to Ryan telling him he’s misusing Catholic teachings in trying to explain the reasoning behind his budget proposal.

Read Ryan’s 2012 lecture about his budget at Georgetown University, published in the National Review.

Helene Slessarev-Jamir is a professor of urban studies at Claremont School of Theology in California. She is an expert on anti-poverty policies and is writing a book on faith-based social justice work.

Conrad Ostwalt is Department Chair  of Philosophy and Religion at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. He co-edited a book with Joel Martin, Screening the Sacred: Religion, Myth and Ideology in Popular American Film (Westview Press, 1995). He has written extensively about religion in the movies, with an emphasis on depictions of the Apocalypse, and is the author […]