When armed insurgents in Iraq abducted four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams two weeks ago, something was clearly wrong. Like other hostage situations in Iraq, a shadowy insurgent group took responsibility, The Swords of Truth Brigade. It made a tape of the hostage. They threatened to kill them if their demands – the release of Iraqi prisoners – were not met. But something is very different. Rather than serving as another
My dad was a Baptist preacher. A “classic” sermon of his was the “upside-down kingdom” — the message that God’s kingdom reflected different values of this one. While the values of today might be for money and military and power, the kingdom of God reflected the marginal voices that put love first. He would preach that for God’s kingdom to come a new set of values must emerge — and not
For groups looking for more strategic models and tools to use, here’s a time-tested model for effective social change work. It’s a tool that’s inherently democratic and builds resources for the movement by winning specific goals. And, as an added bonus this tool is sizeable to local as well as national contexts. The tool? It’s one used throughout history by large and small social movements for everything from overthrowing dictators to
“We need to educate people,” is one of the most common refrains from social change activists. But what does it really mean? The rise of popular education and insights from anti-oppression movements give us major insights into how to do meaningful education. Here’s how I’ve taken these lessons to heart to be more effective. STEP ONE: BREAK OUT OF THE BELIEF THAT MERE RECITATION OF FACTS IS SUFFICIENT Take the counter-recruitment