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[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Seek spirituality that energizes and sustains justice movements

A wide array of justice movements around the world are challenging churches to create new kinds of spirituality that will sustain them as they struggle against  empire.
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That is the finding of a an interfaith group of theologians, activists, pastors and educators from around the world who held a workshop in May in Cuba.

?The wide variety of justice movements in Cuba and around the world, whether or not they draw upon religious organizations and leadership, challenge us to re-think and re-envision what spirituality is and what it must become in the present,? the group stated.

?Spirituality of Resistance, Liberation and Transformation,? which was held at the Protestant Theological Seminary at Matanzas, was sponsored by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
(WARC), the Council for World Mission (CWM) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

?We affirm that the problems of empire, amid which justice movements struggle, are not only political problems but spiritual challenges. Empire spawns its own destructive spiritualities, such as the ?religious right,? and thus it seeks always to co-opt the powers of religion for imperial aims.

?New spiritualities are coming forth to oppose imperial spiritualities, and these should be supported,? the group said in a communiqué.

?All organized religions have a special challenge of resisting the tactics of division, such as forms of denominationalism and fundamentalism, which often fuel ethnic, racial, nationalist and regional strife, and so strengthen the powers of empire.

?Justice movements require a new solidarity among religious groups and all peoples of conscience
(secular and religious) and thus we affirm and honour the full multiplicity of spiritualities that enliven such movements. ?

The participants from the three ecumenical organizations met in response to the initiative of the Oikotree movement, an ecumenical project that attempts to identify and live out spiritualities that put justice at the heart of faith. In addition there were participants of the Muslim and Hindu faiths at the Matanzas workshop.

They called for a recognition of the leading role that indigenous peoples are playing in ecological justice efforts, with their earth-centred spirituality, which focuses on the interdependence of body, mind, land, community and spirit. And they affirmed the struggle of first nations for their land and self-determination.

The theologians also warned that the so-called
?war on terror? has created a virulent form of Islamophobia that exacerbates other kinds of racism and therefore they called for new spiritualities that will stand with Muslims and work with them for justice.

The meeting was originally to be held in Beirut, Lebanon, but was moved to Cuba because of the ongoing Middle East conflict.

?The (Cuban) people?s suffering is acute because of the United States-imposed blockade and the general forces of empire. By ?empire? we mean the complex and dynamic international regime of power anchored by the United States, with its military power, neoliberal globalization, racist and patriarchal ideologies and policies of environmental degradation.

?In spite of these forces of empire and Cubans? relentless suffering, isolation and impoverization, we have been inspired by the ways Cubans persevere in struggle, embodying joy and resistance, dignity and self-esteem.

?In the present moment, for example, Cubans? earlier revolutionary successes in agrarian reform have been set back by the empire?s brutal blockade and other international developments. Still Cubans press forward with ongoing reform, inventively crafting new models of agro-ecology.

?Our meeting thus has been blessed by having Cuba as a present point of reference throughout all our discussions of the crises of empire.?

Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, executive secretary of WARC?s Office for Church Renewal, Justice and Partnership, said the crisis of the times calls for a radical spirituality to energize the covenanting for justice movement.

?Connecting with the struggle, resilience and vision of the Cuban people and the spiritualities of aboriginal peoples and various faith traditions brings fresh impetus in our struggle for justice,? she  concluded.

Mark Lewis Taylor, a theologian from the United States, expressed his gratitude for the welcome of the Cuban people

?As a U.S. citizen I do not take lightly the hospitality shown to me by the Christian communities and other peoples of conscience in Cuba. I am especially impressed by the grace of Cubans in their receiving a citizen whose country has imposed so cruel an embargo and blockade against Cuban peoples and one which also has exacted so heavy a toll over some five decades of suffering. I thus cannot presume the grace of Cuba?s reception. I am deeply grateful for it.?

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