Do No Harm

Interesting stuff is afoot in the homeland. I am being quite affected by the Ched Myers. Yesterday in a post I mentioned the Myers video titled Let Them Speak Many Languages. In the discussion, Myers brings up Mark 6, when Jesus sends out his disciples to carry out the "good news," in which Jesus' instructions for evangelism are very clear.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

8These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."

12They went out and preached that people should repent. 13They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Mark 6:6-12

Myers brings up a couple of interesting points from this passage, namely the mandate to carry little or nothing with you and if you are not welcome in a place, then leave. He uses these as an argument against the advance of empire and the assimilation and oppression of "subject" populations. He points out that it is hard to subjugate people if you have nothing and rely on them for your sustenance.

Jesus also instructs that if you are welcomed, stay, if you are not, leave. Well put Jesus. Myers points out that he does not instruct the disciples to punish, enslave, kill or in any other way persuade dissidents. He doesn't instruct the disciples to set up schools, disrupt indigenous beliefs and practices, steal their land, build a town or mine their natural resources.

Where did we go wrong? Please forgive us.

Yes, I am a little excited about Ched Myers. I think it is neat-o that I learned of Myers shortly after I started reading all these Chinua Achebe books. At the moment I am reading one titled Arrow of God (watch that link, it may be a spoiler). In a nutshell, it is about the colonization and subjugation of the Ibo people of Nigeria by both the British government and Christian missionaries. Imagine how conflicting and confusing it would be to have your beliefs, language and way of life devalued and villainies and replaced with ones that offensive and disruptive to your entire being. Welcome to the plight of millions.

This is who we are, this is our cultural heritage. It is necessary and helpful as we go forward, to recognize this fact.

Be well.