subverting the empire?
April 18th, 2006 by Andy
Well friends, we’re about to enter a conversation about empire. But why? Why would we here in the midwest of the United States spend five weeks talking about “subverting the empire”? Of course, the new testament church grew in the midst of the hostile Roman Empire. And, before that the people of Israel were rescued from hostile territory in Egypt only to eventually find themselves in occupied territory once again at the hands of Babylon, Assira, and the Romans. But those days are over right? We don’t live in the shadow of any empire do we?
Perhaps a few words about what empires look like and how they wield power would be helpful for us to answer this question…
According to Walsh and Keesmaat (the authors of the book from which I took the title of this series) empires are:
- 1. built on systemic centralizations of power,
- 2. secured by structures of socioeconomic and military control,
- 3. religiously legitimated by powerful myths and
- 4. sustained by a proliferation of imperial images that captivate the imaginations of the population.
In the next few days I’ll explore each of these signs of empire as it may or may not relate to our context. In the mean time, I wonder what the rest of you might think. Do any of these spark a connection for you?
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Strangely enough it reminds me of modern day China, though I’m sure the USA fits into the second category quite nicely.
Comment by Michael — April 18, 2006 @ 6:05 pm
Hmmm, I’ll take a stab. How about the corporate consolidation that is happening in the international market and the increasing global occurence of American intervention for #1. #3 and #4 are tough but I think it would be possible to find myths and symbols in corporate marketing campaigns and advertising that are proped up by popular values (individualism, entrepreneurism, ruggedness, sexiness, etc.).
Comment by Chad — April 19, 2006 @ 3:27 pm
Okay, imperial images… how about our currency, our flag, the American (sometimes referred to as Bald) eagle, and Kelly Clarkson.
Comment by Chad — April 28, 2006 @ 2:39 pm
[…] So, I’m getting back to writing about the four marks of empire. This time I want to ask questions about how so called “developing nations” fit into the overall global economic system. Is it possible that the “poor” countries of the world function in a similar way as the conquered provinces of Rome? Is development aid and the social and economic terms that come with it just another way of ensuring that the wealth of these countries continues to flow primarily toward the wealthy nations of the world? […]
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