An Axis of Revolutionary Love

Abstract

In our time, bodies have become alienated from one another on the basis of race and ethnicity, gender and sex, and religion. To envision theologically a political posture with which to disrupt these paradigmatic structures, this essay develops a model of a politics of love based on Galatians 3:26–28, where Paul argues for “putting on” Christ in whom there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female (NRSV). “Putting on” serves as a reminder of a rite-act via which forms of queering identities disperse bodies away from dominant magnetic centres for the purpose of bringing to awareness and renouncing the limit as an alienating end, and announcing its potential for new kindred beginnings toward peacefulness. This essay offers a Galatian response to the current political situation in light of Gloria Anzaldúa's embodiment of the borders between the United States and Mexico, and Judith Butler's concept of parody that by exposing the normative by means of disguise can result in pastiche or the subversive mimicry of history. The essay also draws from border theory and queer theory to reframe Jean-Luc Nancy's analysis of “being-with” that for him is central to the inquiry on being human in community. It aims at offering a brief theological and philosophical roadmap to dwelling in solidarity, bodily and affectively, for the purposes of making peace. Living according to Galatians 3:26–28 demonstrates how revolutionary axes can extend oneself to the limits, denounce fragmenting practices, be affected by the alienated bodies of modern production, and mend what has been violently split apart.