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The Bones in the Prophets 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 orman,Catholic orMuslim, 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 RightsBy David Little.: This paper was originally published byGerard 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 Taiwans 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 Taiwans 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 commondenominator 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
2Kriesberg, 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 Peoples
Republic of China views Taiwan as a renegade province after the defeated nationalists
4 Dancing with the enemy Jan 13th 2005 From The Economist print edition5 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 1990s 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 Beijings
attitude the issue of Taiwans 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
7 One China, One Taiwan Ellen BorkWeekly StandardDecember 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 Stphane 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 dont 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
9 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 thendid she come out as a woman from Jiangxi. Scott Simon
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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 Todays 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 nations name is but one part of a wider set of criteria suggested by Taiwans
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. Sincethe 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
10MING-YEHT. RAWNSLEY , review ofFeng he ri nuan. Taiwan Waishengren yu guojia rentong de
zhuanbian by Stphane Corcuff,China Perspectives No. 53, May - June 2004, p. 8011
Taiwan's identity crisis, BBC News Friday, 17 May, 200212 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 Taiwans 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
13 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 Bibles 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 mustgo 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 Andersons
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 Joshuas 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 themout 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
16 T. Dunbar Moodie, The Rise of Afrikanerdom: Power, Apartheid, and the Afrikaner Civil Religion(Berkeley: University of California Press,1975), p.3.
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Land traditions, were prominent. They were guiding images for their self-
understanding.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
17
Apartheid and the Promised Land Afrikaners and the "Great Trekhttp://gbgm-umc.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. Todays 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. Taiwans 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
18 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: Nebuchadnezzars 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 Taiwans 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 StorySo 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 mans body
inside. The tomb they carelessly chose chanced to be Elishas, 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
19 II Kings 13:20-21
20 Robert L. Cohn, 2 Kings, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1999) pp. 88-89.21 The Interpreters 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.
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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 Elishas 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 ones 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 andsuffering 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, thepolis, 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
23 Huang Po-ho, A Theology of Chhut Thau-thin in From Galilee to Tainan, ATESEA Occasional
Paper No. 15, (Manila: ATESEA, 2005) p. 45.24http://www.pct.org.tw/2003faith.html & http://www.pct.org.tw/english/faith.htm25 Huang Po-ho, Ibid.
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because the peoples of Taiwan have become accustomed to being ruled from outside
or by outsiders. Taiwans 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 Taiwans 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
wont be the only influence. The other resources will include
1) Taiwans history and culture.
2) Taiwans political, economic and social environments.
3) Taiwans many religions
4) Taiwans 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.
Taiwans 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 Gods 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,
26 Huang Po-ho, No Longer A Stranger (Tainan: Taiwan Church Press. 199?) Chapter 3, Paragraphs 28-30 (In Chinese).27 Konrad Raiser,Ecumenism in Transition, (Geneva: WCC, 1999) Chapter 4.
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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 Taiwans 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 Taiwans 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,
28 Huang Po-ho, Christians in Taiwan: Oppressed Majority and Alienated Minority People of God,Peoples of God, inFrom Galilee to Taiwan, op. cit. p. 25.
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like the temples in their neighborhoods. The issues addressed must be those which
impact upon the lives of Taiwans 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 1930s and 1940s. But, in addition to their being
Christians, Taiwans 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.
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