How can church workers in revolutionary situations determine who the legitimate authorities are, particularly if they work in contested zones?

Ideologies, vested interests and stereotypes sometimes keep us from hearing "grassroots" views of those most affected by national and international conflicts. Suggest some examples. How can we see past these obstacles in order to better understand what is really occurring in a given situation?

In situations where church workers believe that a revolutionary movement can legitimately claim to represent a significant sector of the population, how may church workers communicate that conviction without seeming to give a blank check to all of its policies or tactics? Is this any different from the way Christians are to react to established government?

Might the support that "the people" give a government or movement sometimes be irrelevant, because the majority is committing injustices against a minority? Explain the dangers that exist when the church follows majority rule.

Even if the church believes that Christians have the right, or even the obligation to "take sides" against oppression and injustice, are there circumstances in which church workers should act in a nonpartisan way so that they can win the trust of all parties to a conflict and act as mediators?

What are some different ways to "take sides?" Which are appropriate, and when? How should church workers respond if observers confuse their attempt to communicate support in careful ways, with the apparently blind support that others may give to a movement or government?

Who are the enemies of Christians, especially rich Christians? What are the implications of taking seriously the mandate to "love your enemies"?

For Further Study

American Friends Service Committee, Board of Directors. "AFSC Perspectives on Nonviolence in Relation to Groups Struggling for Social Justice. Document approved January 24, 1981.

Berryman, Phillip. "Ethics of the Revolutionary Proyecto." Chapter 9 in The Religious Roots of Rebellion: Christians in Central American Revolutions, pp. 281-330. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1984.

Hauerwas, Stanley. "The Politics of Charity." In Truthfulness and Tragedy: Further Investigations Into Christian Ethics, pp. 13 Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1977.

Seeger, Daniel A. The Seed and the Tree: A Reflection on Nonviolence Pendle Hill Pamphlet 269. Wallingford, Penn.: Pendle Hill Publications 1986.

Sharp, Gene. Social Power and Political Freedom. Boston: Porter Sargent, 1980. See especially chapters 4, 7 and 12.

Wink, Walter. Violence and Nonviolence in South Africa: Jesus' Third Way. Philadelphia, Santa Cruz: New Society Publishers in cooperation with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1987.

Yoder, John Howard. The Politics of Jesus. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972. See especially chapters 2, 8 and 12.