The Prophet's Bones

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The Bones in the Prophet’s Tomb: Biblical and Theological Foundations for the Building of Taiwan Identity David Alexander, M. A. Tainan Theological College and Seminary Introduction Woodrow Wilson, "the father of self-determination," stressed over and again the strong analogy between religious commitment and patriotism. One's "nation" is the symbol of a rich cultural and linguistic heritage. It involves questions of ultimate meaning and legitimacy; the sort of thing that gives final purpose and direction to life. There are all sorts of ceremonial and ritualistic celebrations associated with national life. Above all, a nation is supposed to be something one will die for, if need be.1 Developing a sense of self is an essential part of every individual becoming a mature person. Each person's self-conception is a unique combination of many identifications, identifications as broad as woman or man, Catholic or Muslim, or as narrow as being a member of one particular family. Although self-identity may seem to coincide with a particular human being, identities are actually much wider than that. They are also collective -- identities extend to countries and ethnic communities, so that people feel injured when other persons sharing their identity are injured or killed. Sometimes people are even willing to sacrifice their individual lives to preserve their identity group(s). Palestinian suicide bombers are a well-publicized 1

“Religious Nationalism and Human Rights”By David Little.: This paper was originally published by Gerard F. Powers, Drew Christiansen, SJ, and Robert Hennemeyer (eds.), Peacemaking: Moral and Policy Challenges for a New World (Washington, DC: U.S. Catholic Conference, 1994), pp. 84-95.

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example. People who share the same collective identity think of themselves as having a common interest and a common fate. Some identities people have are nested within each other, usually compatibly, as is the case for geographic identities within a country. For example, one can identify both with Chia-yi and Taiwan. However, some identities may compete with each other, as occurs in wars of secession. In the 1950s and 1960s people living in what was then Yugoslavia felt pride in having stood up to the Soviet Union in 1948 and in creating a new economic system. Yet in the 1990s, most people in Yugoslavia felt that their identities as Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Muslims, or Bosnians were more salient than their identity as Yugoslavs. Structure of this Paper Beginning with reflections on the sources and development of national identity in general, the paper proceeds to present the historical development of Taiwan Identity and the contemporary crisis of the same. After brief description of some secular attempts to address the crisis, the role of religion in national identity formation is touched on the way to specific focus on biblical, theological and ecumenical resources available to Taiwan’s Christians and churches as the crisis is faced. The paper concludes with suggestions for further work. Sources of Identity

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Identities are constructed on the basis of various traits and experiences. Many of those characteristics are open to different interpretations. Race is a good example. Skin color is an important marker of identity in many societies, but in others it is of minimal importance. Many people in the United States ascribe great importance to skin color, claiming that having any African ancestry, even removed by several generations, makes a person black. In Mexico, by contrast, "Indians" can become "Mestizos" by wearing Western clothing and speaking Spanish.2 On the occasion of his inauguration for a second term as Taiwan’s president in 2004, President Chen Shui-bian said, The fabric of Taiwan society today is comprised mainly of diverse immigrant groups. It is not a minority-ruled colonial state; hence, no single ethnic group alone should undeservingly bear the burden of history. Presently, regardless of one's birthplace--be it Guangdong or Taitung, regardless of the origin of one's mother--be it Vietnam or Tainan, and regardless of whether an individual identifies with Taiwan or with the Republic of China, per se, a common destiny has bequeathed upon all of us the same parity and dignity. Therefore, let us relinquish our differentiation between native and foreign, and between minority and majority, for the most complimentary and accurate depiction of present-day Taiwan is of a people "ethnically diverse, but one as a nation." A shared sense of belonging has become the common denominator among all the 23 million people of Taiwan.3 Taiwan's smooth and rapid democratization has allowed its people to redefine their identity. Increasingly, they no longer think of themselves as Chinese. They are

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Kriesberg, Louis. "Identity Issues." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003 . 3 Chen Shui-Bian, “Paving the Way for a Sustainable Taiwan” The Taipei Times, 20 May 2004

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Taiwanese. This is in contrast to those who come here from China for business, tourism or to marry local citizens, who are considered to be foreigners.4 The Crisis of Taiwan Identity To most people in the world, the leaf-shaped island situated just 100 miles off China's south-eastern coast is known as Taiwan. But for the island's residents, the issue is not that simple. Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China (ROC), and in the world's sporting, political and economic circles it goes under a variety of awkward titles. In the World Trade Organisation Taiwan is referred to as the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. In a recent women's football tournament held in Taiwan, the island's team, despite the fact that it was playing on home soil, was forced to call itself Chinese Taipei.5 The concept of national identity is bitterly contested here. While the struggles to formulate and sustain a common national identity in other countries are primarily regarded as domestic affairs, the creation of a Taiwanese national identity has led to both international tensions and domestic controversies. It all started with the civil war over ideologies in China, pitting the nationalist against the communist forces, which ended with the defeat of the nationalist government of the KMT and the transformation of mainland China into a communist state and society. The People’s Republic of China views Taiwan as a renegade province after the defeated nationalists 4 5

“Dancing with the enemy” Jan 13th 2005 From The Economist print edition Taiwan's identity crisis, BBC News Friday, 17 May, 2002

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escaped to the island. At the same time the KMT government in Taipei, which continued to lay claim to the whole of China, also regarded the people living in Taiwan as Chinese belonging to the larger China. In the 1990’s a new Taiwanese nationalist movement developed and gathered momentum, demanding a separate de facto and de jure Taiwanese national identity and a separate independent state. The DPP, that has Taiwanese independence as a plank within its political platform, attracted enough supporters to win the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004. China is alarmed and threatens to launch a military attack should Taiwan declare independence. That this has divided the Taiwanese people between pro-independence and pro-status quo groups can be seen from recent national and local elections. Unless there are fundamental changes in Beijing’s attitude the issue of Taiwan’s national identity will remain contested, particularly as the development of a separate Taiwanese identity will only become stronger over time.6

6

“Identity and Ideology” Presented at the Asia Society-The National Intelligence Council 2020 Project. 5-7 May, 2004.

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Factors Leading up to the Crisis Taiwan has not been governed from Beijing since the end of the 19th century when Japan took control of the island after the Sino-Japanese war. After World War II, Taiwan's people hoped they might be liberated, but instead they and their land were placed into a trusteeship under Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT party which was currently fighting a civil war on the mainland with the Communists. When the KMT lost the war and fled from China to Taiwan in 1949, the Chiang-led dictatorship empowered the small minority of newcomers over the island's existing population of Holko, Hakka and Aboriginal Taiwanese. The KMT dictatorship repressed these Taiwanese and engaged in a program of Sinification, which included suppression of local languages and cultures and the actual massacre of thousands in 1947. This was followed by nearly 40 years of government by martial law. Only since the liberalization that began in 1987 and accelerated in the 1990s have Taiwanese been free to discuss their history. Taiwanese intellectuals have applied themselves to compensating for what one of them calls Taiwan's "peripheralization," or relegation to footnote status in the history of grander subjects.7 Evidence of a crisis today 41 percent of respondents to a 2004 poll by the National Chengchi University identified themselves as Taiwanese, up from just 17 percent in 1993. In the same

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“One China, One Taiwan” Ellen Bork Weekly Standard December 19, 2005

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period, the share that called themselves Chinese fell by more than half, to under 10 percent. But losses by the DPP in the December 2005 municipal elections have fanned speculation that KMT leader and former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou will be a formidable candidate in the next presidential election, in 2008, tipping Taiwan's China policy back toward the KMT's traditional reunification position. It is too soon to tell. Ma's own career owes much to his association with the "new Taiwanese" identity. For example, at a rally during the 1998 Taipei mayoral campaign (in which Ma beat Chen Shui-bian) President Lee Teng-hui asked Ma in Mandarin, the language of mainlanders, whether he was a mainlander or a Taiwanese. Ma famously responded in Taiwanese that he was a "new Taiwanese," a sure sign that he recognizes the power of that identity among his constituents. In fact, after his party's recent electoral triumph, Ma quickly disavowed the notion that his victory reflected "the people's stronger inclination toward the mainland," adding, "I do not see it that way."8 Research by Stéphane Corcuf has uncovered significant observable facts: 1) Identity is an amorphous concept, especially in reference to Taiwan. People's multiple identities co-exist, and they often don’t even realize they carry multiple identities; 2) Identification is a process, and people's identification can and does change both temporally and spatially; 3) Appreciating that identity is fluid helps us to understand the undeniable phenomenon of "Taiwanisation" among mainlanders. Corcuf has 8

Ibid.

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discovered that even for the most die-hard supporters of unification, there is evidence showing the development of their Taiwan identity, even though they may not be aware of it or may try to deny the process; and 4) There is a visible generational gap in terms of people's national identity. While 45.5% of older generations of mainlanders (born between 1945 and 1967) still consider themselves as purely "mainlanders", 42.9% of younger mainlanders (born between 1967 and 1981) regard themselves as simply "Taiwanese", even though their definition of "Taiwanese" differs from that offered by supporters of independence.9 Using a detailed questionnaire to analyze the transition of mainlanders’ national identification, Corcuff has found that an increasing number of them have come to accept that the formation of a Taiwan polity with separate sovereignty from the PRC is an undeniable force because of democratisation. But there are also a significant number of mainlanders who are unwilling to separate from cultural China. Identity and ethnicity have been sensitive topics in Taiwan, but few studies in political science deal with this issue in an objective manner and from the perspective

“Personal identity in Taiwan is based more on a native Taiwanese/mainlander distinction and how individuals deal with an increasing degree of "Taiwanese consciousness." One Sunday noon, as I was leaving the Kaohsiung mosque, I stopped to buy red bean cakes from an elderly woman at the front door. Her weathered face was broad and solid like many that I have seen in Xi'an or Beijing, and she spoke with a heavy mainland accent. I asked where she is from. "I'm Taiwanese," she said. "We've been here for 50 years." I then asked where she was born. "That doesn't matter," she said. "We're Taiwanese now." I apologized for questioning too much, saying I was only curious since I have lived in China for two years and traveled to many places. I have also visited mosques in several Chinese cities. Only then did she come out as a woman from Jiangxi.” Scott Simon 9

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of mainlanders. Dr Corcuff's rigorous methodology, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, makes an original contribution to the field.10 Prescriptions in Today’s Society for Dealing with the Crisis Dr Chen Lung-chu, an organizer, of a march for Taiwan Identity held in May of 2002, said: "We want to correctly and clearly be able to identify who we are. That means our name should be Taiwan and not the Republic of China."11 His emphasis on the nation’s name is but one part of a wider set of criteria suggested by Taiwan’s former premier, Hsieh Chang-ting, who wrote in June of 2005: The formation of Taiwan's destined organismic community cannot be based on theory alone. Debate invites incessant opposing views and exceptions. The key to building such a community lies in the dynamic creation of public events and a shared memory. The government administration as a team will strengthen, not weaken, the identity of Taiwan's destined organismic community. Negotiation, dialogue, cooperation and symbiosis in particular serve as the most powerful mechanisms for consolidating this community. By this token, Taiwan's national identity stands no chance of being eradicated. By emphasizing Taiwan's national identity, we do not intend to discriminate against others. Identity and tolerance can be found in any destined organismic community. It is because of tolerance that the "Taiwan first" exists. The word "first" implies that those of the same identity cannot constitute a whole and must coexist with others. Since the concept of symbiosis, or existence within coexistence, requires everyone's tolerance of diversity, we can conclude that identity and tolerance form the fundamental parts of symbiosis.12

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MING-YEH T. RAWNSLEY , review of Feng he ri nuan. Taiwan Waishengren yu guojia rentong de zhuanbian by Stéphane Corcuff, China Perspectives No. 53, May - June 2004, p. 80 11 Taiwan's identity crisis, BBC News Friday, 17 May, 2002 12 Cooperation and Symbiosis for a Healthy Taiwan: My Political Ideals Premier Frank Chang-ting Hsieh www.gio.gov.tw 1 June 2005

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In Taiwan today there is a shared feeling of community and collective memory. A greater feeling of Taiwanese identity has caused the Taiwanese to identify with and work for a better future for Taiwan. But despite this feeling of commonality, most Taiwanese do not see a provocative reason for disrupting already precarious relations with China, especially since Taiwan's de facto status is that of an independent country. Taiwan's current state, that of an independent nation in reality but not in name, is frustrating. The thought of reunification with t China, no matter how close the cultural ties, is an outrage to me. How can a liberal, democratic society join fascist authoritarianism, even a paradoxical psuedo-communist system with market characteristics? The Taiwanese people don't want to do it. At the same time, how can Taiwan make definitive steps toward achieving international recognition while it remains in the shadow of an increasingly influential China?13 Religion as a Tool for Dealing with the Crisis Hearkening back to the link between religion and patriotism noted by Woodrow Wilson quoted in the introduction to this paper, one turns to Taiwan’s Christians and churches wondering if anything addressing the crisis can be found there. Does the church have anything to say, and if so, in what idiom should the message be couched? One link between nationalism and religion has to do with the impulse of the modern nation to monopolize "the legitimate use of physical force within a given

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Annie Chen “Identity Crisis”, Columbia Political Review, December 2002

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territory" if the point of nationalism is to achieve statehood in the sense of political and legal control. That is the meaning of "national self-determination." Religion is naturally concerned with the matter of establishing the legitimate use of force. In the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, "Yahweh," "Allah," or "God" is described, among other things, as the supreme political and legal ruler. As "mighty warrior," "just king," or "righteous judge," "Yahweh," "Allah," or "God" is believed to exercise authority so as to control and punish all unjust and unlawful use of force, along with other forms of unrighteousness and disobedience. The Christian Bible’s New Testament, though it emphasizes nonviolence and martyrdom, lends support to the legitimization of force when the objective is to restrain and ultimately to subdue violence. St. Paul's approval of the use of the sword by authorized governments in Romans 13 reaffirms the legitimacy of certain forms of earthly coercion. And it must not be forgotten that the message of the New Testament assumes the rightfulness of God's threat to punish transgressors in the hereafter by means at least analogous to physical force. Buddhism as well, which exhibits a strong preference for nonviolence and monastic withdrawal from everyday life, upholds a dominant emphasis on the cakkavatti, or universal king, as righteous ruler and embodiment of justice. Moreover, there is in the

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tradition provisional allowance for the use of force by Buddhist kings on their way to establishing dominance. So religion can be seen as typically concerned to set ultimate standards for the use of force and the conduct of political and legal affairs. This is a subject of deep sacred significance. It lies at the heart of religious belief and practice. It is not hard to understand why religion would come to play the important role it does in the process of building a nation-state. Religion and nationalism share a common concern for establishing the basis of political legitimacy. But indicating why religion and nationalism sometimes go together does not suggest that they always must go together. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism are complicated affairs, with all sorts of different themes and counter-themes. The emphases on benevolence and inclusiveness, on peaceful, rather than violent, persuasion, distinctly cut against the violent parochialism and ethnocentrism so often associated with nationalism. Still, we cannot ignore the reasons for a possible affinity between religion and nationalism.14 Benedict Anderson contends that nationalism emerged at a time when religion as a cultural conception was declining in importance. In the West, this process was heavily correlated to the Reformation, before which Western religious perceptions were all the same and unified. But in the new era the homogenous structure was fragmented. Since

14

David Little. op. cit.

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then the Christian world has fragmented and Protestantism has grown. In Anderson’s analysis, the fragmentation in religious identities led to the emergence of national identities. The rise of vernacular languages eclipsed the use of Latin, which had long been the monopoly of the Church as a sacred language. This diminished the importance of religion in general, and of the church in particular. The void was filled up by national identity.15 Biblical Resources for Dealing with the Crisis of Taiwan Identity

The church must connect all it does to the missio Dei, and articulation of that action is best done when the church acts out of mandates found in the Bible. But the Bible, when taken as the “Word of God” is rightly compared to a two-edged sword. Narratives, codes and metaphors can be found therein to both support and work against the building of a Taiwan Identity. 1. Two Stories to Avoid 1) The stories of Joshua’s leadership while the children of Israel, arriving in Canaan after wandering for forty years in the wilderness, might best be avoided. Though they may provide metaphors and motifs abundantly useful, they have been tainted by their use by the Afrikaners who established Apartheid in South Africa. Following the transfer of colonial control of South Africa from the Netherlands to Britain in 1814, the descendants of the original European colonists there, by that time 15

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (London, 1983, 1991).

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known as Afrikaners, abandoned the Cape area in 1836. They set out for the Transvaal region in the north to establish their own republic. This movement north became known as the "Great Trek." In their minds it "forms the national epic--formal proof of God's election of the Afrikaner people and His special destiny for them."16 As they set out in covered wagons, according to their viewpoint: They were followed by the British army, like that of Pharaoh, and everywhere were beset by the unbelieving black “Canaanites” Yet because God's people acted according to His will, He delivered them out of the hands of their enemies and gave them their freedom in the promised land. Many Afrikaners died during the trek. Others were killed in battles with Africans. The decisive battle was at Blood River on December 16, 1838. 10,000 Zulu warriors attacked the trekkers. Over 3,000 Zulus were killed. No Afrikaners died. The Afrikaners attributed their victory to God's intervention. They said it was a covenant God made with them. They established their own republic, but continued to be in conflict with the British over land and minerals. The Afrikaners defeated the British in 1880-1881 in the first Anglo-Boer War. The second Anglo-Boer War ended with the Afrikaners' decisive defeat in 1902. This bitter historical experience was perceived as the "sacred saga of Afrikanerdom." Old Testament stories, especially from the Exodus and Promised

T. Dunbar Moodie, The Rise of Afrikanerdom: Power, Apartheid, and the Afrikaner Civil Religion (Berkeley: University of California Press,1975), p.3. 16

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Land traditions, were prominent. They were guiding images for their selfunderstanding.17 2) In a similar fashion, the story of the priest Phineas, from Numbers 25, must be eschewed, not because of any intrinsic value or lack of value in the story itself, but because of how it has been used and tainted by racists in the USA. A group calling themselves “Phineas Priests” are right wing White supremacists; most follow the racist ideology known as Christian Identity. They believe in violence to defend their interpretation of God's law. They have been involved in numerous bank robberies and murders, as well as, abortion clinic attacks (bombings and assassinations). They are violently opposed to abortion (although some think it is fine for non-whites). The Phineas Priesthood cannot be classified as an extremist organization. It is not an organization at all. There are no meetings, nor membership cards. One does not join the Priesthood; he is "called" to it. Note the 'he', for women are not allowed to become Phineas Priests. One becomes a Phineas Priest not by adopting a set of beliefs, but by taking action, often violent. In other words, a Phineas Priest is by his very existence required to become a terrorist. The epigrammatic story of the group describes how an Israelite man "enters into an unlawful union with a woman from another tribe (the Midianites) and brings down the wrath of Yahweh (God)"upon the

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Apartheid and the Promised Land Afrikaners and the "Great Trek http://gbgmumc.org/umw/joshua/apartheid.html

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Israelites. One outraged tribesman by the name of Phineas kills the race-mixing couple and thus appeases God. Today’s “Phineas Priests” claim that this action by instituted a `covenant of everlasting Priesthood' between God and Phineas, which provides the justification asserted by Phineas Priests for directing retribution against those who are perceived to by the enemies of God.18 2. Six Stories that Might be Useful One need not despair. Though numerous stories from the scriptures have lost their appeal because of how they have been used, there remain many that can shed insight. Below are six; briefly annotated. 1: Ruth: Though she was a Moabite, yet after living in the family of Elkanah and Naomi for many years, she came to identify with them, their land and their faith. This might be a story for those whose roots are more recently connected to China, and give them a model for “adoption” of an identity as “people of Taiwan”. 2: David and Goliath I Samuel 17:1-51: The little one, confident in something grander than himself or his opponent, wins victory. Taiwan’s faith in democratic systems and values can and will over-ride the dominant ideology of China? 3: Athaliah and Joash II Chronicles 22:10- 23:15: The KMT is cast in the role of the usurper queen and Taiwan Identity in the role of the rescued child Joash who was raised in secret until he was revealed and Athaliah was overthrown. The story ends

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Larry Richards, “Domestic Terrorism:Phineas Priests” http://www.jdo.org/pin.htm

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poorly, though. For Joash falls into some of the same sins as Athaliah and is, in turn, assassinated by his own servants. (II Chronicles 24:15-27) 4: Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity Daniel 4:28-37: The king, thinking himself wonderful, loses his mind, and only recovers his position and self when he acknowledges the supremacy of God. This is a story of hope for the KMT, which, if it should only come to its senses and acknowledge the need to operate democratically, might win the support of the people of Taiwan. Like Nebuchadnezzar previous to his insanity, the KMT does know how to run a country. The absence of an experienced hand in Taiwan’s administration these past 6 years has not been good for the nation. But the insane king (the KMT) cannot be trusted until it renounces its pride and bows to democratic ideals. Nebuchadnezzar did. That is hope for Taiwan and its KMT. 5: The Valley of Dry Bones Ezekiel 37: When the breath of the Lord blows on the dry bones, they are united, enfleshed, and come to life as a mighty army. There is hope for Taiwan Identity, which suffers and has become “dry” because of assaults by KMT ideology for 60 years and the corruption of those who came to power vowing to uphold it. We need a new breath, from something higher than ourselves. 6: The Prodigal Son Luke 15: After squandering his inheritance in wild living, he came to himself and returned to his father. After the people of Taiwan have squandered their inheritance as “Taiwan People” in chasing after China, America and

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Mammon, they may come to themselves and be received again into the bosom of the one who gave them life and identity. C. One Supremely Useful Story So Eli'sha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Eli'sha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Eli'sha, he revived, and stood on his feet.19 Elisha was a powerful prophet in Israel, but his death is reported in II Kings without fanfare. Unlike his mentor Elijah, who ascended to heaven in a whirlwind, Elisha dies and is buried, but the contents of verse 21 suggest that he was not defeated by his death. His bones in death continue to perform what his body did in life.20 When some Israelites went to the graveyard to inter the body of an un-named man and were surprised by raiding Moabites, they rolled hurriedly rolled back a stone which covered the entrance to the nearest cave-tomb and placed the dead man’s body inside. The tomb they carelessly chose chanced to be Elisha’s, and when the body touched the bones of the prophet, lying there on the tomb floor, the dead man was restored to life.21 The narrator of II Kings used this story to stress a theme earlier taken up in I Samuel 2:6, “The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.”22

II Kings 13:20-21 Robert L. Cohn, 2 Kings, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1999) pp. 88-89. 21 The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. III (Nashville: Abingdon, 1954) p 258. 22 Leah Bronner, The Sories of Elijah and Elisha, (Leiden:E. J. Brill, 1968) pp 121-122. 19 20

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After the electoral disasters of 2004, “pro-Taiwan-Identity” forces went into retreat. Too much faith had been invested in the idea that problems could be solved by the transition of executive power in the government to “pro-Taiwan-identity” individuals and parties. Those individuals and parties have been found incompetent to govern and nearly as corrupt as the “pro-China-Identity” forces that they replaced. The feeling of defeat is now palpable. The problem is not the idea of Taiwan identity. The problem is the manners by which the Taiwan Identity has been twisted and utilized in the quest for office, wealth and power. The blatant racism evident in the 2004 campaigns must be condemned. The metaphor offered by Elisha’s life-giving bones calls us to the basic foundations of Taiwan Identity, people who adopt a land and come to be formed and shaped by their experience here. The “pro-Taiwan-Identity” forces must forsake what threatens to kill them (the racism, infighting and corruption of the past 15 years) and find again the animating spirit of the movement which originally gave it power. This is not a call for retreat, or for reaction, but for re-examination of roots and growth of new developments based on what is found there. Much the same as the 16th Century Protestant Reformation in Europe was not a rejection of Christianity, but a re-forming of Christianity based on its Biblical roots, so also does the movement for Taiwan Identity need to be resurrected based on its original texts and a conviction that this

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land is a gift of God to all who live here. In that way, “Taiwan Identity” as a movement will “touch the bones of its prophet” and come to life again. Theological Angles on the Crisis of Taiwan Identity “Identity-shaping requires critical understanding of both the gospel and one’s own culture.”23 Part of the crisis of Taiwan Identity is that the people of Taiwan have not well understood the gospel AND we have forgotten or neglected our own cultures. In 1985 the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) committed itself to engage in a process of identity shaping within the context of Taiwan when, in adopting its own confession of faith, it said of the church: We believe that the Church is the fellowship of God's people, called to proclaim the salvation of Jesus Christ and to be ambassador of reconciliation. It is both universal and rooted in this land, identifying with all its inhabitants, and through love and suffering becoming the sign of hope.24 By this confession, the PCT claimed to identify with ALL the inhabitants of the land, affirming people, not government, as the subject of history.25 The challenges to the civitas, the polis, and the church itself call for becoming rooted in the land and the cultures of its peoples so that the gospel can take on local shape and colour, cease to be foreign, and affirm all of the people within their cultures. Identification with the land and the people who dwell here is a difficult struggle

Huang Po-ho, “A Theology of Chhut Thau-thin” in From Galilee to Tainan, ATESEA Occasional Paper No. 15, (Manila: ATESEA, 2005) p. 45. 24 http://www.pct.org.tw/2003faith.html & http://www.pct.org.tw/english/faith.htm 25 Huang Po-ho, Ibid. 23

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because the peoples of Taiwan have become accustomed to being ruled from outside or by outsiders. Taiwan’s Christian minority has likewise become accustomed to taking its direction, if not directly through outside church and mission authorities then indirectly through the otherly-enculturated forms of Christianity which have been presented to us as models. In a globalized world foreign models and messages can neither be muted nor hushed. They will continue to be part of the wider milieu of faith in which Taiwan’s churches and Christians live and move and have our being. What needs to be made constructed available are local forms of being Christian. These local theological, organizational and artistic motifs for churches in their social, religious and liturgical lives must arise from the grass-roots of the church. This is not a call for a “back to the Bible movement.” Church history is rife with such movements. They create new denominations and further fragmentation. Taiwan has a surfeit of denominations and divisions. The Bible will play an important role in the formation of a Christianity that identifies with all the inhabitants of this land, but it won’t be the only influence. The other resources will include 1) Taiwan’s history and culture. 2) Taiwan’s political, economic and social environments. 3) Taiwan’s many religions 4) Taiwan’s history of Christian mission. 5) Christian scriptures and traditions. When using the above named resources to construct a theology of Taiwan

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Identity in which the factors of race, gender, physical environment and weakness minority groups such as the disabled must be kept in mind. Class-consciousness comes into play when economics are considered, so one cannot neglect the proletariat, the peasantry, and those engaged in piscatorial industry nor the retired soldiers who came from China after the Second World War. Taiwan’s cultural resources, though not expressly “Christian” in their background, are not necessarily devoid of the Spirit of the One True God. God is the creator of the entire cosmos, the Lord of History. The creation and preservation of Taiwan is part of God’s creating and preserving activity. God is active and present in the history and culture of Taiwan. When theological work includes recognition of the acts of God in history and culture, then it can uncover the redemption of God in all histories and cultures.26 An Ecumenical Angle Konrad Raiser, the former General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, proposes a model based on the Greek word oikos which is as inclusive as can be managed, “One Household of Life”. Using the framework of relationships rather than that of history, this paradigm expands the concept of the oikumene to the entire inhabited earth, not just to all of the CHURCHES on the earth.27 For Raiser,

Huang Po-ho, No Longer A Stranger (Tainan: Taiwan Church Press. 199?) Chapter 3, Paragraphs 2830 (In Chinese). 27 Konrad Raiser, Ecumenism in Transition, (Geneva: WCC, 1999) Chapter 4. 26

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ecumenism is a matter of the whole EARTH, not the whole CHURCH. The struggle is for the unity of humankind, not merely of Christian humans and their churches. Within this household relationships are formed and the ecology of the earth is included. Such a model might be useful for Taiwan Identity as well. It must encompass all inhabitants, and all the inhabited land of Taiwan. It is not just for the Christians, but for all people, and not just for all people, but for all that lives here. The result would call for a community of people operating by principles of justice, living in peace, and committed to the integrity of the created land of Taiwan and all of its inhabitants. Conclusions And Suggestions For Further Work Christians are a small minority of Taiwan’s people, but we have the potential to be a creative and powerful minority in constructive ways in our society.28 The inward directed and the public faces of Taiwan’s churches have manifested concern with personal salvation. “Believe in Jesus, get salvation”, or “Believe in Jesus, obtain peace” are mottoes found painted on the walls around many churches in rural and urban Taiwan. Both the mottoes and the walls set the churches off from the communities in which they live. Churches need give up neither belief nor Jesus in order to speak to the issues of Taiwan Identity. They must, however, tear down the walls and become open spaces, Huang Po-ho, “Christians in Taiwan: Oppressed Majority and Alienated Minority People of God, Peoples of God”, in From Galilee to Taiwan, op. cit. p. 25. 28

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like the temples in their neighborhoods. The issues addressed must be those which impact upon the lives of Taiwan’s people in their multiple personal and public identities. A believer who knows himself/herself to be a Christian, but ignores or is ignorant of his/her identity as a son or daughter of Taiwan is a believer “out of context.” A church which celebrates its Lord in organizational, liturgical and artistic forms alienated from the soil upon which its building sits is a church which will not long survive in that land. “Taiwan Christians” need not lose their Christianity, as did the “German Christians” under Nazi rule in the 1930’s and 1940’s. But, in addition to their being Christians, Taiwan’s believers must retain and celebrate being people of Taiwan, an independent, self-governing nation, with a population comprised of people who themselves or whose ancestors have come to live here and identify with this land.

Bibliography and Sources Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (London, 1983, 1991). “Apartheid and the Promised Land Afrikaners and the ‘Great Trek’” http://gbgmumc.org/umw/joshua/apartheid.html Bork, Ellen. “One China, One Taiwan” Weekly Standard December 19, 2005 Bronner, Leah. The Sories of Elijah and Elisha, (Leiden:E. J. Brill, 1968) Chen, Annie “Identity Crisis”, Columbia Political Review, December 2002

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Chen Shui-Bian, “Paving the Way for a Sustainable Taiwan” The Taipei Times, 20 May 2004 Cohn, Robert L. 2 Kings, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1999) “Dancing with the enemy” The Economist Jan 13th 2005 Hsieh Chang-ting “Cooperation and Symbiosis for a Healthy Taiwan: My Political Ideals” www.gio.gov.tw 1 June 2005 Huang Po-ho, From Galilee to Tainan, ATESEA Occasional Paper No. 15, (Manila: ATESEA, 2005) _________No Longer A Stranger (Tainan: Taiwan Church Press. 199?) “Identity and Ideology” Presented at the Asia Society-The National Intelligence Council 2020 Project. 5-7 May, 2004. The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. III (Nashville: Abingdon, 1954) Kriesberg, Louis. "Identity Issues." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003 . Little, David “Religious Nationalism and Human Rights” in Peacemaking: Moral and Policy Challenges for a New World Gerard F. Powers, Drew Christiansen, SJ, and Robert Hennemeyer (eds.), (Washington, DC: U.S. Catholic Conference, 1994), pp. 84-95. Moodie, T. Dunbar. The Rise of Afrikanerdom: Power, Apartheid, and the Afrikaner Civil Religion (Berkeley: University of California Press,1975), p.3. Presbyterian Church In Taiwan “Confession of Faith” http://www.pct.org.tw/2003faith.html & http://www.pct.org.tw/english/faith.htm RAWNSLEY, MING-YEH T. “Review of Feng he ri nuan. Taiwan Waishengren yu guojia rentong de zhuanbian” by Stéphane Corcuff, China Perspectives No. 53,

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May - June 2004, p. 80 Raiser, Konrad. Ecumenism in Transition, (Geneva: WCC, 1999) Richards, Larry. “Domestic Terrorism:Phineas Priests” http://www.jdo.org/pin.htm “Taiwan's identity crisis”, BBC News, 17 May, 2002

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