The stubborn resistance to empire exhibited in the Bible by the Jews in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament is a model to be emulated by Christians today, a panel of World Alliance of Reformed Churches theologians stated earlier this year from Manila, Philippines.
An Ecumenical Faith Stance Against Global Empire for a Liberated Earth Community calls on WARC's 218 member churches to resist empire and build peaceful communities. It follows the 2004 Accra, Ghana, declaration, which is generally seen as a blueprint for theological and ecumenical affirmation of environmental, spiritual and social change. “This presents life and death challenges for Christians, as the empire uses religion to justify its domination and violence and makes claims that belong to God alone,” says the statement.
The Manila Declaration states that the nature of the global empire is evident in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, martial law in the Philippines, economic punishment of countries such as North Korea and Cuba as well as in the repressive measures associated with the “war on terror.”
The statement says that there are two key aspects to global empire today: neoliberal capitalistic globalization and global militarization. “These are interrelated, as economic domination and military rule are inextricably joined. The military forces of the empire act as the global cop to maintain order and security of the global market.”
“We ask all churches whose missions and peoples have historically been involved in empire building to seriously scrutinize in partnership with the victims of their imperial past their structure, teaching, liturgy, funding agencies and policies as well as their political allegiances, in order to repent and reshape their life in all aspects in the spirit of the anti-imperial biblical heritage.”
The full text of the Manila Declaration, along with other WARC documents can be found at: www.warc.ch
