Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World

Theologian Armas (Abuelita Faith) aims in this incisive manifesto to dismantle the lies the world’s empires have woven into “our imagination and our theology.” In Armas’s view, empires­­—and the Westernized, evangelical church that’s become tied up in them—instill social narratives that seek to “keep people in their place” by capitalizing on “fears of not belonging.” She also charges these institutions with perpetuating unchangeable “systems and hierarchies” and supporting dualistic forms of thought that draw stark divisions between the powerful and the oppressed (a mindset that’s been weaponized by the church, for instance, via “colonial and missionary efforts to bring ‘the light of the gospel’ to the so-called ‘heathen’ in the non-Western world”). In its place, she envisions a “divine kingdom” dedicated to serving society’s marginalized, and a theology that frames faith as messy, human, and in need of interpretation—especially when it comes to the Bible, a text “written by and for a people struggling to make sense of who they are within a system of hierarchy, domination, and greed.” Armas ranges fluidly between biblical analysis, philosophy, history, and her own experiences as a Latina woman to deliver complex ideas in accessible language (“The illusion of certainty masquerades as spirituality, but the real stuff is found in the messy middle—in the ambiguity, the doubt”). The result is a thought-provoking look at the intertwining of religion and social control. (Nov.)