Loving Out Power Regimes

" In clear and unmistakable language, the Hebrew prophets, Muhammad, and Jesus were talking about people changing. Yet how is it that the groups that formed in their names frequently became bulwarks against change? So often, we have been protectors of the past, lovers of Empire, power, and business as usual  - especially when the present arrangement was to our advantage. In fact, if you ask most people how they view religion, they'll answer that it is supposed to be a protector of the tradition. This is why, for so much of our history, we have made good bedfellows with kings, queens, dictators, and repressive regimes. Just ask the French, the English, the Spanish, the Germans, the Austrians, the Russians, almost all Latin Americans, and Protestant North Americans. We have consistently been on the side of our particular ancien règime instead of the transnational kingdom of God, ever since Constantine invited us into his palaces in A.D. 313."

- Richard Rohr. The Naked Now.