A Brief introduction to our panel discussion today:
We are living in the days of radical upheavals, in the US, UK, everywhere. Increasingly, it seems good is called evil, and evil good. Christians are either resigning themselves to passivity from any social or political engagement, or they are vocally polarized, speaking and acting from the most opposing and incompatible value platforms, often voicing a cognitive dissonance rather than seeking to follow Jesus consistently and with deliberation.
This dissonance of attitudes is easily seen in the ways diverse groups of Christians relate to Covid-19 pandemic, nationalism, racism, treatment of immigrants, refugees, homeless, minorities. Instead of brining healing and sanity to our conversations, and offer some reasonable solutions to social challenges, we Christians have contribute to growing social and political confusion.
So, we must ask: “Should we, followers of Jesus, speak truth to power at all in our post-truth days? For example, are we Christians supposed to join the protests against injustice, racism, social abuse? Should we, Christians, stand up for refugees and immigrants? Should we, and how, express our concerns through media, especially social media? Should we lift our voices against inhumanity, injustice, other social deviations at all? Or, should we pray only and be quiet, neutral, conveniently safe? Can we afford to remain the stance of neutrality in the face of growing evil? Or should we be involved, active, act responsibly? If we should, how?
These are some of the questions our panelists are trying to address today. They are in the order of speaking: Camilla Bocaniala, the co-founder of Polylogos, a community bridge-building association in Romania, and social activist in peace-building and reconciliation; Liviu Bocaniala, President of Polylogos Association and artist; Heather Staff, a political advisor on refugee, asylum and migration policy for a member of the UK Parliament; Hermund Haaland, cofounder and International Director for Tanskmien Skaperkraft in Norway, and a Production Manager of a recently published book “Is God a Populist”; Edlira Cepani, human rights activist and community organizer in Albania; and, Zdravko Plantak, Professor of Ethical Studies at the Loma Linda University, USA, and the author of the book “The Silent Church”. I am Tihomir Kukolja, the editor and producer of Face to Face Forum
Objective of our conversation today is to encourage a very much needed conversation on the relevant theme of how to speak the truth to power and to each other in our post-truth era from a Christian perspective. Since our conversation is only starting today, we would welcome your comments, questions. Our panelists are ready to face your questions and comments, and respond to them in one of our future Face to Face Conversations, soon. You are more than welcome to email us your questions. Also, you may share your questions and comments on the social media platforms that are making this conversation available to you. Let us hear from you soon.
And now, take time and watch our conversation.
Available also on Face to Face, Facebook.
Tihomir Kukolja 