This month an evangelical group is sending 2,000 to save
Honduras. In their publicity they talk about “saving a nation in one day.” That day is July 20, 2013.
I have great respect for many Protestants and Evangelical
Protestants. I have family and friends who are not Catholic, I have several
non-Catholic clergy as friends (and not only on Facebook). I have worked
ecumenically with people from many different faith traditions.
My faith has been enriched by reading people like Will
Campbell, a rebel Baptist who recently passed on to the Lord, and Jim Wallis,
one of the founders of Sojourners. There’s a nice article about Will Campbell
here. My favorite quote from Campbell is “We are all bastards, but God loves us
anyway.”
I respect some evangelicals I’ve met here.
This reflection is not about evangelicals, but a critique of a type of “mission” that many, especially evangelicals, promote. For my reaction to being on the receiving end of one of these missionaries a year ago, read here.
This reflection is not about evangelicals, but a critique of a type of “mission” that many, especially evangelicals, promote. For my reaction to being on the receiving end of one of these missionaries a year ago, read here.
The nation of Honduras does need change – or, as we
Christians might say, conversion. But conversion is not just something
individual. It also means conversion, change of social and economic structures
that hinder the work of love that God offers. In the Jewish scriptures the
prophets often are calling the political and religious leaders to change, confronting
the injustice and violence in their midst.
But one of the strategies of this campaign “one nation, one
day” has been to partner with the government. One video shows one of their
leaders with Honduran president Pepe Lobo and states that he declared July 20 a
national holiday. (I think they’ve got that wrong, but that’s another story.)
Another video shows their leaders with the president and other governmental
leaders whom, they claim, support their mission.
What disturbs me is the alliance with political power,
especially in an election year. Here religion is all too often easily
manipulated to help one or another political party.
More disturbing is that One Nation One Day is partnering
with political and economic powers that many consider responsible for – or, at
least, not responsive to – the continuing violence in the country and the
repression. This week an indigenous leader protesting a dam project was shot
and killed by government forces. In addition, many of these political leaders
see a militarization of the police as the way to deal with the violence,
missing the structural issues at the root of the violence here.
These “missionaries” will be accompanied by the National
Police, a police that has been riddled by corruption. (Does this sound like the priests that came
with the Spanish conquistadores?) In a few cases, police have assassinated
civilians. You can read what I wrote a few weeks ago here or the analysis in Honduras Culture and Politics.
And so, this campaign could be seen as a way to legitimate
corruption and repression.
Furthermore, the emphasis of this campaign is individualistic.
In their own words, they will “strategically infiltrate” every high school,
promoting school-wide calls to salvation. This is one of their ways they are
seeking to reach every young person in Honduras; they don’t seem to realize
that less than one-third of Honduras young people go past sixth grade! Also,
many teachers have to wait months until they are paid.
This group claims it will be mobilizing “virtually every
local pastor” – about 30,000, they say – with two major stadium training
events. Of course, these are only evangelical pastors. The presence of Catholic
leaders – clergy and lay – is conveniently ignored. I wonder if this is more
about “saving Hondurans” from their sins than about accompanying Hondurans in
their search for the Kingdom of God, a God of justice, love, and peace.
A few days ago a priest friend asked me what I thought about
the presence of evangelicals here in Honduras. He, like many, see their
presence as part of a campaign to undermine the community vision that the
Catholic Church has and that has been reaffirmed in the meetings of the Latin
American Bishops Conference in Medellín, Puebla, and Aparecida.
I am not sure that this is really such a campaign – though
the support of the Reagan administration to some fundamentalist groups (even in
Honduras) is a fact.
But I see most of those who come here in campaigns like this
as naïve. They have little understanding of the economic and social situation
of the country and the structural injustice at work here. Their individualistic
religion often sees personal salvation in individualistic terms and so they
overlook the injustice. Some show an unthinking chauvinism that translates into
support of unjust regimes.
But most of all they do not see that Jesus is already at
work here – not just among the Catholics, but also among many who give their
lives to live with and serve the poor.
As a part of One Nation One Day’s publicity, one video
declares: “You are becoming Jesus to the world.”
I wonder about this, especially in light of this quote of
John Taylor that I share with people who are coming here:
Our first task in approachinganother people,another culture,another religion,is to take off our shoes,for the place we are approachingis holy.Else we may find ourselvestreading on another’s dream.More seriously still,we may forgetthat God was therebefore our arrival.
And so I pray that their time here might be one of
conversion – conversion from imperialist religion and imperialist nationalism.
3 comments:
Thanks for this post, John. If only evangelicals and Catholics would pause and get to know each other before competing with each other, in the spirit of this: http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/07/averys-ten-rules
Very insightful. I've been thinking about writing something about One Country, One Day, but it's difficult to criticize people who I'm sure mean well and are good-hearted. And the medical clinics are great
But the notion that a night in a stadium will bring meaningful changes is just wrong.
I'm troubled by the tendency to talk a lot about God's will and not much about the responsibility of people to act to make their communities and county better. The old faith without deeds argument.
I just saw a follow-up video they made and saw two two-story high Coca-Cola blow-up bottles on the stadium field.
I also read that they are sending follow up groups in March to Trujillo, Roatan, and the Bay Islands.
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