The Lived Theology and Power Workgroup
Meeting Highlights
- First Meeting
Charlottesville, VA
January 25-27, 2002 - Second Meeting
New York, NY
April 19-21, 2002 - Third Meeting
Montgomery, AL
September 6-8, 2002 - Fourth Meeting
Charlottesville, VA
February 14-16, 2003
First Meeting
Charlottesville, VA
January 25-27, 2002
Narrative
The Theology and Power work group held its first meeting in Charlottesville on January 25th through 27th. The weekend opened with a reception during which the University of Virginia religious studies faculty and graduate students had the opportunity to meet the scholars and activists comprising this work group. Following the reception, Charles Marsh shared with the group both the vision of the Lived Theology Project as well as the meaningful dialogues and experiences in which previous work groups engaged. The members of the group spent the remainder of the afternoon listening to each other's informal introductions, which included their scholarly interests, faith background, and understanding of how the issue of power relates to the previous two. Each brought to the table particular thoughts regarding the various dimensions of power, from the interrelation of power and race to the cultural hegemony of market forces, providing a rich foundation for later discussions.
Saturday morning, social activist and scholar, Russell Jeung led a presentation on how the idea of power relates to his work in Oakland, California. Jeung, along with a group of nine evangelical Christians, live with and work on behalf of the residents of the Oak Park apartment complex in an impoverished Oakland neighborhood. Jeung told the story of how the residents, mostly Cambodian and Bosnian refugees, and some Mexican immigrants, came together as a unified community, crossing cultural and language barriers, to fight against the slum conditions and unjust landlord. The battle ended with a successful lawsuit, the news of which spread and influenced housing conditions across the city. The reconciliation that occurred as a result of the lawsuit efforts also took the form of cross-cultural block-parties, which included Cambodian and Mexican food and dance. In addition, Jeung highlighted his work with the children, who began to reach out to the neighbors outside of the apartment complex through clean-up efforts and door-to-door requests for the neighbors' personal prayer needs. Jeung and his co-workers also lead the youth in Bible study and provided space for them to form positive and healing bonds with each other as an alternative to the child and adolescent gang structures.
Jeung weaved five understandings of power into his narrative:
- the power of God ushered in through daily prayer, listening, waiting and watching what God will do on behalf of the people;
- the power of compassion which Henri Nouwen defines as "going to places where suffering is most acute and building a home there;"
- the power of reconciliation as seen through the lawsuit efforts;
- the power of narrative which gives voice to what would otherwise remain hidden and which leads to constructive action;
- and the power of righteousness which confidently militates against injustice.
Finally Jeung shared some of the tensions and questions inherent in his work:
- Racial reconciliation does not imply the absence of power and class differences, he says. Therefore, can there be true reconciliation if some continue to benefit from class privileges and power inequalities?
- The narrators control the power to tell the story, so how do we give voices to outsiders?
- Claiming the side of moral righteousness creates an other. Can this be avoided? How do we love the other without vilifying and dehumanizing him/her?
In the afternoon, Eugene McCarraher presented his book, Christian Critics which traces the thought of liberal Christian intellectuals as they apply theology to the social problems of their day. His concern is that religion is not talked about enough in the social progressive agendas of the American left. Ironically, there is a prominence of religious language in this arena, yet religion, not to mention theological convictions, is not taken seriously. While many Christians criticize the therapeutic ethic, for example, McCarraher reminds us that the language of healing is central to the Christian gospel and Christians must not let this language be hijacked. The question, "What do people need?" will be addressed in a particular language, and the controllers of language hold a certain power. The transition of consequence has not been from religion to therapy, but from a religious form of therapy allowing for an ecclesial-centric social ethic to a secular form resulting in an individualistic ethic. The new task is to reunite the longing for personal flourishing with social flourishing. Furthermore, the dichotomy between tradition and progress has created an impasse that is overcome not by polarizing tradition and progress, but by acknowledging Christian tradition as dynamic and applying it to our present situation.
The group continued their discussions at shared meals and other informal settings. They wrapped up their time Sunday morning with final thoughts and are looking forward to the April meeting in New York City.
Readings
- McCarraher, Eugene. Christian Critics: Religion and the Impasse in Modern American Social Thought. Cornell University Press, 2000.
- Niebuhr, Reinhold. Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study of Ethics and Politics. Scribners, 1932.
Papers/Presentations
- Alex Kish (18k, pdf): An Outline of a Biblical Theology of Power: Reflections on Conceptions of Power in the Ancient World and the Scriptures