[Oe List ...] Earth Community

[John Cock]

Randy and Michael, I have quickly read the two articles. Thank you much.
Randy, your pull-together comments and quotes are very helpful. 
 
The articles and your comments deepen my reflections on Rauschenbusch's take
on social and economic justice, HRNiebuhr's take on discerning/articulating
depth spirit contradictions of our time, Borg's take on Jesus style and
message, and Berry's take on the great work of human care for the earth
community. All this IS crucial to our strategic action.
 
Korten sounds right re: to the manifestations of the collapse of the
5000-year-old paradigm of global empire abuse of power. Moe-Lobeda is right
re: to reconstructing theology/spirituality to enable humanity's turn to
care for the total earth community through rediscovery of our vocation/great
work/reason for being.
 
More than ever I believe the guts of my Hebraic-Christian message. The
persons cited help us discern our heresies and re-hear the central message. 
 
All this considered, you snookered me into Sunday school today. 
 
Thanks,
 
John
  _____  

From: R Williams [mailto:rcwmbw at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2007 7:49 AM
To: John Cock
Cc: Order Ecumenical Community; dialogue-request at wedgeblade.net
Subject: Earth Community


Good morning, John.
 
In light of yesterday's conversation about Earth Community I want to
recommend a couple of manuscripts that are available at
www.rauschenbusch.org <http://www.rauschenbusch.org/>  which Michael Shaw
was kind enough to call to my attention.  At the Rauschenbusch Annual Dinner
in 2004 the keynote was delivered jointly by David Korten in a speech
entitled "Imperial Politics, Christianity and the True Jesus" in dialogue
with another speech by Cynthia Moe-Lobeda entitled " Globalization, Greed,
and God."  I hope you will access and read both.  Here are some cuts from
each.
 
Korten: www.rauschenbusch.org/documents/Korten.doc
 
"A 5,000 year Era of Empire is dying.  The Earth and civilization can no
longer (bear) the burden of a global system of imperial domination.  A new
era--an Era of Earth Community--is birthing."
 
"...the anthropomorphic God that we visualize in human form is the monarchal
God of Empire.  The God of Jesus and the Christian mystics is the Spirit of
Creation manifest through all being.  It brings forward a dynamic image of
Creation and its continual unfolding that is universal, egalitarian, and
calls us to create the world of peace and justice for all beings at the core
of Jesus' teaching.  It is the sacred story of Earth Community."
 
Moe-Lobeda:  www.rauschenbusch.org/documents/Moe-Lobeda-Final.doc
 
Look at what she has to say against the backdrop of Niebuhr's three evils.
She quotes Thomas Berry's "Great Work" and says "the great work of our day
is three-fold..."--(1) "to forge sustainable Earth-human relations," (which
overcomes a form of Niebuhr's "racialism" expanded to "species-ism" that
discriminates against the non-human); (2) "to abolish the institution of
warfare" (warfare, the primary tool of empire-building and Niebuhr's
"nationalism"); and (3) "to transform the prevailing paradigm of economic
globalization" (i.e. to overcome Niebuhr's "economic imperialism," which she
suggests has become wed to military imperialism, i.e. the economic and
political ganging up on the cultural.)
 
She then suggests three "movements," or what we might call strategies, to
accomplish the "great work."  (1) to "reclaim our (Christian) heritage of
resistance to systemic domination," (2) to "uncover and critique Christian
beliefs and practices that have theologically justified domination and
exploitation," and (3) to "reconstruct theologies and practices that serve
the God of life and liberation" within which she includes a theology of
morality, a theology of Christ, a theology of salvation, a theology of sin
and of evil, a theology of the resurrection, a theology of God, a theology
of cosmology "that re-orients human creatures toward our place within
nature, not over it" (her emphasis), and a theology of the cross.
 
These speeches were made before a Christian gathering, but the implications
and applications are transparent enough to go way beyond any sectarian
persuasion.  If you have trouble accessing them let me know.
 
Randy

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