Structures of ‘Guilt’ - Focus on the church year 2016/2017

Structures of 'Guilt' - Focus on the church year 2016/2017

Many injustices are structurally given or anchored. They cannot be attributed to individual people. They are, so to speak, "in the system". Guilty are those, who recognize these "structures of guilt" and do nothing about them, but shrugging their shoulders, (or even with hidden intent) continue as before. They draw more and more helpless people and animals into these structures, or they prevent them from coming out.

The editors of "Sustainable Preaching" wish to highlight such structures during this church year in order to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms that implicitly prevent sustainable development from being implemented globally. An important role is played by money or money flows, which can be used positively or negatively – to create or destroy structures.

It is not a coincidence that our focus fits well within the year of the Reformation Jubilee - even 500 years ago money was an important factor. On the other hand, Christian churches and religious communities should perhaps be asking themselves how much "structural" blame can be attached to them, when one reflects that in 500 years we have not succeeded in bringing the unique Christian message to be a really positive influence on the whole of Creation.

Further information at the moment is only available in German (» Strukturen der Schuld).