There are two phrases that are often heard. One of them is "don't talk about either politics or religion. They are very sensitive topics." The other one is, "Politics and religion don't mix." This latter one is often time affirmed by Christians who say that "the Gospel has nothing to do with politics." This writer, humbly and respectfully, begs to differ. For starters, I would refer the reader to the book "The Politics of Jesus," by John Yoder. They will discover by reading not only Yoder's book, but the Gospel accounts in the New Testament, that the Gospel is very political in both its contents and thrust. The "politics" in the Gospel accounts speak about the "politics" of the reign of God in Christ. In addition to the political theology that we find in the New Testament, there are several theology books that were written in the context of politics. One of them was "The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor in Hitler's Germany. Pastor Bonhoeffer was involved in the resistance against Hitler, and eventually killed just before Hitler's government fell and surrendered to the Allies who had intervened to put a stop to the atrocities taking place in Germany and other places in Europe by Hitler's Third Reich. Bonhoeffer's theology was not a theology detached from the every day world. It was not a theology produced in the comfort of an air-conditioned office isolated from society. It was neither a theology of accommodation, or a theology of complicity. It was not a theology that sanctioned the status quo, either directly or by default. It was a theology of confrontation and resistance. It was a theology of outright denunciation, making it a prophetic theology. Now, let us move "fast forward" to the United States in 2017. We are in the second month of the year, approximately three months after Donald Trump was "democratically (yeah right!)" elected as President of the United States. Well, the so-called "democracy" of our nation is being quickly undermined by the revival of a Nazi-type leader and government. Slowly but surely, this new Administration is doing it best to undermine and even take away basic human rights. I will qualify everything that I am saying by noting that the U.S.A. is and has been a white-supremacist nation-state all along. By that I do not mean that every Caucasian is a member of the Ku Klux Klan or similar white supremacist group. Nor do I mean that every Caucasian favors hate crimes or oppression against non-Caucasians. There are many, many integral and justice-loving Caucasians in our country, and I know many of them. Many, in fact, our very close friends of mine. Many have been friends, and almost like family to me since my childhood. Many are committed to the struggle for justice on all levels, not only racial, but class and gender as well. Many are sincerely driven by their faith as a mechanism of social justice. I will even go as far as saying that there have been many instances where I would have more confidence in a Caucasian than I would with a fellow African-American or Latino/a person who is psychologically "colonized." What I mean by a "white supremacist nation-state," is that ours is an economic, political, and social system where non-Caucasians as a group are subservient to the rule and government by Caucasians. Non-Caucasians are, in effect, "second-class citizens," not by nature, but by default. The system, due to colonization and imperialism, by Great Britain and other European countries is a white-dominated system in terms of economics and politics. The new Presidential administration, led by Donald Trump, is simply solidifying what has been in place all along, i.e white supremacy. Prior to his ascendance to the office of POTUS, white supremacy was more subtle, and in fact, almost unrecognizable by many. Now, what we are experiencing is the construction of an outright white-supremacist state. Many people in the U.S.A of all ethnic groups and races do not realize this, and in fact, are being blindly swallowed up in the euphoric rhetoric that has swept up many uninformed and emotionally-driven citizens. Facts about the reality of what we are facing are being published constantly, and yet people who supported Trump become defensive and "uptight" when confronted by these facts. Their attitude, when confronted by the facts, is that they are being "attacked" by "leftist-liberals (what an oxymoron)," "ungrateful" and "non-patriotic" persons who want to "undermine the foundations of our democracy." What should be the role of religion and theology in the midst of this insanity and lunacy? For starters, theology has to be prophetic. In other words, theology has to carry out its God-given task of unmasking, identifying, and denouncing the demonic forces at work whose power is being unleashed against human life and dignity. Secondly, theology can not be "neutral" relative to what we are facing. "Neutrality" is another form of complicity. Thirdly, religion and theology must be a driving force of consistent and constant resistance against the powers of evil. What we need is a revival of Pastor Bonhoeffer's courage and intestinal fortitude, not only in verbally denouncing the evils of the government, but also resisting all attempts to impose brutality and dehumanization. Theology, in order to be faithful to the Gospel and to the cause for justice, must be a resistance-driven theology.
In the Name of Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer. Amen!
Rev. Dr. Juan A. Carmona
Visiting Professor of Theology, Tainan Theological College and Seminary
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