Liberation Theology: practical applications & us

Angelo, with reference to your comment about needing to preserve rather than change our power structure.

The way I see it is that the power structures of the New Deal and the Great Society (which wasn't all that Great) are not just under assault. They've already been changed.

The process of change has been accelerating since Reagan's inauguration. So I think we are as much in need of a theology of liberation as anyone.

Consider why there seems to be less political engagement these days by the "middle class" or the middle-income people. I think a large part of it comes from the fact that dissent makes no real difference now. An unpopular regime can ignore the citizens and the gridlocked, enfeebled (partly self-enfeebled) legislature. The power of money and, I hate to say it again, of corporations is just too much. People can and do donate to election campaigns, but that's rather far removed from being involved in building a real movement.

There's simply too much felt powerlessness going around.

I think our problem isn't a lack of new ideas for dealing with today's issues. It's a lack of traction. There's no transmission system for getting our rears in gear with our ideas. And short-term election considerations always seem to distract us from the longer-range considerations of movement building.

To everyone who sent up a positive prayer for liberation for the 21st century Jeremiah, THANK YOU for being apart of this great news that the London Times has affirmed and is what I knew last week, but didn't want to report before the facts on the ground were released:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3137523.ece

Vanunu Avoids Jail

The Israeli government has backed down over a threat to imprison Mordechai Vanunu...writes Peter Hounam...Avigdor Feldman, his lawyer, said that Vanunu had accepted the proposal of a community service order instead.

I spoke with Vanunu on the phone today and as always his outlook amazes me. Vanunu truly is a prophet to this generation.

To every liberation, justice and peace seeking person who reads this, please send up a positive prayer for Vanunu's full release. He returns to Court 10 AM Jerusalem time, which is 7 hours ahead of EST.

Eileen Fleming,
Reporter and Editor of
http://www.wearewideawake.org/

Author "KEEP HOPE ALIVE" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"

Producer of "30 Minutes with Vanunu"

this site claims to seek to 'heal wounds' but too much cyber ink is spilled with mental masturbation and not much about healing wounds with compassion and love. thank you Ms. Fleming for your witness.

Jesus was not a Marxist or a socialist.

Jesus was not a capitalist or a WASP.

This site claims to be progressive and a progressive, is best understood as one seeking reform and progress.

When Jesus said you must be born again, he was not talking about a solitary emotional experience of the Presence of God-although that often is the first step and understood by mystics to be a 'consolation' meaning an affirmation.

What JC was talking about was a transformation of heart and mind to see that God already indwells the other as well as oneself.

JC said his sisters and brothers were those that DID the will of the Father and "What does God require? He has told you o'man! Be just, be merciful, and walk humbly with your Lord." -Micah 6:8

Some pope said "If you want peace; you must work for JUSTICE!"

Might we agree that pursuing JUSTICE is the bottom line when it comes to liberation theology?

PS Janet: I am so thankful for your presence on this site.

Eileen Fleming,
Reporter and Editor of
http://www.wearewideawake.org/

Author "KEEP HOPE ALIVE" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"

Producer of "30 Minutes with Vanunu"

Jim, your reaction here is almost identical to my first reaction. So let me put MY initial knee jerk reaction into context, and emphasize this IS mine, I'm not talking about you.

I first remember hearing the phrase "liberation theology" at church (not IN church, actually outside the front door where people always congregate). The people talking about it were my father and his friends (rock head conservatives all!) and the context was of course Latin America. And how the religious people in Latin America were against our CIA-supported puppet governments. uhhh that bias you see right there is mine... I still don't think anything can justify our government's actions in Latin America and elsewhere during that time. But I digress...

To this gathering of the mens of the church, the ones that counted to me aka my dad and my friends' dads, Liberation Theology was BAD theology, was Commie theology, was working against our CIA and that was enough to slap on offensive labels and say it wasn't a true view of religion. It was pronounced with a slight curl of the upper lip. So I, just then starting to be more aware of what was happening inside my own country, and more aware of what our country was doing outside the country (Vietnam, which naturally absorbed all of my foreign policy interest) and so I just assumed the mens were right. You can call me lazy brain on that one, and that's true, but they were right about other things I cared about, like boys and what boys liked in a girl and what to make sure a boy didn't do on a date, etc. etc. I knew my dad was right about a number of issues, heh FAR right about a few others, and, well, there was just so much going on in my awakening political life that brought me into conflict with him, I just accepted the BAD label for Liberation Theology and didn't think about it again for about 20 years.

But is it really bad? I don't think so, not now. Is it bad theology? I don't know that answer, but the definitions sure fit what I want to be doing now, in terms of looking at things from a poverty viewpoint. And it sure fits my motivation and intent, spiritually. Do the Marxist/commie labels really fit? or were those a reaction label during the '60s?

And has my stumble down memory lane here brought any enlightenment to the topic or just more questions? I rarely have answers, but I always have questions.

Regardless of how it's labeled, the subject of liberation theology is well worth studying.

In response to Janet's questions, I've been influenced by its principles. I think that after doing some studying, then we can worry about where we stand in relation to Liberation Theology. And then we can consider the problem of labels.

Since most of the labels that are being used today -- liberal, socialist, Marxist, communist, libertarian, conservative, anarchist, leftist, progressive, even capitalist -- are being used so inconsistently, with such different definitions and interpretations, we're always going to run into trouble with labels, regardless of how we label ourselves.

As I've mentioned once before, a Bible study on Jubilee economics that I wrote with a theologically literalist/inerrantist pastor was denounced in 1975 or 76 by the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee as being Marxist and subversive. The more progressive we are, the more we will run into that kind of thing, even though we avoid labels. (I'm for dealing with ideas and policies and leaving the labeling to others.)

With regard to your point about capitalism, Jim, the Religious Right looks upon capitalism as God-ordained. That makes me question how capitalist we should be. I think a common ground for progressives is to be opposed to corporatism -- capitalism that's dominated by very large corporations which also have great political power. And I think we should be questioning the whole concept of corporate personhood.

What we would have if we ever succeeded in reining in the corporations, and what the label for it might be, is a question that a lot of people are working on. It's something we could get an overview of, hypothetical as it may be.

I think we also need to recognize that classes exist and that there are conflicting class interests which form the legitimate stuff of politics. When people call that "class war" talk, the counter is that there already seems to be something that could be called a class war and that the super-rich/super-powerful have been winning it for quite some time.

So thanks, Janet, for bringing this up.

Bill