Theory of Race and Iberian Christendom, part 5
As stated in the introduction, the focus of my service in Europe/Iberia is advocating for what I call mission as intercultural reconciliation (MIR). This is a post-supersessionist vision of Christian mission based on the one new man motif. In this section I will elaborate some practical suggestions for MIR gleaned from my analysis of CRT and ORS (supersession as origin of race).
MIR as Means for Addressing Cultural Imperialism in Europe/Iberia
The idea of white supremacy explored by thinkers like Du Bois, Bell, and Jennings could be rearticulated in the Iberian context with emphasis on the European appropriation of the gospel as an exclusive possession of its own culture. The black-white binary common to US-American racial theory has incompatible aspects regarding Europe. However, other historical struggles between peoples and acts of collective oppression abound in European history. Most significantly in relation to racism today, the Christian message of intercultural reconciliation was substituted with one of cultural imperialism. The legacy of this cultural imperialism is one of the greatest barriers in Europe towards accepting the gospel. During the 30 Years War Catholics and Protestants struggled for supremacy only to achieve a stalemate like the status quo at the beginning of the conflict. This paved the way for Enlightenment relegation of religion to the sphere of the individual’s private convictions. The result has been a European spiritual climate where religion is associated with despotism and power struggles.
Morley’s (2022) analysis of CRT in a European application gives credence to the notion that Europeans are attracted to postcolonial ideologies. There is a desire to work for justice with the recognition of how the legacies of race and empire must be addressed. Morley’s analysis of the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement globally shows that US-American research and activism related to racism is still influential. Her research indicates the wider perspective of organizations such as TWAIL which US-American race theory can learn from. The examples of how global political struggles use racial categorization to justify war and exploitation help convince Europeans of the need for racial reconciliation. This paves the way for a new vision of the gospel as a means for intercultural healing (Morley, 2022).
Moschel’s (2007) research also points to the felt need of Europeans for answers to their own problems of racial violence. Portugal and Spain have become immigrant nations recently and thus feel the strains of racial integration. The influx of Eastern Europeans since the collapse of communism has brought intergroup discrimination and xenophobia that is not based on skin color but is no less serious (Moshel, 2007).
With the understanding that racism in Europe is based on fault lines historically defined in religious terms (Rubin, 1999) indicates the need for a different approach than in the US-American context. A post-supersessionist missiology of reconciliation in Europe must focus on the perversion of the gospel that occurred in the European project of uniting the church and political power. The Holocaust and antisemitism are the most vibrant images in European memory related to racial violence (Moschel, 2007). And the rejection of scientific racism in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s which changed the discourse to one of prejudice, intolerance, and xenophobia means reconciliation must be framed in those terms rather than with a black-white binary. The Slavic peoples of the East have been despised in Western Europe for millennia, and this is a need for reconciliation that doesn’t involve groups of different skin color. Again, in the European context the need for reconciliation center pm cultural differences not biological ones (Moschel, 2007).
A post-supersessionist missiology of cultural reconciliation in Europe must consider that these cultural conflicts are harder to pinpoint than US-American racial conflicts (Moschel, 2007). And in Europe the tendency has been to try to deal with cultural conflicts through large organizations such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the European Union. The fact that each nation member of the European Union has its own provisions prohibiting racism and discrimination means that individual nations will need to be addressed rather than developing blanket approaches to the European continent (Moschel, 2007).
MIR as Answer to Contemporary Spanish Desire for Pluralist Society
My reading in contemporary Spanish race relations indicates the relative lack of research in comparison to other parts of Europe such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom (Feros, 2017). The fact that it was under Roman control of Iberia that a unified Christian Hispania emerged lasting for six centuries shows the importance of the church to Spanish identity (“HISPANIA ROMANA,” n.d.). It was during this time that Latin replaced the indigenous languages and polytheistic religion was replaced by Christianity during Emperor Theodisius’ reign in the 4th century. The Romans also established the concept of the state, introduced laws, organized the land into provinces, and laid the foundations for urban civilization (“HISPANIA ROMANA,” n.d.). Hispania became one of the most Romanized provinces of the Empire, from where many great figures in Roman history emerged (“HISPANIA ROMANA,” n.d.).
A post-supersessionism missiology of cultural reconciliation must be aware of the deep connection between Catholic faith and whiteness to Spanish identity. Spanish Catholics must be made aware of the formation of their identity as the ideal nation or race preserved across time (Feros, 2017). A Christian identity juxtaposed to the rest of Europe but most significantly Jews, Arabs, American natives, And Africans from Spanish colonies (Feros, 2017) must be rejected to restore the biblical vision of one new humanity. The construction of Spanish Catholic identity must be recognized as not resulting from a pious or evangelistic instinct but from the collusion of elites to form a religious identity that united the various kingdoms and provinces. The reemergence of tensions between Catalan, Castilian, and Basque identities in the late 20th century, helps shed light on the failure of Christian white supremacy to establish an all-encompassing Spanish identity and harmonious flourishing of a united population (Ferros, 2017).
Attempts in Spain at the beginning of the 21st century to establish a religiously and racially universalist national identity can be seen as a point of consensus with the biblical vision of one new humanity. The vision of Ephesians 2 does not set itself against other visions of human reconciliation and harmony. On the contrary, restoration of the one new humanity vision as the clearest representation of Christianity offers a more attractive and relevant vision of the church.
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