4F Religious identity through responses to poverty and injustice Flashcards
(38 cards)
What is liberation theology?
• A synthesis of Christian theology and Marxist socio-economic analyses that emphasises social concern for the poor and the political liberation for oppressed peoples
Where and when did liberation theology develop?
- Latin America
* 1960s
Which two thinkers does the spec associate with liberation theology?
- Gustavo Gutiérrez
* Leonardo Boff
What is Gutiérrez’s book called, and when did he publish it? What did he state?
- ‘A Theology of Liberation’
- 1971
- Theology should start w/ human suffering rather than w/ intellectual/rational reflection
What does Gutiérrez contrast liberation theology with?
- European theology
- The context of Euro. theo. = sci. + technical progress
- The context of l.t = ppl dying; springs from work of priests observing suffering in shadow of sci. + tech. progress
What do Leonardo and Clodovis Boff state that liberation theology is the result of?
• “faith confronted by oppression”
Give a quote from Gutiérrez about the Kingdom of God and social injustice.
• “The Kingdom [of God] and social injustice are incompatible”
What does Gutiérrez say that we need to abolish?
- The status quo that has led to suffering
- Need to replace it w/ diff. set of r.ships w/ production + economy ∴ l.t has a pol. edge (criticised by gov.s opposed to socialism/communism
What did Reagan’s advisors tell him in 1982 relating to liberation theology?
• “American foreign policy must begin to counterattack liberation theology.”
Explain the political basis of Latin American theology.
• Latin America has faced eco. exploitation for 500 years + during this time, the C.ch = ass. w/ ruling classes • 1950s: hope that eco. dev. would result as L.A. countries became less dependent on imports and instead produced more of own goods - However, capitalism demanded that goods/labour = cheap ∴ no dev. of middle-class in LA + continued impoverishment • 1954 CIA takeover of gov. of Guatemala = seen as motivated only by US wanting to protect US-owned United Fruit Company - Played into the socialist movements of Fidel Castro + Che Guevara • 1970s: inspired by l.t., priests in Nicaragua launched a rebellion which influenced other rebellions in Mexico + Columbia (executions of members of c.ch) • Lib. theo.s e.g. Gut., have not promoted violence, but have been sympathetic to socialist + comm. movements • 1968: LA Bishops met in Medellín + issued a statement in accordance w/ Vat. II; denounced "institutionalised injustice" and "institutionalised violence."
Liberation theologians are inspired by many B passages which reveal that G desires all ppl to be liberated from structures that cause oppression. Give three examples of these Bible passages.
• Gut. described l.t as a “critical reflection on Christian praxis in light of the word of God.”
- Exodus 1-14 - G leads his oppressed ppl from Egypt to a “promised land”
- Matthew 25:31-46 - J announces that the future judgement of humanity will be based on whether those in need were helped in practical ways
- Acts 2:43-47 - a liberating C.ch practising a form of communism: “they would sell their possessions […] and distribute the proceeds to all.”
How do liberation theologians argue that the church has reinforced a passive attitude to human suffering?
• Christology has emphasised images of J which place him outside of history and reinforce a passive attitude to human suffering
- E.g. helpless baby J, suffering of J
According to liberation theologians, what three aspects of Jesus’ life stand out?
1) Complex r. ships w/ Zealots
2) Critical attitudes towards r. leaders esp. when they burdened ppl w/ excessive demands
3) J’s death at hands of pol. authority
• These three reveal that there was a pol. dimension to J’s ministry
Why does Gutiérrez say that we should not spiritualise Jesus?
• J was perceived as a threat to Roman authorities ∴ should not spiritualise
• Though J fought for liberation, he did not organise his movement for the long-term application of love + justice
- Gut. says the reason for this is ∵ J was affected by his culture’s belief in apocalypticism
- As this did not happen, we should apply J’s attitude and teaching to the task of building a less oppressive society
- In B, eschatology = viewed as transforming our attitudes/actions in the present, rather than presenting a future reality
Explain Gutiérrez’s views on orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
• In trad. theo., one starts w/ B or w/ intellectual thought, and seeks to determine the truth (orthodoxy - ‘right-thinking’) and apply that to life
• Gut: from 12th C, theo. considered itself to be a sci. that presented faith in clear, rational categories - to become more religious meant devoting oneself to study/withdrawing to a monastery
• But, we must remember that for centuries, the C.ch did nothing to help the world: it was involved in creating/reinforcing itself as ‘Christendom’ - what is needed now is to see the c.ch as the place where theo. happens, not monasteries, academies, cathedrals
- It is in pastoral situations that the C.ch encounters human suffering, which calls forth a response ∴ orthopraxis (‘right practice’) must come before orthodoxy ∵ praxis = practice of faith applied to life
• Gut says that he has been impacted by the Marxist insight
- Marx: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world […] the point is to change it.”
- Theo. should not have an intellectual starting point, but rather a situation: we discover the truth through praxis
The chief concern of liberation theologians is the suffering caused by poverty and economic exploitation. How is it also a vital concern for the Vatican?
• Pope John XXIII declared that the C.ch = to be called a Church of the Poor
- Reflected in Vat. II documents which urge C.ch to walk in poverty
- Pope Francis rejected papal apartment
What three kinds of poverty does Gutiérrez say that it is important to distinguish between?
- Material
- Spiritual
- Voluntary
According to Gutiérrez, what is material poverty?
- Lack of sufficient material means to meet basic needs, e.g. food, drinking water, shelter, clothing, or medicine.
- Consistently condemned in B as being outside of G’s plan for humanity
- Genesis: all = created equal
According to Gutiérrez, what is spiritual poverty?
- Inner attitude of being completely ready + available to do G’s will
- However, sometimes mat. pov. has been confused w/ spi. pov., meaning that poor ppl = considered to be more spiritual (less distracted by material things ∴ closer to G)
- It is a popular interpretation of “Blessed are the poor”, but this interp. simply serves interests of a rich minority
- Gut: the true interp. = J saw his task as liberation + promotion of a community of justice; the poor had reason to be happy ∵ their pov. = about to end
According to Gutiérrez, what is voluntary poverty?
• C.ch choosing to be poor so as to identify w/ the poor
• Kenosis: J self-emptied to become poor and relate to G’s love and justice for human race
• Phrase, ‘preferential option for the poor’ began to be used by l.t.s in 1970s - now viewed as an integral part of Catholic social teaching
- Does not mean that others are excluded, means that C.tians must make the free choice to prioritise needs of poor
- Gut: the poor = “lowest rung” + G’s wisdom is that “the last shall be first”
According to liberation theologians, why are people poor?
• Political explanations to maintain capitalistic exploitation:
1) ∵ of vice, laziness, ignorance, wickedness
- Solution = offer eco. aid, but they cannot be trusted with that
2) Due to eco./soc. backwardness, reforms may help
• Poverty = logical outcome of cheap labour and goods required as part of the capitalistic enterprise - only a dramatic change in the system can lead to a better life
What are base ecclesial communities?
- Groups of 15-20 families who meet to support each other, read B, apply insights to struggles against oppression
- base’ - refers to nature as basic building blocks of C.ch
- ‘ecclesial’ - link to wider c.ch (e/g when priests are available, they have Eucharist)
- ‘communities’ - sharing/mutual support
The number of base ecclesial communities exploded through the 60s/70s. In the 80s, how many were there in Brazil alone?
• 1-2 million
Why did base ecclesial communities develop in the 1960s?
• As a result of at least 2 factors:
- Movement in populist education across LA which brought together small communities for literacy + skill building
- Shortage of priests, making it necessary for the lay leadership of Cath. communities to form
