Want to begin with a couple of quotes? You will find these quotes if you're interested in the book war against the poor the first quote comes from a document that some of you may be familiar with called the Santa Fe report Santa Fe report became an important document that helped shape US policy in Central America during the Reagan Administration It Was Written essentially in 1980 as a as a think piece or as a blueprint for the Reagan Administration strategy and Central America. It says in part in related to our topic tonight quote u.s. Foreign policy must begin to counter Liberation theology as it is utilized in Latin America by The Liberation theology clergy. Unfortunately, marxist-leninist forces have utilized the church as a political weapon against private property and productive capitalism by infiltrating the religious community with ideas that are less Christian than communist and quote. The second quote comes from a compass see no who I met in El Salvador who had returned from the country after six or seven years in a refugee camp in Honduras. And he told me this story in part. Quote by a miracle. I'm able to tell you the story of my grand crime for which they threatened me with death. They took my son who was 18 years old shot him peeled off his skin and cut him into pieces. Then they hung him from a cross in a tree they did this to warn me because I was a celebrator of the word of God. That was my crime. Our crime is to be poor and ask for bread. It is a crime to be a Christian and to demand Justice and Court. two quotes I would like to suggest to you that the second quote is a consequence of the first. The persecution Compass inos of lay delegates of the word is directed to a policy by which the United States has deemed it a high priority to counter what it deems is an unacceptable theology a theology as I won't mind later that is too closely aligned with the interests of the poor. You probably ask yourself in the aftermath of the murder of the Jesuit priests and their housekeeper and her daughter or in the aftermath of the assassination of a famous person like Archbishop Romero. How can it happen? How can people do that to each other? Well, I have found it very helpful to try to understand and underlying Doctrine and ideological kind of blueprint for life and the world economics and politics what's acceptable and isn't acceptable known as the doctrine of the National Security State. I'm going to very briefly outline for you six features of this National Security State Doctrine and just tell you in the beginning. This has been the foundational ideological blueprint or outline for many Central and Latin American countries strongly supported by the United States. The first feature of a national security state is the military assigns itself as the highest priority within a country. It is the military that will guarantee the Integrity of the nation against all internal and external enemies. The second feature of a national security state is the belief that Capital Money needs to be concentrated. Capital needs to be concentrated in the hands of the few in order for there to be freedom and in order for there to be development. That's the logic of the National Security State. The purpose of the state is to work to make sure that that Capital can be concentrated now just as a little bit of an aside here Capital tends to be concentrated in three areas. One is within Private Business hands. Another is within the state itself and a third and increasingly unfortunate consequence of US policy is the capital of being concentrated within the hands of the military itself the military as a result of US policy in El Salvador for example is now a leading economic power in its own, right? Now I would just add here again as part of the aside that the u.s. Is having some conflict with our with the government's in Central and Latin America because the u.s. Is very committed to having Capital concentrated but in private hands so it's in conflict with the state. But our policy is in fact ensure the capital will increasingly be concentrated in the hands of the military because that is who we support with great bounty. A third feature of a National Security State and keep in mind I'm giving this background as a way for you to understand why the church might be persecuted the third feature of a National Security State or the doctrine is that there are enemies lurking everywhere. There are enemies of the state everywhere internal/external for years and years and years. And if you read a lot of the the US government reports about Central America, the external enemies were the Soviet Union almost all roads to social turmoil emanated from the Soviet Union. That's that's where the problem was Cuba Soviet Union the international communist threat But in addition to external enemies you also had internal enemies. unions student movements Campesino groups cooperatives and Progressive churches a fourth feature of the National Security State or its Doctrine is that these enemies of the state are ruthless and they are cunning and therefore any means used to put them down is justifiable. Very important feature to understand how it is that Jesuit priests can be murdered with such impunity in El Salvador. The enemies are ruthless and cunning not to be trusted any means to maintain control any means to put them down. Any means to fight this enemy is acceptable within this Doctrine. If fifth feature of the National Security State is that political democracy and Democratic elections are viewed with suspicion with contempt. or in terms of political expediency elections democracy as we understand it in which votes translate in some way into influencing political decisions of a country that kind of democracy of majority ruled cetera is treated with enormous suspicion or contempt or as I say in terms of political expediency. I may come back to this at a later moment. But one of the main features of u.s. Foreign policy in the last decade and one of the main principles of low-intensity conflict strategy, the Warfare strategy of the United States has been the use of Elections for undemocratic purposes. The Youth of elections in El Salvador as a cover for the militarization of society. That's what I mean by political expediency. And then sixth and finally in terms of the doctrine the National Security State the church. Has an acceptable role. The role within the framework of the National Security State for the church is to mobilize its resource ideological resources theological resources, its Financial Resources in service to the National Security State. If it doesn't do that, it will pay a price because it will be defined as an enemy. Now two observations before moving on. My first observation is that it is a mistake to view that somehow that this doctrine of the National Security State no longer applies that it's no longer valid that in a changing World in a world where lots of elections are taking place. But this Doctrine is no longer valid. 1987 and Argentina meeting that apparently takes place every two years called the conference of American armies in which the military leaders of the United States Argentina Brazil El Salvador Guatemala, Chile Brazil. I can't remember numbers of other countries most of the central Latin American countries gathered. They had a focus for their meetings that produced three top secret documents that eventually most of which got week in which they defined their principal enemy confronting the United States and confronting Elites in Central and Latin America as Liberation theology and the progressive churches. These documents concluded that Warfare was shifting somewhat away from military struggles into the realm of controlling people's hearts and minds and that the Battleground was going to take place fundamentally within the churches these documents provided an incredibly sophisticated analysis of Liberation theology and a targeted Liberation theology as I mentioned as an enemy the second observation I would make about this National Security State doctrine that another mistake that we can make is to assume that that National Security State Doctrine applies to countries in Central and Latin America. But that it doesn't apply to what's happening within our own country. If I have time tonight, I will come back to this point. But I believe it is a very important one that I believe that the fundamental driving force for the present US policy in the Gulf isn't even oil. Although oil is very important. It is the logic of a military and related complex that desperately needed a visible enemy in the aftermath of a fine in the Cold War a site that is simply one example of a danger that we do not simply dismiss this doctrine of the National Security State at someone else's problem if we truly care about democracy and I hope we do if we're willing to fight for it and struggle for it. We have a lot of work to do because it's it's 15 through our fingers and exclude excuse the analogy but like sand. Let's go in through our fingers. Let me just read to you one other quote that illustrates. I think the importance of not dismissing this doctrine of the National Security State in the present times in which we are living. One of the things that the generals noted in their meeting in Argentina at the conference of American armies were they noted that they did not want a new series of military Coos in which the military's would take control of the former app the formal features of power. But they preferred was quote a permanent state of millet military control over civilian government while still preserving formal democracy and quote. I think it deserves repeating. While they oppose a new wave of military coup as they prefer a permanent state of military control over civilian government while still preserving formal democracy translation democracy is fine as a facade, but let's not kid ourselves as to where the real power lies. again I would remind you that US military leaders were instrumental in this conference of American Arms okay I gave you that background because I think it's important background in if you've asked yourself that question how does it happen how do so many Progressive religious leaders end up being killed it's more easily understood in the context of that document Also essential to understanding a war against Liberation theology in the Progressive churches is to say something about the role of the church historically and now in places like Central and Latin America. We need to remember that historically the church arrived with the conquest. That during the time of the conquest you had economic colonization that involve the pillaging of gold the enslavement of people's the theft of land a shift of land use away from production of basic food crops for local needs in to export Agriculture and a whole development of an infrastructure of society that was designed to move Goods out of a country not to distribute them fairly Within. Well, the Colonial economy was sanctioned by a colonial theology in the aspects of that theology which still in many ways predominate. I would say in churches throughout Central and Latin America and probably to a frightening degree still predominate in churches within our own country than our own culture. These kinds of features. There was a strict separation of Body and Soul Heaven and Earth. there was widespread acceptance that if you were poor it was God's will that you be poor if you were Rich it was God's will that was the ordained way that things were Part of the theology that sanctioned the economic colonialism said that you obey Authority you obeyed Church Authority you obey State Authority no matter how much it might seem that that Authority may be causing you problems. It also stressed individualism individualism both in matters of Faith be concerned about my salvation be concerned about my economic well-being. And finally and most the most important feature with the pacifying promise of a Heavenly reward. If you do accept your poverty, if you do stay in your place if you don't speak out and demand changes. Then when you die, when you die, you will experience a wonderful reward historically with a few very notable exceptions. The church legitimised power. It would chittim eyes political and economic power of Elites because it based its own power on those other on defending those other privileges. Also part of the history was kind of a pre-vatican to world view that the church was largely separate from the world. That it was a vehicle for salvation with the priest playing a critical role in the transition from Earthly misery to Heavenly reward. Well that view of the world and that view of the church has been challenged dramatically by Liberation theology. Liberation theology grew out of a post Vatican to the Vatican II Council was held in the 1960s. And then fatik into the church did a very important thing. It routed back in the world. Priests were no longer seen simply as salvation Brokers. Keep in mind. The mass had been in Latin and the people had been discouraged from reading the Bible, but they were to be living examples of the faith. The church. In fact was to be a living example of God faithful in the world. The emphasis of Vatican II was a church. That was the people of God. But Vatican II asked a very different question Than People of Faith were asking in central Latin America Vatican II had asked the question. How can the church be relevant in the modern developing progressing world? That was not the world that people were struggling with in Central and Latin America Liberation theology took a clue from Vatican 2 and situated itself in the world. But it was not a world of progress. It was a world of misery. It was a world of Injustice. It was a world of incredible oppression that most of us can barely even imagine. One of my favorite quotes and a very powerful one I think is from John sobrino. Jon sobrino being a Jesuit priest who would have been murdered that November Day in El Salvador, but he was out of the country reflecting upon the death of Romero and the death of his Jesuit brothers and sisters and again the housekeeper and her daughter. He wrote quote. We all know why these people ended in the cross why they were killed. They dared touch the items of death Archbishop Romero of El Salvador defined Idols as the accumulation of wealth and the doctrine of National Security those who dare touch these Idols get killed wealth and power cannot exist. If other people do not die if people do not suffer and powerlessness and poverty and without dignity, My brother Jesuits touched the idols by telling the truth and unmasking the lies listen carefully to this. He says we say there that the first world the wealthy countries cover up the greatest scandal in this world, which is the world itself the existence of two-thirds of humankind dying and poverty is covered up. To tell the truth about the world to unmask the lies about the world is to touch the idols of death in court. One of the basic features of Liberation theology one of its most important features and one of the features that gets it in lots of trouble. Is this methodology The method of which it does theology. The starting point for Liberation theology is the world. And not the world as we know it, but the world that we work so hard to cover up. The methodology of Liberation theology says we must do social analysis. We must ask ourselves the why questions, why are people poor? Why do people suffer? Why is it the two percent of the people owned 80% of the land in Guatemala? Why is it that economic wealth is concentrated while so many have nothing social analysis plus reflection on the Biblical word in that light reflecting upon who Jesus is who God is and what God has to say to us living in this world of any quality living in this world of misery and finally to complete the circle and an ongoing Circle really is action. You do social analysis. You understand the world you reflect upon the Biblical word in light of that world and then you take action. Faith must have some kind of claim on us and how we live on what we do. That is the ongoing Enterprise of those of us who call ourselves Christians as we live in the world. The second very important feature of Liberation theology and one again that is very dangerous to the world of the powerful is that liberation? Theology places tremendous stress on the Dignity of each human person. Each human person is given value because we are creatures of God and in God's sight. We are of equal value. Now the power of that message might Escape us but to someone who has been treated as a non-person all of their lives non-persons in terms of employment non-persons in terms of having any kind of claim on Healthcare education resources non-persons tend to internalize poverty, which is one of the central aspects that Liberation theology tries to counter by saying boldly to people you are people of dignity. Powerful powerful message. I don't know how many of you have seen the film Romero if there's a scene in Romero and he's preaching to the people and he looks how the people and he says you are Jesus Christ in the world today. Can you imagine the power of that affirmation for people who have been treated as non-person? It's enough to awaken. Hope that a different kind of future is possible. Hope is very very dangerous. a third feature of Liberation theology is it says if you have dignity because you are a creature of God and you do then societies have the responsibility to structure themselves so that you might live A dignified life. In other words, it takes a step from the personal into the social if we really believe that people have dignity because they are people of God then how is it I asked you that we tolerate 40 million people or so dying from Hunger or hunger related causes each year without even blinking in time. Liberation theology says if we are if we have dignity then societies have the responsibility to allow for dignified living. The fourth feature of Liberation theology is that the social analysis has led to an understanding of institutionalized sin and institutionalized violence that sin is not simply personal. Although personal sin is very very important that sin gets embodied in structures that there are sinful violence situations have two or three percent of the people own and control the land while thousands and thousands of other are landless and watch their children die that is a situation of institutionalized violence and sin. the god of the Bible condemns it the social analysis also leads to another very important message for people like us. It says that neutrality is impossible. That to not decide is to make a decision on behalf of what already exists. To say that we are not going to muddy our hands that were not going to risk getting involved because it's just too complicated. We are already involved. For those of you who are concerned and maybe many of you are not but there probably are others listening or others who would be who our concern. Oh, I just I don't want to get involved in El Salvador because every time I bring it up I get in trouble at work or whatever it is. We are involved silence is involvement and it is a very deadly kind of involvement but the death and the destruction are usually for people who are outside of the parameters of our vision. A fifth feature of Liberation theology something called the preferential option for the poor. That people who look at the Bible and a liberating framework see The Exodus. They see the prophets. They see the story of the Bible itself in this people of God unfolding in ways in which God has a special preferential option for the people who are most depressed. And they look at Jesus and as an example of that keep in mind in Jesus first sermon, he talks about that. He has come his mission. His ministry is to come to overcome oppression to free the captives and he announces a jubilee what we would call today a land reform. This is not simply an empty message for the rich Liberation. Theology says in light of a preferential option for the poor that those of us who are rich are also recipients of the Gospel, but the gospel comes first and foremost to us as a call to conversion. The call to transform who we are how we live how we participate in society. A6 feature of Liberation theology is that it resurrects or liberates Christ provides a different image of Jesus those of you who have spent significant amounts of time in Central and Latin America, one of the things you've probably noticed if you go into churches is you'll notice that Jesus is almost always on the cross. Jesus that reflects the internalization of something that has gone on for centuries of had said I can relate to Jesus as victim. I'm victimized. Jesus was victimized. He was killed. My sons are getting killed. Yes. I can relate to Jesus. But in that framework, it can be a ticket to fatalism it can just Foster that kind of internalisation of hopelessness. One of the things that liberation theology does is it looks at Jesus in a very different way it says that Jesus was crucified as a consequence of his life and faith. Not simply as a master plan of God to go down to earth and be crucified and then resurrected so we can invent a new religion. Jesus was crucified because he took a preferred option for the poor. He was crucified because he called the rich to conversion because he spoke out against the Injustice because he would not tolerate religious complicity. with political Empire He was crucified as a consequence of his faith. And in that light Jesus becomes a model for us. Jesus becomes an example of how we are to live out our faith and then they can look in El Salvador and say Archbishop Romero was like Jesus. He lived out his faith to the ultimate consequence. He spoke the words of truth to the powerful. He called the rich to conversion. He called on the poor to break out of their hopelessness and to affirm their dignity and therefore he was he was killed. Within that framework, the resurrection is viewed as the Vindication of this path for people of Faith who are willing to live out their faith in a risky manner on behalf of the community on behalf of the poor on behalf of liberation. The Jesus who lives on in the memory of those who have tapped into the riches of liberation theology is a subversive Jesus that must be Stamped Out. by the powerful last thing I want to say is a background to Liberation theology is just to remind you again in the method that method of doing social analysis and bible study and action has lent itself very nicely to small groups of people in local communities where they live where they work in the midst of the problems of landlessness or oppression or lack of Education or Healthcare right where they are to gather and to do Theology and to develop strategies to respond in other words Liberation theology and his method has encouraged Grassroots of Grassroots groups of people. To organize to break out of their sense of hopelessness and despair. Now maybe I don't even need to say too much, but you can imagine I would hope given what I've said of why liberation theology might be a threat to the powerful. Including to the foreign policy objectives of the United States powerful groups who benefit from systems that enriched them while impoverishing the great majority understandably view Liberation theology as a threat. The US war against Liberation theology and Progressive churches is part of its broader war against the organized poor. The more recent book that I've written it has the title war against the poor. It points out that long before the thaw in the cold war in the unexpected changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union that many US strategic thinkers were saying but the real enemy did not lie there the real enemies and the real confrontations that the United States would face as it tried to maintain hegemony is to try to protect its access to resources as a tried to continue exploiting cheap exploiting cheap labor markets that area the enemies were in the south. And we are witnessing a dramatic escalation in that understanding that the principal targets for u.s. Foreign policy to treat the principal definitions of where our enemies are are now in the South particularly where people are attempting to organize meaningful alternatives to the unjust political and economic structures that exist. Maxwell Taylor a general US general stated it succinctly when he said quote as the leading have power. We may expect to have to fight to protect our national valuables against envyus Have Nots end quote I'm not going to go into a great deal of detail because I want to allow some time for questions about the strategy of warfare called low-intensity conflict. This is a strategy of Warfare by which the United States integrates economic aspects of warfare political diplomatic aspects of warfare military aspects of warfare and psychological aspects of warfare into a comprehensive package for interventionism in third world settings. What I do want to highlight for you very quickly are what I have come to believe are the five unpardonable sins that the United States government will not tolerate in areas of the third world that in some way is are deemed strategic strategic because they have a huge debt to uh strategic because they have a key raw material like oil strategic because they may be on a ceiling strategic for a variety of reasons. If you are strategic if you are deemed important to the US and some areas of the world are simply being written up by the way. but if you're deemed important, there are five sins, which will not be pardoned that you can commit as a social change movement or as a government and the five very quickly are these if you are attempting to reclaim a sense of national dignity, you will find yourself at war with the United States. Keep in mind Warfare is Not Just Guns anymore your psychological aspects of warfare economic and other but you will find yourself at War. Keep in mind that many nations of the world that he emerged from colonialism very internally damaged psychologically emotionally damaged have not had a sense of nationhood one of Nicaragua's big sins. By the way was precisely this it was trying to reclaim national heroes. Like Sandy know who had stood up to the Marines trying to establish a sense of national identity. You can see a lot of that in the Middle East in the aftermath of this war a lot more than we already seen National dignity will not be tolerated. A second fundamental send that the u.s. Won't tolerate is the redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. If you are committed to redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor, you will find yourself. If you are strategic, you will find yourself at war with the United States. In fact the entire thrust to economic thrust of the United States intervention in Latin America today and Central America today through the international monetary fund is to ensure the concentration of wealth consistent with the National Security State Doctrine. I outlined earlier A third unpardonable sin is if you happen to be a government or a social change movement that if you came to power would be a government in which the rich don't control political power. You will find yourself at war with United States. I would ask you to name for me any third world country in the world today aligned with the United States in which the rich don't directly or indirectly rule usually in conjunction with the military. fourth and very important for our topic If you are a social change movement that is aligned with Progressive elements of the church, you will be at war with the United States or stated conversely. If you are progressive elements of the church who align yourself with Progressive social change movements around issues of Health Care Land Reform and other issues of vital interest to the poor. Then you will be targeted as enemies has the church throughout Central and Latin America has been And Fifth and very briefly the other unpardonable sin is if you happen to be a country in which you have a military that the United States doesn't control you will be at war with the United States. I just returned from Nicaragua big issue and Nicaraguan addition to the economic crisis. The international monetary fund is going in and saying u.s. Probably isn't going to provide the loans promise to other countries aren't going to mobilize a loans until you do our IMF package until you basically got the labor unions you cut subsidies to the poor be privatized your health system is a whole scenario of what you do to redistribute wealth from the poor to the rich. They have to do that in Nicaragua. The u.s. Still has a problem. Problem is it doesn't control the Nicaraguan military that if it has sympathy still has more sympathies in a more revolutionary Direction as a consequence in Nicaragua today. The war is still going on against the Nicaraguan Revolution, even though the US backed government was elected in February this last year. Now, how does the US Fuel and fight the war against Liberation theology? Let me just name a couple of things first. The US has ideologically demonized this theology. Read the santafe document. Read some of the US statements throughout the wars and Central America and how we have characterized this Theology and we've always characterized it as something that simply masquerades for communism. It masquerades for Marxism Etc. By doing that by doing that by vilifying it we create an atmosphere in which murdering Jesuits is acceptable. Point out to you hear that father a a Korea the head of the Jesuit university in El Salvador was specifically named in this conference of American Army as a Liberation Theologian who was simply using that as a cover for his communism and his Marxism. It's not at all surprising that he was murdered. The second way that we Fuel and fight the war against Liberation theology is through support of right-wing fundamentalist churches. Support can range from not killing you people in Central America are learning that if you call yourself a base Christian Community, you're issuing yourself a death warrant. They're learning where it's safe to worship their learning what costs you undergo as a community as a family if you start doing reflection on social analysis and linking that to your faith and linking it to action. So u.s. Support for right-wing fundamentalist sex takes one form and that simply you won't find those preachers being murdered by US Bank governments. They're provided the safety net. They also offer other kinds of support material Aid among them a third feature of the war against liberation theology. Is that terrorizing the church is part of a broader strategy that I outlined in much more depth and I'll be able to do tonight of managing tear one of the main features of low intensity conflict is that you manage tear Force bullet for specific political purposes in El Salvador. I met not long ago with the u.s. Embassy the person giving us the briefing. This is off the records. I won't tell his name and I won't give you direct quote but basically said, okay you folks. I know you're upset. You don't like us policy. You didn't like the fact that thousands and thousands of people were appearing in the streets in the early 1980s, but you have to understand one thing. He said we had no other choice. Now what he meant by that was that the political movements the people's movements were strong. They were building and they were met with massive repression that was followed in a period over a couple of years that period of thwart a with more managed here. The idea was that the memory of repression would live in people's minds. You didn't have to kill a hundred people. You could kill 10. Do you pick them out selectively enough you can keep that memory of repression alive. The management of Terror against it is targeted as well against the churches in El Salvador in this book again war against the poor. I have a marvelous quote from from America's watch in the aftermath of what happened to murder the Jesuits wichitawx about the incredible selectivity of picking out the progressive church leaders for harassment death threats Etc in El Salvador is part of a policy of Managed Care. A fourth way that we Fuel and fight the war against Liberation theology is that the United States government is constantly rewarding The Butchers. We are constantly rewarding the military that carries out acts that would would be unthinkable. or any compassionate people in a great Act of cynicism, I believe. January 15th was selected. At the date of whether the United States would use military force aggressive military force in the Gulf President Bush signed that order on the 15th. The 15th was also Martin Luther King's birthday the 15th. My understanding is was also the day it's also the day that President Bush unfroze 42 and a half million dollars in Aid to the Salvadoran military that had been held up using the helicopter incident incident in which 33 u.s. Advisors had been killed as a justification. I was in El Salvador just days before that and the most despicable part of the release of that money was that it happened right at the same time that the prosecuting attorney is the two leading Prosecuting attorneys in the case monitoring the case of the Jesuits resigned because of a massive cover-up involving the military and involving the Attorney General himself. They said they could no longer prosecute the case and keep in mind the legislation that passed before Congress said that this all Aid should be cut to the Salvadoran military. If this Jesuit case isn't in fact follow through with integrity. I don't know if the US government ordered the murder of the Jesuits. But I can tell you what we do know. We do know that US foreign policy has targeted Liberation theology as enemy and as a grave danger to the National Security of the United States. We do know that people like Father Ignacio a Korean El Salvador was specifically targeted and named at meetings where the US military was participating with the military's from other Central Latin American countries and where Liberation theology was defined as the enemy. We do know that the u.s. Embassy in El Salvador new of the plans to murder the Jesuits prior to their actually being murdered and yet they took no action to warn them. We do know that the u.s. Government harassed the eyewitness to those murders who first stated that it was the Salvadoran military who had carried them out. We do know that the u.s. Knows that the highest military officials in El Salvador were involved in ordering the murders of the Jesuit priests. And I know from just being in El Salvador that the US Embassy is doing everything in its power to put a lid on it to have a reminds me of the Iran-Contra Affair where what do us is doing is engaging in damage control. we do know that several us priests who were priests and religious workers who were working in El Salvador received death threats immediately after they protested the persecution of the church in the aftermath of the Jesuit murders, and we know that their death threats came in perfect unaccented English shortly after they visited the u.s. Embassy And we do know that within a day or two of the resignations of the two key Prosecuting attorneys and the Jesuit case the case that was supposed to be held up as the one where the US was really going to draw the line on on the repression was really going to force the military to make some some some changes within days of the resignations of the two key Prosecuting attorneys. The bush release the money 42 and a half million dollars. You can draw your own your own conclusions about what all that mean. Let me conclude by offering just a couple of closing thoughts. One of the ways in which Christians in a variety of so-called third world countries have been naming the times that we're living. They've been naming it in terms of Kairos Kairos is a Greek word. That means time. It means decisive time. It means Moment of Truth in South Africa and Central American and a variety of other countries. They have named the time that they're living as a decisive opportunity and crisis of faith for people of faith. I'm reminded that gospel and I don't know if you know this the gospel was originally not a religious term. The term gospel was a military propaganda term for the Roman Empire. The gospel the good news was the good news of military conquest. It was the good news of the Empire had expanded and taken over was the good news that they had subjugated another people. And Jesus and the New Testament writers and Mark and others re-appropriated that term and said no the gospel the good news marks a new beginning that is good news for the people of God who are invited to confront the empire. Major major transformation part of our Kairos in this moment in this country is that we need to reclaim that gospel as a religious call to conversion and take it out of the hands of those who have made it and the church is complicit in to in this military propaganda term in this time in the Gulf War and in other ways. Second. I just offer this caution once again without going into detail and would be glad to entertain questions. I fear for this country. I fear for each of you. I fear for democracy in this country because I believe increasingly the United States is functioning as a National Security State in which those sectors that are either gain their power and Prestige and privileges through the military or through military-related production and activities are determining internal and external policies for this country in ways that serve their interest while victimizing the poor and undermining the Ultimate Security of the vast majority of people in our own country. I spoke about a year and a half ago. I was the sacrificial lamb that went before a military conference on low-intensity conflict. And I gave a talk that went into great detail about the management of Terror and other features of warned of low intensity conflict in the aftermath maybe some of you were in that audience. It was here at the Humphrey Institute. There was time for a number of questions. I think there were five or six or seven questions that were asked to me. Not one of the questions challenged me on the analysis that I had given not one of them said no US policy isn't to persecute The Liberation theology. They didn't say no the US doesn't manage tierno the u.s. Didn't produce a psychological Terror manual for the contras in Nicaragua. They didn't challenge me on any of that all four or five or six or seven. How many questions there. Were they all had this thrust? You don't know what kind of world we live in? You don't know and we know and therefore that's why we do what we do. if that isn't the underlying ideology of a National Security State, I don't know what is Finally John sobrino. I come back to him. He's lost so much. He's lost his family. He's lost his coworkers. He was tired when I saw him this last time I asked him where his Hope was he said My Hope Is that somehow the people survive? That's where my hope is. A couple of words for him that are inspiring me in my life and faith Journey right now. The first is he reminds us of our task as believer. Again shortly after the death of his of his of his judgment Brothers. He said quote. You cannot be a believer in God today in this world. If you do not take oppression. Seriously. What does that stake? Here? Is Faith in humanity. I don't know how you can be a human being on this planet today if this growing oppression and poverty is not your central issue. Somehow the tasks for each of you for each of us. And for the churches that were a part of is how do we make overcoming depression the central feature of our lives and the last thing I would quote from him, which is not a direct quote but something I've heard him say on a number of occasions. He said one time. We don't need more liberation theologians. He said well, maybe that would be nice, but we don't need more Liberation theologians said what we need our Liberation plumbers. Liberation doctors Liberation Carpenters Liberation retirees Liberation lawyers Liberation bricklayers people who will use their skill and wrestle with how do I put what I know what I have what God has given me in service to overcoming depression and not simply for the security and private enrichment of my own family my own Community my own well-being. The ultimate challenge of Liberation theology. It seems to me for each of us in this time is for us to wrestle with that very personal question. How is it that my life can work to overcome the oppression that is a dominant the predominant feature in our world today. And the second thing it leaves us with an enormous task of confronting and challenging exposing and working for an alternative u.s. Foreign policy because it is not only in the interests of poor people throughout the world that we do that. It is in each of our interests as well. Thank you very much.