U.S. foreign policy today, as presented in official documents and carried out in Iraq, Afghanistan, and an ill-defined 'war on terrorism,' commits the United States to seek global domination through the unilateral exercise of military power. Critics and supporters of this policy rightly describe it in reference to empire. Saving Christianity from Empire describes the nuts and bolts of present U.S. foreign policy, including the philosophical foundations and practical policy options used to justify and pursue empire. In the U.S. context, Nelson-Pallmeyer asserts that many Christians passively or actively support U.S. global domination through the exercise of unilateral military power in opposition to the radical nonviolence of Jesus. Some combination of fear, patriotism, propaganda, and distorted theology results in broad-based support among Christians for policies that are dramatically opposed to authentic Christianity rooted in the life and faith of Jesus. This analysis is grounded in the biblical concept of empire which views imperial domination of Israel-Palestine as deserved punishment for sin as well as the radical nonviolence of Jesus, which brings practical challenges to Christians living in an imperial nation many consider to be a grave threat to world peace. |
