So far this series, 'Setting our Stories Straight', has dealt with major ways Europeans and their descendants have (mis)used Christian teaching to justify their/our imperial and colonizing actions around the world. These have been cases where Christianity has not really needed 'outside' correction, but rather to re-read itself from within its own resources, stories, and … Continue reading Setting our Stories Straight: Everywhere and Nowhere
Of all the barriers to Reconciliation today in Canada, probably none is as difficult as the question of how we will relate to the land and natural resources. In my experience, Canadians are generally very supportive of Reconciliation right up to the point of where it might impact the economy, especially such industries as logging, … Continue reading Setting our Stories Straight: Dominion over the Earth
We continue to live in apocalyptic — that is, revelatory — times. So much that has been hidden is coming to light. So many old societal wounds of race and class and gender that many of us were led to believe were healing, if not healed, have been shown to be open and festering. These … Continue reading How Good It Is
So far, all of the posts in this series have been haunted by a shared ghost, the ghost of 'Christian civilization,' or what is known as Christendom. Christendom is the belief that Christianity could be, and was, expressed in and through the power and authority of self-consciously 'Christian' governments. In this worldview, Church and State … Continue reading Setting Our Stories Straight: The Myth of Christendom
In the most recent post in this series interrogating and dismantling the bad theology used to justify European colonization, I looked at the Doctrine of Discovery, which was a profound failure of the Church's understanding of what it means to be human, declaring that non-Christians were "enemies of Christ" and their lands were "no one's … Continue reading Setting our Stories Straight: A Chosen People
Matthew Root 