All tagged why should christians care
In June of 2019 the UK Government published Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, its White Paper on technology and artificial intelligence (AI). Why refer to industrial revolution? There are those who suggest AI’s advent is more significant than the invention of the steam engine, that it is a technological breakthrough as momentous as electrification. Some see in this new industrial revolution the possibility for a technology driven nirvana with robots finally able to…
Two cities. Two kingdoms. Two nations. Christian theology—and political theology in particular—is littered with these binaries. An election is approaching imminently in the United Kingdom, and in the near future in the United States.
As I am writing this, universities across the United Kingdom are participating in industrial action—including strikes—over a variety of disputes: pension contributions are being cut, pay over the last decade has decreased by about 17% relative to inflation, women and people of colour are paid less than White males (by 9-15%), workloads are increasing, staff are being evaluated in reductive ways, and work contracts are becoming more “casual”, which makes employment more precarious, especially for junior staff, women, and people of colour.
The Church is one of the world’s fiercest, most unrepentant and historically ignorant bastions of white supremacy. British Christianity in particular has played a central part in the violence against black bodies over the centuries by colluding with the powers of evil primarily in the form of the British Empire: in the words of historian James Walvin, the history of the Church has been a history of “God fearing men going about their godless business”
We often hear that we should pay our taxes because Jesus told us to. Give to God that which is God, and to Caesar that which is Caesar’s. Say your prayers and pay your taxes. Such a theology of taxation and loyalty to government has been used by some states to encourage Christians to quiet compliance.
For too long, being green and caring about the environment has been seen as a special interest group in the church—for the cyclists, allotment holders, and mother earth types. Lip service has been paid to the fact that God is creator, “all things come from thee, and of thy own have we given thee”, and that we and all that we see, touch, hear, smell and taste is created or God-breathed. And yet we are part of creation—trees clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12); God is intrinsically involved in the natural world; and promises never again to “curse the ground” and destroy “every living creature” after the flood.
