THE WAY OF THE CROSS IN LOCKDOWN AMERICA
One of my recent posts indicated my growing concern for the Prison-Industrial Complex. My experience this past week as a substitute teacher affirms the link between the education system and the Big House Nation.
This is my second time around reading Mark Lewis Taylor’s The Executed God: The Way of The Cross in Lockdown America. As a post-colonial Christian as well as a former grad student who had taken a course on Foucault, I was more familiar with the concepts Taylor was passing along to understand the nature of discipline. What I appreciate most about Taylor, as well as most post-colonial theologians is their subjectivity and honestly. This is not a study of the U.S. American prison system behind some false objective Euro-centric gaze. Nay, Mark Lewis Taylor is an active member of the Free Mumia movement, but what he has to say is essential to the Church here in the U.S. and abroad.
Introduction: The Executed God
Our language, in the Tillichian neo-orthodox tradition is limited, and how we speak of God is primarily metaphorical. This is the position Taylor comes from. He says that Jurgen Moltmann‘s The Crucified God (one of my all time favorites) focuses on the cross and what it means for Jesus’s divinity. However, if we leave the fact that the crucifixion was in those days a state-sanctioned execution for those who are deemed a threat, we will end up glorifying the suffering of the oppressed. Therefore, to keep the idea of the Cross as an evil and not redemptive (Taylor’s argument), the Executed God may serve as a better metaphor.
Chapter 1: Lockdown America: A Theater of Terror
This chapter describes in grueling detail the effects of the police state that we know as American society. The 6 features include: Time as a devourer of flesh, injustice done towards the innocent who are incarcerated, the racial disparity in the enforcement of drug laws, the culture of prison rape as a form of terror (and it is even encouraged by guards disgustingly enough), and the scare tactics of police forces (sending helicopters, etc. as a sign of their presence). Taylor also argues against the death penalty.
Chapter 2: Theatrics and Sacrifice in the U.S. Led Imperium
Taylor provides the political and economic background behind the so-called needed “War on Drugs” and “Getting tough on crime” approaches by the U.S. Federal government. He points that starting with the Founding Fathers, America has always seen prosperity as something for the few, and that it was necessary for a population of certain persons to get the short end of the stick. Both Democrats and Republicans are responsible for the current mess that we are in.
Chapter 3: Way of the Cross As Adversarial Politics
Admitting that this book was written for a Christian audience, Taylor does want to find common ground with interreligious groups to subvert the P-IC. Borrowing from Chad Meyer’s Binding the Strong Man as well as various other liberationist thinkers, Taylor magnificently blends social commentary, theology, politics, and biblical studies to reflect upon the life of the Galilean Jesus and what it might mean for today. Mark Lewis Taylor also uses the Apostle Paul as an example of an anti-imperial Christian.
Chapter 4: Way of the Cross As Dramatic Action
Continuing to examine historical Jesus studies, Taylor then suggests the possibility of non-violent dramatic actions for today’s world. From Ida B. Wells and her leadership in blacks exiting Memphis because of discrimination in 1892 to the die-ins in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 200, Taylor gives historical examples of how the way of the cross leads to the stealing of the show.
Chapter 5: Way of the Cross As Building A People’s Movement
MLT holds out hope for a Christianity that embraces the legacy of “Impious Galileans,” the 4th century band of believers dedicated to aiding the downtrodden. Advocating “No More Prisons!” and “Death to the Death Penalty!,” MLT explores a myriad of creative ways to perform the way of the cross in protest of the Prison-Industrial Complex.
Epilogue: Christian Living Toward a Fullness of Rebellion
MLT, in the tradition of Albert Camus, proposes that rebellion is not a negative value always in opposition, but a positive on par with humanity’s God-given co-creating capacities.
MY THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION
I did rather enjoy this book and its engagement with what I consider to be the greatest threat to U.S. American civilization. The P-I C is a danger to our future and it needs to end. If there is one thing I find frustrating with post-colonial theologians, is that while we are all in agreement that sin exists as a complex network of kyriarchal, racist, and classist forms of oppression, many of aforementioned thinkers cannot seem to to will the ONE thing. I am hoping that the P-I C is my “ONE” thing as I look for creative ways to rebel against it. MLT’s insight that revolutionary purism (the idea that rebellious groups have to share the same ideology) is unhelpful was opened my mind and was very relevant to my conversations around the blogosphere this week.
My only criticism would be this: If the CROSS is evil, why name your politics “the way of the cross”? Isn’t that like saying, “the ethics of being executed” or “the politics for the murdered”? If the author does not find the cross redemptive, then why even use it as part of the language as part of the solution? If nothing good can come from it, the cross should be discarded all together. Plus, it is not the way of the cross if Taylor is only referencing Yeshua the Messiah’s ministry.
At this point, I must digress with Mark Lewis Taylor. The Crucifixion is redemption in that it means Christ’s free subjective obedience to defeat ha satan, his lies, as well as all of humanity’s disobedience. I cannot risk, nor can the Church, afford to dismiss the execution of the Logos as a tragedy, and here is why. I side with Jurgen Moltmann on this one, that the cross keeps the victims of society in view. If God is on the side suffering with those who have pain in their lives, the Cross is forever a reminder of that. The notion of a transcendent God bleeding may be offensive to some, for to me, it is a truth that Christianity exclusively brings alone. It would have been better for MLT to call his proposal “The Way of Jesus’ Ministry” or such. The Crucified God is the embodiment of the Nonviolent God. Honestly, we cannot actually “imitate” Jesus in looking solely as his life as an example, for we would risk doing violence to his historical experience and making an idol of our interpretation of that history. On the other hand, I do not want to be accused of uplifting the pain of millions around the world. Jesus is not some Harry Potter figure or some U.S. soldier who gives his life to save “the world.” His narrative is completely unlike our stories, but at the same time, it is our story. Christianity is about God making a way out of no way for human beings to experience the divine agency of the Holy Trinity. Only through the Cross and the Resurrection does this become a possibility.
Related articles
- Mondays with Moltmann (On Christology and Discipleship) (diglotting.com)
- Mondays with Moltmann (On the Quest for the Historical Jesus) (diglot.wordpress.com)
I’d be interested in finding out more about how he uses Paul as an example of an anti-imperial Christian.
Maybe in our Tri-blog on the apostle Paul, I can use MLT as a source.
Always good to see Foucalt get his moment in the sun. The United States, which incarcerates more people than any other nations, calls itself the ‘land of the free’. It is easy for people to overlook this dichotomy because they’re raised in our public school system (and its private arms), where a child is rushed around from one room to another every time a bell rings for twelve years — held against his will but told what he is receiving is a favor. One could argue that school is almost a practice run for imprisonment.
“One could argue that school is almost a practice run for imprisonment.”
Tell me about it, I have been subbing for 2 weeks know, and I got the same exact feeling.
Ah, subs. That brings back some wild memories. I went to a magnet school where we were absolutely vicious to subs. I’ve seen subs curse, scream, and even break down in uncontrolled subbing at the hands of wicked gifted children, who, to be fair, had some justifiable frustrations with being herded around and being forced to do busy work.
I’ve been good friends with some teachers, and often they seem to be as imprisoned or more imprisoned than the students themselves. Ever read up on tokokyohi?
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