Shaking the Gates of Hell

Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate Globalization

Sharon Delgado

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781506432847
• eBook ISBN: 9781506432854
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Ethics & Religion

Shaking the Gates of Hell: Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate Globalization breaks new ground by describing the global economy and its effects from the perspective of an integrated theology of "the earth as primary revelation" and the institutional powers of this world. It reaches the conclusion that hope lies in nonviolent resistance and ecological and social responsibility based on God's action in Jesus and in the triumph of God over the powers. This book describes today's interrelated social, economic, and ecological crises and makes the case that we face a living hell on earth if we do not address them. It provides an overview of the global economic system and offers a comprehensive theological analysis of the network of primary institutions that make up what Walter Wink calls the "Domination System." It points readers in the direction of hope based on following the way of Jesus, who lived in nonviolent resistance to the powers of his day. This new, revised edition continues the powerful story of the original, extending the analysis of the global economy from the 2008 collapse and recession to its alleged recovery. It addresses the Obama administration's policies on economics, trade, and the environment, and provides further reflections on American foreign and military policy in this so-called New American Century.

II

Corporate Globalization: The System Is Designed for the Results It Is Getting

The gravest effort of the principalities is the capture of humans in their service, which is to say, in idolatry of Death.

—William Stringfellow

8

The Powers of This World

However many evil men hold places in the American establishment, they are far, far outnumbered, by my tally, by those bereft of conscience, so pathetically have they been dehumanized by the principalities and powers for which they are acolytes.^[1]

—William Stringfellow

We live in a world that radiates the grace and power of God, but we are also faced with terrible evil. We are seeing such damaging effects of human activity, grave violations against other human beings and against the natural world: the loss of biodiversity, climate change, toxic pollution, harmful technologies, growing inequity, resource depletion, social disruption, violence, terror, and war. The current multifaceted global crisis can only be explained by facing the reality of evil.

Although the topic is usually avoided, even in many churches, evil is an obvious and pervasive reality. In addition to incredible beauty and amazing love, we have also received a legacy of sin and brokenness, which, tragically, we pass on to others. We experience God’s love and much that is good and valuable in human life and in the natural world. And yet we see, feel, and even participate in attitudes, behaviors, and systems that are destructive. How can this be explained?

Discussion of sin and evil is usually limited to the topic of the personal immorality or sinfulness of individuals or groups of human beings. The primary focus is on specific “sins,” that is, personal weaknesses, moral failings, and deliberate violations of generally accepted standards. People assume that society’s evils are simply the combined effects of the personal wrongdoing of many individuals. But are that many people really that bad? Can this explanation account for the pervasiveness of political corruption, social disruption, economic injustice, and environmental devastation? On the contrary, many people who have high standards of personal morality and who see themselves as kind and generous are deeply, if unwittingly, involved in systems that are moving the world toward destruction.

In the movie The Remains of the Day, Anthony Hopkins plays an aging English butler who prides himself on his loyalty to the man he has served for many years. He devotes himself to duty and undertakes each task with exquisite care, whether he is serving tea, tending to household duties, or giving instructions to the other servants. One evening, while serving at an elaborate dinner party he has organized, he realizes that the dinner guests and the man he has served all these years are Nazi collaborators. Although this butler has always seen himself as honest, hard-working, self-sacrificing, and dedicated to duty, he looks back on his life and service with ambivalence. He seems to realize, too late, that in his own small way he has influenced the larger patterns of history. He has been participating in evil.

We can practice seemingly virtuous behavior while serving an institution that causes harm, without acknowledging or even recognizing our contribution to the damage being done. “Good” people can participate in destructive systems. All of us, to the degree that we benefit from and support these systems, are implicated in the harm they cause.

Personal morality is an essential aspect of spiritual growth and responsible participation in the world, but how can we determine what is “good”? Standards of morality vary from culture to culture and are largely determined by religious, economic, and political institutions. What is defined as “good” by a particular society can actually be harmful to certain groups of people, to other societies, or to the world as a whole. This fact is usually obscured by our immersion in the culture in which we live and in the institutions that dominate it.

It can be difficult to determine what is good or evil, helpful or harmful, in many situations. In our globalized world, enmeshed as we are in institutions and systems that have effects that we cannot see, it can seem almost impossible. Still, we are not left in the dark, without help in discerning a positive path. Despite their shortcomings and historical misuse, the world’s great spiritual traditions can help orient us by pointing us toward the living Spirit, who cuts through confusion and gives us light.

John Wesley said, “Sin is the refusal to acknowledge our dependence on God for life and breath and all things.”^[2] Knowing what we do about the interconnected community of life, we can adapt Wesley’s definition of sin in the following way: “Sin is the refusal to acknowledge our dependence on God for life and breath and all things, and our interdependence with the rest of creation.” This way of looking at sin seems especially fitting considering the damage being done to the human family, other creatures, and the earth itself. Stated positively, we might look at virtue as faithfulness to God and compassionate and just relations with all people and all parts of creation. It is a version of what Jesus said was the greatest commandment: to love God above all and our neighbor as ourselves, extending the idea of neighbor by including all people, especially those most vulnerable, future generations, and our nonhuman neighbors within our circle of care and concern.

But, like the butler in the movie The Remains of the Day, it is not enough to weigh our personal behavior without considering how our actions contribute to larger patterns of good or evil in the world. Sin is not simply an individual matter; it is also social. Evil is not just personal; it is also institutional.

Social Sin and Institutional Evil

For these prophets a spiritual form of life had to include responsiveness to the hunger or anguish of those around us, as well as seeing and resisting the authority of the arrogant and privileged who controlled the kingdom.^[3]

—Roger Gottlieb

The prophets of ancient Israel did not usually just focus on individual sinners but called the whole Hebrew community to account. They challenged not just individuals about their own personal sins but the whole community for creating and participating in a sinful and unjust society. The prophets particularly challenged the representatives of the people, those in positions of authority: judges, kings, prophets, and priests. Leaders were especially obligated to establish justice and not to lead the people astray, but the whole society was called to “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).

The gravest social sins emphasized by the prophets were idolatry and injustice. The Hebrew people were to love God above all else, to worship and serve God alone, and to create a just society. They were not to worship false gods, place their security in weapons of war, or accumulate wealth at the expense of the poor. They had a duty to provide for the needy and to protect society’s most vulnerable members. If they went astray in these areas, the prophets claimed that the society was on the wrong track and needed to repent, that is, change course. Each time the people ignored the prophets’ warnings, disaster resulted.

Jesus, too, warned people against idolatry and injustice. He proclaimed a message of justice and liberation and demonstrated these values in the way he lived. He demonstrated what it means to love God above all else and taught that loving and serving others is a way of loving and serving God. Jesus specifically admonished people not to store up treasures on earth, saying, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt 6:24b). He challenged the well-to-do and representatives of the established order to be more just in their dealings with the poor and oppressed. He announced the coming of a new order, a reign of justice and compassion, and stood against the social sin and institutional evil of his day. In the end, it cost him his life.

When Mammon Becomes a God

The Kingdom of Mammon exercises constraint by invisible chains and drives its slaves with invisible prods. . . . But Mammon is wiser in its way than the dictator, for money enslaves not by force but by love.^[4]

—Walter Wink

Social sin and institutional evil can have a deep impact on individuals within a given society. Take idolatry, for example. In America today, and throughout the world as consumer culture spreads, the idolatry of money is pervasive. Temples are built to this god, elaborate shopping malls and luxurious dwellings that glorify wealth and extravagance. Corporations design clever jingles that are deliberately geared toward getting people to consume, then play them again and again on television and radio until these mantras sink deep into our unconscious minds. People pay to be walking advertisements, to wear T-shirts, jackets, and shoes with corporate logos. Our young imprint themselves with the mark of corporate idols, enjoying the status that comes from wearing clothes that bear the symbols of popular brand names.

When Mammon becomes a god, the sin of greed becomes a virtue. People are valued according to how much money they have or by the wealth they display. Plants, animals, and land are reduced to “resources” and “property,” and their value is measured by their ability to generate profits. When these idolatrous views become institutionalized as the basis for public policy, people are victimized and the natural world is exploited. In this climate, people’s self-image and understanding of their place in the world is likely to be affected by how much money they have.

In a radio interview,^[5] a teenager told what it was like to be homeless from the time he was seven until he was ten years old. His family once had a comfortable home, where his friends often came to spend the night. When they lost their home, he and his family lived in their car, in shelters, and on the streets. The boy ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Further Praise for Shaking the Gates of Hell
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table Of Contents
• Preface
• Introduction: A Moment of Profound Choice
• The Gates of Hell: Undoing Creation
• Corporate Globalization: The System Is Designed for the Results It Is Getting
• Faith-Led Resistance
• Conclusion: By the Power at Work within Us
• Suggested Reading
• Index