Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

21. Empire, the Caribbean Church and the Gospel of Resistance

Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

Garnett Roper [+-]
Jamaica Theological Seminary
Garnett Roper is the president of Jamaica Theological Seminary (JTS), who has pastored three congregations over a period of 35 years in Jamaica. He has been a radio preacher on Grace Hour for more than forty years and published works such as Caribbean Theology as Public Theology (2012), Who God Bless No Man Curse(2016) and Thus Says the Lord: Responding to the Resurgence of Empire (2018).

Description

This paper explores the role of the church in the Caribbean with regards to the violation of people’s rights by exploring the exorcism of Legion narrative in the Gospel of Mark. The working hypothesis is that the way Mark treats the subject of demonization is the rough equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorders or the disorientation brought about among the victims of militarization. The role of Jesus as exorcist in the story is therefore paradigmatic of the role of the church in circumstances where people are made victims of militarization, domestication and distribution of military arsenal, and deportation. Mark’s narrative emphasizes the problems that arise after exorcism, the push back by the entrails of empire. It explores the options for intervention in such cases and the counter-narrative constructed in the wake of the push back, opposition, and persecution in the experience of the Caribbean Church.

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Citation

Roper, Garnett. 21. Empire, the Caribbean Church and the Gospel of Resistance. Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 369-382 Apr 2020. ISBN 9781800500204. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=40208. Date accessed: 28 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.40208. Apr 2020

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