Towards Christo-Ethics in Context (Re-Imaging "Nagaland for Christ")

One of the most widely employed catchphrase for community distinctiveness in this part of the world is the popular slogan "Nagaland for Christ." History advocate that this phrase commonly refers to the conception and testimony of the Disciples of Christ, a new transcultural form within the contact zone produced by Christianity and the native Christians during the late 1950s. However, through the last couple of decades, the phrase has been widely employed and unfortunately even made to become most disputed and misused phrase generating many trajectories of subversion, expropriating our Nagaland Church legacy, conflicts, intrigues and unholy pacts, and many more. At the same time, the phrase has become a 'matter of luxury in our society, unfortunately even deconstructing its envisioned purpose. We have turned the phrase into theological misnomer through our everyday manufacturing consents and practices on the one hand and biblical terrorism by attacking or suppressing biblical values or destroying biblical treasures inherited through a legacy.

The intent of writing this book emerged out of the struggle to understand the paradox between the claim - "Nagaland for Christ" and the reality of rampant corruption in Nagaland. The question is whether one can justify the claim with gospel values and ethical teachings of Christ or whether it holds any ethical and moral standing. Therefore, an attempt is made in this book to bring into tension between slogan - "Nagaland for Christ" and the corruption in Nagaland. Secondly, to make juxtaposed reading and analysis of the claim and the ethical reality with Christo-Ethical lens.

"Nagaland for Christ" is a well-known acclaimed slogan among Naga Christians of Nagaland. Though it is difficult to exactly trace the origin and the usage of the slogan, it seems that it was the Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (ABAM), which officially came up with the slogan in 1958 in a Christian endeavour convention. Meantime, it was also instantaneously used by the different Naga political groups with different objectives. For the Naga Churches, the objective behind the slogan, in fact, was to evangelise the whole Naga Hills and to win all Nagas to Christ. The Naga political organizations on the other hand used this as means of unification of all Nagas and inspiration for their fight for a separate state independent from the Indian Union.

**Contents and Sample Pages**