for their latest video dealing with questions of power, oppression and Christian complicity. I’m glad to see the conversation go beyond sugar-coated issues of spirituality and ecclesial gymnastics. 

Andrea describes how native groups and people of color used to organize themselves around common areas of oppression, but that this became an unhealthy way to connect—a sort of Oppression Olympics. Recognizing that not all groups were oppressed in the same way, Andrea says the question became not “who was most oppressed, but how were we distinctly oppressed, and how were we complicit in others’ oppression?”

She describes the three pillars of white supremacy: “slavability,” genocide, and “orientalism.” Slavability stems from anti-black racism where everyone is viewed as a commodity but with a color hierarchy. The anchor of this pillar is capitalism. The second pillar of genocide has the underlying thinking that native people’s job is to “disappear” so that the incoming colonists can claim ownership of the land. The anchor of this pillar is colonialism. The final pillar, orientalism, is the belief that there is a perpetual foreign threat that must be fought. The foreigners are not thought of as slaves; they are not dead; but a threat that must be continually rallied against. The anchor for this pillar is war. With these new understandings, oppressed communities can organize around strategic alliances and understand how they fit in the larger economy in which we live.

Via TheOoze.tv

“What does it means to be a Christian- a follower of the way of Jesus- in a world of contradictions and conflicts? What does it means to be on the way of Jesus when I view the worlds poverty from an air-conditioned tour bus?”

Mev Puleo (1963-1996), an American photojournalist and young Catholic who actively confronted a world of injustice, poverty and violence. From witnessing homelessness in the United States to struggles for social change in Haiti, El Salvador, and Brazil, Puleo used photography and interviews to be a bridge between poverty and affluence, the First World and the Third World. Puleo’s familiarity with suffering, however, was dramatically intensified when she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor at the age of thirty-one. She died twenty-one months later.

Mev Puleo’s life was an ardent search for faith, hope, and love.

Puleo’s own compassion in the face of so much social suffering and her joie de vivre even as she battles with cancer provide an unusual portrait of a young person’s grappling with death and life’s ultimate questions. As a college student, Ms. Puleo wrote: “When I was in my early teens, a thought took hold of me. Jesus didn’t die to save us from suffering — he died to teach us how to suffer, to be with us in our every anguish and agony, to give meaning to our pain. . . . Sometimes I actually mean it. I’d rather die young, having lived a life crammed with meaning than to die old, even in security, but without meaning.”

Puleo was the author of The Struggle of One: Voices and Visions of Liberations.

Last week, thecommonroot.org was launched. The Common Root is a network for communities committed to Jesus’ radical way of shalom. This network used to be called “Submergent,” but we changed the name for a couple reasons. First, folks kept assuming that we were a sub-group of Emergent for Anabaptists. Secondly, the name didn’t convey the “vibe” we were looking for.

We are called “Common Root” because, together, we are rooted in the life of Christ. The word “radical” comes from the Latin word “radix” which means “root.” A radical movement is one that seeks to challenge the status quo by seeking change by getting to the root of the issue. This movement is made up of denominational Anabaptists (like Mennonites, Brethren in Christ, and Church of the Brethren), neo-Anabaptists, peace-minded liberationists, Catholic Workers, and other theological exiles and refugees. We aim to be a diverse mix of people whose common “root” is the radical way of Jesus Christ lived out in a post-Christian, post-colonial world where the Church is slipping into the margins and is, we hope, able to regain its prophetic voice.

These our our convictions:

1. The way of Jesus is nonviolent at its core.
2. Jesus calls communities to continue in the way of life he set for us.
3. The way of Jesus is prophetic, creative, and dynamic.
4. The Spirit of Jesus is stirring a creative, prophetic church that resists Empire wherever it is found.
5. Repenting of our desire for power and control, our movement embraces the diverse groups of people that share in these convictions.

In these violent days, the Spirit is stirring a prophetic, nonviolent movement of communities committed to embracing the way of Jesus in creative and sustainable ways. In light of this, these are our current aims:

• Connecting communities committed to our convictions.
• Providing resources for peacemaking, hospitality, simplicity, prayer, and mission.
• Fostering new communities that creatively embody Christ in their context. In particular, we want to foster new intentional communities, neighborhood-based communities, and other alternative church expressions.
• We want to tell the stories of faithful individuals and communities that exemplify the way of Jesus in the shadow of empire.

If the Common Root seems like something you want to be a part of, consider yourself invited.

If you are interested in starting a new community (church, intentional community, etc.) that shares in the convictions outlined above, please go here and make contact. We’re currently working on a gathering in February for those interested in being a part of a new planting initiative being supported by the Mennonites (which doesn’t require you to become Mennonite).

Upon completion comes fulfillment.

With fulfillment comes liberation.

Liberation allows you to go on.

Even death is not a true ending.

Life is infinite continuation.

  Deng Ming-Dao

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. 

 - Nelson Mandela

Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday on July 18.

The Ordinary Radicals

“Hay que dejar abierta la posibilidad de la fe como instrumento de humanización o, en lenguaje cristiano, como instrumento de salvación.”

Samuel Silva Gotay

El Nuevo Día – Samuel Silva Gotay y la religión como opio de los pueblos