Us and the US Empire?
In Richard Horsley's book Jesus and Empire he offers some pretty scathing critiques of the United States economic and political policy in comparison with the Pax Romana and how it was kept. One thing that he pointed out that I thought was interesting was how we often talk about Roman roads and peace providing means for Christianity to spread so quickly, but we don’t talk about the backs upon which the roads were built or the peace that was made through innocent blood. I have no doubt that God used that evil to spread the Gospel. I have no doubt that God uses American Imperialism for his good purposes. Well, it is an interesting book and he raises some very important issues. I think his reconstruction of Jesus’ program is lacking, but his Roman/American parallels are shocking. I would recommend if not the whole thing the first and last chapters of the book. I love you guys. I miss you and thought this might generate some discussion. What do we do living in an evil empire and the Kingdom of God?
posted by Unknown @ 9:10 AM
4 Comments:
Tyler, I've asked myself a similar question recently. I recognize that I am a part of an anti-kingdom that hinders the way of Jesus. What do we do though? Our very existence perpetuates it. Help me wrestle with this question some more.
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I also recommend Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire and Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, both by William Blum.
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Good to hear from you, Tyler. Don't be a stranger, I'm in the office most of this month. Speaking of being a stranger... one response to your question is I Peter. Specifically, I Peter 2:11-12. Peace!
Nick-
Good perspective. I have to admit initially I was thinking of "we" as in Christians who live in America. I do see your point, but I don't know that I agree all nations are equally "evil." Well, what I mean is that American politics have and are inherently producing death and destruction globally at the expense of other nations. Certainly, you would know better than me, but is Thailand affecting this many people on a global scale? I think you make a good point that we need answers to apply to all Christians, but might those answer differ depending on the political climate? Being a stranger to the world in Thailand will look different than being a stranger to the world in America, no?
I think that we do have some answers to these questions painted in broad strokes through specifically John's apocalypse, 1 Peter (thanks Damien) and 1 Corinthians among others. I guess I’m just wondering about what we say to the government? What do we say to a system that is inherently evil? I need to think more about your good comment Nick.
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