International Conference on Church State relations

Organized by The Formosa Christianity and Culture research Centre Of Chang Jung Christian University and Tainan Theological College and Seminary

Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan, 28- 30 October 2004.

Conference Statement

An international Conference organized by the Formosa Christianity and Culture Research Centre (FCCRC) of Chang Jung Christian University and Tainan Theological College and Seminary on the theme “Church and State Relations” was held in Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan, Taiwan, from 28 to 30 October, 2004, and was attended by 45 participants including 23 people from outside Taiwan.

The Conference was an attempt to listen to perspectives on church-state relations from Christian groups that had supported political organizations or movements that were formerly in the opposition to oppressive regimes but that are now in government. We have noted that the dominant concepts in the discourse regarding Church-State relations are constructions of Western Christendom and seldom have much relevance in religiously plural societies like those in Asia. The Church– State relationship is always determined by contextual imperatives and priorities. Moreover, in the context of Asian societies, the struggles of the people for freedom and self-hood have become the determining priorities of this discourse.

The Conference has further noted that the question of the relationship of church and state is not new. It goes at least as far back as the time of Jesus. He was killed as a convict by the Roman Imperial Government that regarded him as a contemporary political menace. All that he had done was to engage in counter-politics in his announcement of the Reign of God as an alternative reality of hope and life for the world. It follows that the construction of a relevant response to the present political situations forces us to perceive this inescapable fact [of alternative politics].

The Christian church, however, has failed to maintain the hope and the promise that Jesus inaugurated. Constantinian Christianity replaced the alternative social order of Jesus [or that Jesus inaugurated], making Christ into a presiding deity to rationalize imperial and monarchic rule. Western Christendom inherited Constantinian Christianity and was unsuccessful in escaping its legacy. Of late, however, the church has attempted to revive the alternative vision through its assumption of its prophetic role in engagement with and for the struggle against the forces of apartheid in South Africa and in the struggle against the dictatorial and oligarchic rule in Korea, Philippines, Indonesia and other nations. The Conference acknowledged the prophetic role that the churches in Taiwan are playing in promoting the movement for democracy and self-determination as informed by the alternative vision of the Reign of God that is at the heart of the Gospel.

Out of this vision the Conference unanimously declared that the question of independence for any people, and more so those in Taiwan, was not up for negotiation. Any threats or obstructions to independence would be nothing short of crimes against humanity, which is created in God’s very image for freedom.

The Conference observed with regret that apparent changes in ruling arrangements in respective nations have forced churches to compromise with the state. Though it may be considered as a logical decision on the part of the churches, it raises serious concerns. In the majority of the nations churches miserably accepted the role of the state as a legitimizing agent. They did this even when they knew that the state had failed to provide justice and freedom for the weak and the marginalized in their respective situations. As administrators of an economic policy prescribed by the forces of globalization, the state in these relatively democratic nations has become the agent of global apartheid, an apartheid forced upon people by transnational capital, thus victimizing the vast majority of workers, traditional farmers, artisans and the poor. Churches are caught between their loyalty to the state and the prophetic imperative to defend the weak and the marginalized.

The global apartheid of capital [has become progressively] violent and aggressive with the emergence of Empire as the defining [ontological] reality of our time. The emergence of Empire cohabits with the interests of transnational capital. In the process money is deified and market promoted to the category of the sole soteriological principle for nations and individuals.

Empire and Capital now take the place of State in the theological concerns of the churches. According to the logic of the Empire, national sovereignty is regarded as an obsolete slogan of the slothful protective economies. The concept of nation–states has slowly disappeared as Empire becomes enthroned as the vital reality. Values and morality of money replace the values of the Divine in the public and private spaces of the people.

The church in Taiwan, especially the Presbyterian Church (PCT), has worked hard with coalitions to end Martial law and bring about democratic elections.  However, it is unfortunate that the same church is now complacent in relation to the emerging dangers. Even though the gospel imperatives suggest that weapons cannot bring peace, PCT is rather silent on issues of large-scale arms purchases. The Church has turned a blind eye towards the dangers of globalization and the market led-economy. To bear witness to the liberating Spirit of God, it is imperative that the church, for its part, maintain the prophetic appeal.

The Conference became painfully aware of the political jeopardy in which the people of Taiwan find themselves. Taiwanese society has long suffered under the colonial tutelage of both the Chinese and Japanese empires and their agents in the land. Though the end of Second World War brought independence to a majority of the Asian peoples, Taiwan was pushed into another stage of colonial occupation and domination. Threat of direct colonial occupation by China was intensified when people of Taiwan express their determination to realize their freedom and independence by democratic means. This threat of re-colonization has led the current Taiwanese leadership to seek political protection under the world Empire, namely the USA. Taiwanese political existence is sandwiched between these two empires: the emerging imperialism of China and the World Empire under the leadership of the USA.

Taiwan’s situation has become more precarious due to its international isolation. This alienation is extended and felt even in the ecumenical or global gatherings. Since the majority of the churches and people in Asia consider the US imperial hegemony as a threat to world peace, the rather dependable relation of Taiwan on the USA for its national survival makes it difficult to create critical solidarity with the brothers and sisters in Asia.

The lack of critical solidarity with the churches and people in Asia contributes towards the deprivation of the inalienable right for freedom and self-determination of Taiwanese people. The fact that the demand for this inalienable right of freedom has become an issue for political negotiation between two empires is a cause for serious concern not only politically, but theologically as well.

The Conference reiterated that, in such a context, self-determination informed by the values of self-hood and the reign of God is pivotal for democracy world-wide. The realm of life which is fundamentally free and self-determining (what we term ‘ultimate freedom’) is a gift of God that no one, not even by threat of force, can prevent another from experiencing. The crucifixion of Jesus at the hands of the Roman Empire tells us that empires will continue to crucify people who champion alternative visions of freedom. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead reaffirms that the promise of God for abundant life in freedom is unchanging. This is the prophetic message of the Church in its relation with the Empires of this world. Therefore, the Conference called upon churches and other religious organizations in Taiwan, ecumenical communities and partner churches, and organization in Asia and outside to strengthen their determination not to succumb to the political strategies of either Empire, but rather to create critical solidarity with the churches and religious organizations in Asia in order to resist the imperial designs of all political powers.