Theology

Set A #2

The Liberation Theology movement came to be in Latin America, a region much like the Philippines, having been colonized by the Spanish and culturally invaded by the west. Both the Philippines and Latin America are also burdened with a massive poverty situation. The priests of Latin America brought the new ecumenical movement of Vatican II (which identified the modern church as a servant to society) to a completely different level through the creation of a new theology.

Theology, being a study of faith, takes experiences of life and interfaces them with one's deepest religious beliefs. The Latin American bishops could not reconcile the blatant disregard for the humanity of the majority of people in South America, and found the need to fashion a new theology based on their specific faith experience (which is different in every cultural and historical context) and demanded that the Church make this widespread injustice its business. They identified societal sin, or the structures of society that systematically replicate inequality that result in the chronic poverty which plagues Latin America, the Philippines, and other developing nations. This is a key element which went previously unacknowledged by the Church, and the world.

Traditional theology had its emphasis on orthodoxy, or the correct interpretation and understanding of Christian doctrine. Also very important was obedience to the Church's authority, and the glorification of God's works. There was accent on the public character of the individual's faith, but the correct action ensuing from this faith (orthopraxis) wasn't really stressed. Vatican II paved the way for Liberation Theology by its including all of humanity in the scope of God's love, and recognizing the validity and importance of other faiths, but since the world view at the time of the council was geared toward development through industrialization, the clergy involved (mostly form the first world and unknowingly trapped in certain social sins themselves) geared the Church's action plan to compliment this developmental model which espoused economic freedom for all (and the salvation form poverty) through the ideology of capitalism. But liberation cannot be contained in simple and restricted dimensions of economic, social political or cultural life. As man is more than each one of these elements, steps toward his total freedom must include a total vision of man.

Liberation Theology involves critical reflection on actual historical events in the light of the Christian faith; comparing actual lives with how Christ lived, our ideal. This particular theology considers the whole picture of humanity by addressing the marginalized people of society, who are edged out of the contemporary framework by the gears of that inhumane machine of capitalist "development". The highlighting of orthopraxis comes in with the active nature of this theology; it is not only a study of and about liberation, but it requires action, a movement toward liberation.

The primary difference is the shift from considering individual morality to the acknowledgement that we are all so intertwined in this web of life that there's no such thing as individual action, because everything each person does affects everyone else - hence the more meaningful consideration of social practice and social morality over individual ethics.

Current world experience is the starting point of Liberation Theology; our particular historical situation of poverty, which requires reflected action geared toward change. Hence the recognition and naming of this phenomenon of societal sin, or institutionalized evil, which keeps so many people in the dehumanizing situation of poverty, is a great first step in applying the Christian faith to our experience, as it is what we want to be liberated from. I see Liberation Theology as the necessary direction of faith, as the species has evolved into an intricate network of freedoms, with so many people in concentrated areas, their needs and desires overlapping and overpowering others'.

The process of liberation is just as complicated as it sounds. It requires the experience of love of neighbor, which is actually a manifestation of authentic love of God. As it is not a neutral, academic theology, it must be committed to effective action for justice. Science and faith are reconciled in the necessity of a measurable scientific basis for theological reflection and action toward change after reflection and critique of our socio-historical conditioning and ideological functioning of Christian belief in everyday practice, provided by social analysis which will continue to keep the liberation movement in check by verifying quantifiable factors that describe the social situation and the direction of its growth.

After such social soul searching or theological reflection, the Christian doctrine itself must be reformed to exclude elements that hinder genuine progress of the community (such as the Filipino's fatalistic superstitions tied into their being catholic, elitism, and the dehumanizing traditions like the nailing to the cross in Pampanga during good Friday). Once the Christian teachings are revitalized and made more relevant and genuine to each person, a course of action must be drawn up to achieve the objective of liberation through concrete action in the light of moral non-negotiables now identified in the revitalized doctrine. This course of action must include every sector of society and requires a genuine paradigm shift in the way people consider other people. The human element of people has been lost in the labels society puts on each of us. The man one encounters every morning on the street corner is not considered one with his own dreams, relationships, responsibilities and emotions; he's just a shadowy faced figure who sells you a newspaper every morning. The course of action must revive the human spirit in each of us, that we might be inspired enough to recognize how each of us who have arms and feet and faces and hearts is essential and requires respect, not to mention food, shelter and clothing.

The final step is the actual carrying out of this plan, a reflected action rooted in sacred scripture, geared toward service for others, espousing sharing, a simple lifestyle, solidarity with the poor who are so separate from our daily lives, and a firm determination not to profit from unjust social structures. Even if it means spending an entire day getting your license back from the LTO because you refused to pay off a traffic cop.

Set B #2

The world is ordered in a particular way by a particular set of people who have control over the most resources. Agenda setting has always been the function of the ruling class