Abstract
At present, the growing number of fundamentalist evangelical churches in the Philippines preach that Christians are called to evangelize and not to meddle with political activities, especially those that subvert the status quo or resist the government. In this paper, I tackle the performative acts of progressive Christian activists who do the opposite - those who actively participate in politics and strongly resist the unjust practices of powerful institutions and ideologies through whatever symbolic and material resources are available to them. Specifically, I focus on the UCCP Haran ministry and the embodied performances of church workers who stand hand-in-hand with Lumad groups to fight for their rights. That said, I ask the question, how do UCCP church workers utilize performance theology as a means to advocate for the rights of the Lumad? Through the rhetorical force of re-telling organizational history and documents using the context of today, an embodied immersion with the lives of Lumad brothers and sisters, and the performance of an assembly with marginalized and secular progressive groups in political acts and settings, Christian activists subvert state discourses by bringing divine legitimacy to activism and resist a version of evangelism obsessed with control and compliance. The rhetorical force and performance theology of embodying a revolutionary Christ in the public sphere by standing up with our indigenous brothers and sisters may be labelled as rebellious by the status quo, but it seems faith will sustain and strengthen these ministries.
Presenters
Junesse Crisostomo PilarioAssistant Professor, Speech Communication and Theater Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Performance theology, Rhetoric, Lumad, UCCP, Christian activism, Duterte administration
