On The Front Lines
Mark Lewis Taylor Speaks to OldSpeak About Jesus's Politics, the Role of Christianity in America and the Need to Resist Oppressive Regimes
Charlottesville, VA--In an interview with John W. Whitehead for OldSpeak, the online journal of The Rutherford Institute, theologian Mark Lewis Taylor addresses the contemporary prison-industrial complex in America, police brutality and the death penalty--issues that he explores from a theological perspective in his book The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America. Taylor also discusses the role that Christianity plays in America today, the importance of nonviolent resistance to oppressive regimes and the nature of Jesus Christ's politics.
For example, when asked whether Jesus was a Republican, a Libertarian or a Democrat, Taylor replied, "None of the above. Jesus was outside of all those politics. Jesus leads us to create another kind of political space in this country. It is a political space, which is characterized by diverse movement of people--not only in resistance--but seeking to create communities that are real alternatives to those given us by the imperial powers and by the party politicians."
Mark Lewis Taylor, the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Theology and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, has authored several books, including his most recent book, Religion, Politics and the Christian Right: Post-9/11 Politics and American Empire, which takes an in-depth look at post-9/11 culture in America. He is also the author of Remembering Esperanza: A Cultural-Political Theology for North American Praxis (1990), which offers a comprehensive methodology for theologians interested in cultural and political emancipation. And he has edited the works of Tillich in Paul Tillich: Theologian of the Boundaries (1987) and co-edited Reconstructing Christian Theology (1996). Taylor is the national coordinator of "Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal," a group of 800 university teachers organizing for a new trial for Abu-Jamal, a journalist on Pennsylvania's death row since 1982 (www.emajonline.com). He has also been an activist in the current anti-war movement, in "No More Prisons!" movements and regarding policy issues in Mexico and Latin America.
