empire

Today I lectured on my new book "Christ and Empire" at John Wesley College in Pretoria, South Africa. The lecture was very well received but I felt a bit apologetic having to talk so much about the bad news of empire in a context that is so ready to hear good news.

Yet the truth is that we need to face the bad news before we can hear the good news again. Everything else is just pie in the sky. Unless we address the real problems of our world, we cannot get a grasp of the difference that the gospel makes. This is especially true for those of us who live and work in the U.S. and in Europe, in the "belly of the beast."

In "Christ and Empire" I discuss how Christian thinking about God and Jesus Christ has been influenced by empire for the past 2000 years. Even our most sacred and cherished doctrines are shaped by the logic of empire. It is only when we face this reality that we notice the other part of story: empire has never been able to take over completely. The real Christ keeps breaking through, even in empire theology. There is an alternative logic at work that takes shape in the Christian tradition, although we often fail to take notice. This is the good news that the book seeks to trace.

Regards,

Joerg Rieger

If I had the talent of Sam Clemens, I'd write a scathing prayer to match the famous Mark Twain prayer for victory in war (http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwain-war.htm). Prompted by the jingoism of the Spanish-American War, it went unpublished until after his death.

I'll content myself with giving thanks for the bounty of this great land and for the opportunity our European founders were given to steal it from its original unworthy inhabitants who didn't know how to exploit its resources to the maximum; and for the means of accomplishing that great transfer -- the guns, steel, and germs that made genocide feasible and a continental empire possible. And the Bible that was used to bless it.

Lest in our tales of Pilgrims and Savages we forget the other great member of the trinity that provided the material foundations of our great nation, I also give thanks for the slavery that enriched both North and South -- the one through wise, enriching participation in the great trans-Atlantic Triangle Trade of slaves, molasses, and rum; the other through the clever use of unpaid labor to build the region's wealth.

First Published @ http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_eileen_f_070801_zz_top_2c_gone_f...

Six days before my fifth trip to Israel Palestine, Bon, my best friend from the 1970's and concert companion, phoned me, "I have two tickets and back stage passes for ZZ TOP appearing at the Verizon in Birmingham, and one of them has your name on it."

"Oh, Bon, I just can't, I will be home less than three days from two weeks in occupied Palestinian territory and after four trips, I know I will be whipped."

"Well, think about it."