BREAK THE CHAINS OF OPPRESION AND THE YOKE OF ...

HopE
guage: ‘In the name of peace and security, the global empire is exercising ‘omnipotent’
power through its military weapons systems of mass destruction and its
intensive, totalistic warfare. Already, wars such as the Crusades, the conquest of
the Americas, and the colonial wars against the racial and ethnic peoples in Asia
and Africa have caused massive victimization of peoples. This historical process
of systematic, massive conquest and destruction of people and the earth has extended
into modern times. World Wars I and II, the US atomic bombing of the
Korean and Japanese peoples, the US Cold Wars against the Korean and Vietnamese
people, and the Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq wars against those people
and their communities have evolved into total wars of omnicide. Current developments
by the empire in global militarization threaten the total destruction of
earth as a living abode. The nature of war has been radically transformed into
limitless war in time and space under the geo-politics of global empire. But the
omnipotent power of empire can never obtain ‘total security’. Its absolute power
through modern military technocracy – omnicidal weapons systems and the
claim of omnipotent power – constitutes a tyranny over all living beings’. 14
The paradigm of ‘empire’ is not very helpful in developing a theology of hope in
times of globalization. First of all because the paradigm is too simplistic in its approach
towards reality. In this perspective it does not account for opposite interests
among the players on the global market. It does not discern between the interests
of the state and that of bankers, of that of shareholders and entrepreneurs.
It does not take into account the growing influence of emerging new economies
(India, China). It seems to be blind towards the ‘neo-colonial’ behavior of e.g.
China in Africa. And more important, it does not provide a critical attitude towards
nepotism, corruption and ethnic conflicts in other contexts outside the
USA. Unless ‘empire’ � is �to blame � for all evil in �this world. � That presupposition
however is not taking into account the role of the individual and his responsibility.
Finally: it is too simplistic a conclusion to look upon evil as something that
has only one origin and centre: the United States of America.
Theology of hope in the context of globalization
The apocalyptic and transcendent shape of ‘empire’ does not leave much space
for (a theology of) hope. We either have to withdraw from this world and disengage
from daily life, or we have to engage in creating a universal revolution. As
‘empire’ is omnipresent, the battle against this apocalyptic beast has to be universal
as well. It does not only include the battle against the driving forces of liberal
capitalism, it also has to fight Western Christianity as its ally: “Western Christi-
14 http://warc.jalb.de/warcajsp/side.jsp?news_id=809&part_id=0&navi=6
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– THEOLOGY OF HOPE IN TIMES OF GLOBALIZATION –