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From the Archives: February 1976

by John Perkins 01-05-2014
The Dividing Wall in America

(Vlue / Shutterstock)

IN TERMS, America has tried to heal itself. The Civil War took place in the 1860s. The civil rights movement took place in the 1960s. From America’s two biggest domestic conflicts emerge three main elements: the first, a group of people, primarily white, the majority and ruling group in society. Let’s call this group the “Land of the Free”; the second, also a group of people, but a minority, primarily black, originally from Africa, the “Other America”; and the third element of our simplified history is the slavery and poverty that divides the first group from the second and which we will call the “Wall.” ...

There are several questions I must ask myself if I am to be a Christian in America today. One that gives me a great sense of urgency is this: “If change only comes after confrontation and violence, what type of confrontation is needed to make the country livable for all people?”

What Sustains Me

Seventeen activists and church leaders talk about the disciplines that keep them girded for the struggle.

Stoning the Prophets

by John Perkins 02-01-1978

Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who led the Manhattan Project which developed the atom bomb, made a television statement just before he died in 1967. I remember his face as he spoke.

Our Minority and God's Majority

by John Perkins 11-01-1977

"God + me = a majority." There is real power in this statement.

The Reconciled Community in a World at War

by John Perkins 07-01-1977

The church as antagonist or peacemaker.

The Hope and Cost of Reconciliation

by John Perkins 05-01-1977

The real hope of reconciliation between races and cultures in our world is wrapped up in how we, the people of God, see ourselves.

Rich Man, Poor Man

by John Perkins 02-01-1977

"Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me." These words in the 12th chapter of Luke begin one of the most relevant discourses of Jesus for today.

A Declaration Revisited

by John Perkins 09-01-1976

One of the ever-present sights this bicentennial year has been the Declaration of Independence.

Commitment and Responsibility

by John Perkins 07-01-1976

Debtor. It's a word that implies obligation, responsibility.

Individualism: Antithetical to Community

by John Perkins 05-01-1976

Individualism in our society, as I look at it today, is the greatest threat to an understanding of the church and the meaning of being a Christian.

Relocation, Reconciliation, and Redistribution

by John Perkins 04-01-1976

We are living in a unique and hopeful time in history, when the dynamic of the church as the continuation of Christ’s body on earth is being rediscovered.

The Dividing Wall in America

by John Perkins 02-01-1976

Devotion to beliefs doesn’t change behavior.

A Strategy for Change

by John Perkins 06-01-1975
Evangelism, community development, and political encounter

An Interview with John Perkins

by John Perkins 03-01-1975

This interview was made during a historic time.