The deaths of Moses
The death penalty and the division of sovereignty
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3867946 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher Bracken (University of Alberta, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 168-183 |
| Publication date | 2018-08-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Research on Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2050-3032 • E-ISSN: 2050-3040 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/2050303218774894 |
| OpenAlex | W2805400849 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 13 |
Derrida insists that any effort to think theological-political power "in its possibility" must begin with the death penalty. In this paper, I revisit the death of Moses Paul, "an Indian," executed in New Haven in 1772 for the murder of Moses Cook, a white man. The Mohegan minister Samson Occom delivered Paul's execution sermon and accompanied him to the gallows. Revised, Occom's sermon was one of the first works published by a Native American author in English. Occom suggests there can be a theological-political power that signals itself not by decreeing the death penalty, but by opposing it. Hence sovereignty can be thought, with and against Derrida, as the theologico-political power to restore life. By opposing death to grace, moreover, Occom achieves a division of sovereignties, creating an opening for Indigenous nations within the scaffolding of the settler state. Working in collaboration, then, Occom and Paul produce a political theology
Haven · Indigenous · Political science · Politics · Sermon · Sociology · Sovereignty · Theology · Computer Science · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies · Theological Perspectives and Practices
| Citations per year | 0.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2022 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |