3.6B- Liberation theory and Marx Flashcards
What is alienation?
-the estrangement of people from what they are meant to be, degrading a person into a thing or object or making a person give up their proper place in society.
What is hermeneutic of suspicion?
-the process of interpretating the Bible (hermeneutics) by asking questions that have not been asked before to challenge traditional or official interpretations; in the context of liberation theology, its focus is on economic motivations.
What is praxis?
-the process of interpretating the Bible (hermeneutics) by asking questions that have not been asked before to challenge traditional or official interpretations; in the context of liberation theology, its focus is on economic motivations.
What is reversal? (in terms of liberation theory)
-the idea that justice in the kingdom of God is about reversing the opportunities of those on earth (for example, the poor shall become rich).
What is liberation theology?
-A Christian base community is a community that brings together the poor and oppressed and feeds them, provides pastoral care, teaches them the basics of faith and so on.
-As such, these communities feel in control of their faith and beliefs and people are empowered to feel active parts of the church, from the base/bottom upwards, even if the nearest church and priest are miles away.
-In Latin America these base communities play a real part in establishing the solidarity required for making a significant change in the lives of the poor.
-Liberation theology likewise works from the base upwards, focusing on the real needs of the community and emphasising good action before deep theology.
-Much of this approach comes from the influence of Marxism, but liberation theologians are divided about how influential Marxism should be within Christianity.
Marx’s teaching on praxis
- society is constantly changing through history: going through conflict, stability and then conflict again.
- Change comes about through analysing a situation.
- then working out the reasons behind it.
- then changing it.
Factors Marx identified from alienation and exploitation
- religion and belief in God has brainwashed people into thinking that God is the cause behind change in the world, rather than physical processes- this is an illusion that causes false hopes in people (for example, an afterlife).
- Religion tells people that some people are born to rule over other people and that everything will be equalised in the afterlife.
- Capitalism, which is driven by profit, makes some people objectify others (such as workers being ‘owned’ by the ruling classes); society would be better off under communism, where everyone shares equality.
- The production line makes everyone depersonalised and therefore alienated.
- The fewer ruling classes (bourgeoisie) control the many workers (proletariat) who are alienated, exploited and objectified. Religion is an additional tool to ensure that they are kept in their place.
-In Marx’s analysis of history, he saw times when the workers had tried to resist the way of lifer, but had been met by violence and, in his view, the society of his time demonstrated this very specifically. - Marx said that religion is one of the more powerful tools to oppress the workers. ‘Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opiate of the people (from the introduction to a book on Hegel). Opium as a drug was used to dull pain and get away from the troubles of this world. The alienated and exploited people were given religion in the same way.
- Praxis is therefore required, Marx believed that, having reflected on the causes of alienation, an uprising would need to take place to install communism and the right way for society to exist and to reject the capitalist machine.
Analysis of social sin
-The uprising that Marx said was required seemed, in the 1970s, to be taking place in Latin America, where many poor people were under the control of oppressive governments, workers were alienated; capitalism and industrialisation were prioritised and filtered into key institutions.
-Gustavo Gutierrez is a central figure in the foundation of liberation theology. He believes his theology has been influenced by Marxism, though most liberation theologians are quick to point out that there is only one true teacher, Jesus, and that Marxism is an ‘instrument’ that helps the methodology of liberation theology.
-Liberation theology believes that the Christian must not stand back, the class struggle is too great.
-Society has inequality at its heart- structural inequality- and this leads to structural sin- the social sin that is deeper than any individual sin.
Capitalism has not worked and liberation theology believes that praxis is required to change these structures. Socialism is the best of the current alternatives, though still not ideal.
-Structural sin is the ultimate form of alienation because every member of society is alienated. It is also something Christians are familiar with because of the idea of Original Sin- humans are corrupted and need to break away form it as much as possible.
-The kingdom of God is not in the distant heaven, but among us.
-To read Christianity the way many commentators think Luke wanted means:
Theology starts with the earth and people, not with doctrine or God.
- The poor (proletariat) becomes drivers for action (praxis).
Is the hermeneutic suspicion useful in liberation theology?
The hermeneutic suspicion is considered useful in liberation theology. As a way of interpreting the Bible, it places a Marxist reading on texts and applies them to the needs of an alienated society.
What did a meeting of Latin American Bishops say about structual sin in 1979?
- The Church needs to challenge social sin as much as individual sins.
- The Church must not mirror the oppressive bourgeoisie and should let the people have a say in its decisions.
- The Church needs to re-find itself as a community, not as an institution.
Preferential option for the Poor
-Preferential option for the poor reflects the core message of the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, that humans will be judge based on their recognition of Jesus in the needy.
-The phrase implies that the Gospel demands that Christians must give priority to the poor (when they can: it is aimed at the rich and influential) and act in solidarity with them (in the same way that Jesus did). It can be justified in five ways:
1.God is a living God who seeks justice for his people
2.Jesus worked for the poor
3.We will be judged based on our response to the poor
4.The first Apostles looked after the poor
5.Christians should work for the common good and try to transform society
what is orthopraxis?
right actions
What is orthodoxy?
-right belief, the official beliefs of the Church
What is preferential option for the poor?
-the idea that the needs of the poor must be prioritised at all times
Orthopraxis BEFORE orthodoxy
-Christians should not stand by when presented with injustice or human suffering as all people are made in God’s image and likeness.
-Inspired by Marx, liberation theologians prioritise action, called orthopraxis over belief (orthodoxy).
-Liberation theology places orthopraxis before orthodoxy. In terms of the preferential option for the poor, this places feeding the hungry before making them believe in key aspects of the faith or before being obedient to the rules of the Church.
-Therefore, the preferential option for the poor starts with the reality on the ground and works from there.
-Orthopraxis starts with living among the poor, in solidarity, visiting and caring for them as much as teaching them.
-The Kingdom of God must be brought about on earth for those who are alienated and live in poverty.
-For some, this has been interpretated as requiring violent struggle: Camilo Torres Restrepo, a Catholic priest, joined the Columbian National Liberation Army and was killed in action, standing up for the oppressed.
Guiterrez and violence
-Guiterrez did not promote violence, but did not reject it outright. He said that liberation takes place over two stages, both of which are essential:
1.Fixing the human made problems of poverty and oppression through human methods- liberating them from structural sin.
2.Liberating people from personal sin and promoting reconciliation.
Orthopraxis AFTER Orthodoxy
-Some liberation theologians suggest that spiritual liberation should come first, such as Juan Segundo, who argued that Christians can definitely free people from personal sin, but may not be able to change social structures.
-The Catholic Church has taken time to officially welcome liberation theology. Pope Paul John II endorsed the phrase ‘preferential option for the poor’ but also emphasised spiritual poverty.
-Pope Benedict XVI was suspicious of the Marxist influences and (before he became Pope) argued that the Catholic Church would work for the poor but not using Marxism as a tool.
-Pope Francis, who comes from Latin America, has endorsed much of liberation theology, although distanced himself from the Marxist aspects of it. In 2015, he named Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador who was killed as a liberation theologian, a martyr of the Church.
Assessing Lberation theology: Should Christian theology engage with atheist secular ideologies?
-Some Christians would argue that Christian theology should keep away from atheist ideologies.
-There is some suspicion about a worldview that begins with a rejection of God and religion is one of the key tools of oppression. Here there is a direct contradiction between a fundamental aspect of Church teaching and a key element of Marxism.
-The Church should be prepared to remain distinctive and not try to assimilate with such beliefs because it would suggest that truth can be found outside the revelation of Jesus Christ and the Bible.
-However, those Christians who take a natural theology approach might say that reason can be (partially) accurate outside the Church. In this case, it is right for Christianity to engage with other ideologies, even if only to use them as tools to help its own reflection.
-The key to this question is what it means to ‘engage’ with an ideology. Many Christians would say that they should not be afraid of discussion and debate. However, others would say that the Bible contains all that is required to live life and no outside discussion is necessary.
Assessing Liberation theology: Does Christianity tackle social issues more effectively than Marxism?
-Some might accuse Christianity of being too gentle when it comes to tackling poverty and oppression, and would argue that the revolutionary uprising approach of Marxism is the only way to bring about significant change. However, where revolutions have brought about communism, it is debateable whether this approach has been entirely successful.
-Christianity accepts that suffering is a part of life and tries to engage with that at every level, but it is most effective when it does so at a local level.
-Where Christianity is most effective is where each individual responds to the need to build the Kingdom of God in their own context, rather than the Marxist approach of tackling society on a larger scale.
-The key difference between Christianity and Marxism is, of course, the spiritual dimension. Christians would argue that the reality of God can touch people’s lives in a very real way; Marx would say that religion is more about people in this world than about the afterlife.
Assessing Liberation theology: Liberation theology has engaged too little with Marxism
- Marxism calls for an uprising. Christianity does not seem to have made enough impact doing it more quickly.
- There has been too much attention to Marx’s atheism more though about the causes of alienation and ways to tackle this would create deeper change.
- Many of the processes of the two ideologies are similar: the importance of analysing history, the importance of working towards a better future.
- Fear of Marx’s atheism or promotion of violence has led his approach to be diluted too much Christians now talk about spiritual poverty and don’t place enough focus on real, material poverty.
- Christianity needs to understand from Marx the importance of revaluating society in each new stage of history it can then have an impact even beyond the current aims of liberation theology such as in modern secular society.
Assessing Liberation theology: Liberation theology has engaged too much with Marxism
- Communism has been shown to be unsuccessful therefore Christianity should not have linked itself with this approach.
- Liberation theology has lost sight of Jesus’ death on the cross which liberates people from sin first and foremost.
- Liberation theology argues that praxis will bring about change the Christians message should be that God’s grace will bring this about.
- Liberation theology has skewed the debate it suggests that it is the only way to counteract issues in society, whereas society is significantly more complex than the approach suggests.
- Marxism contains areas that deny the importance of the individual and that deny God’s existence It is too dangerous to engage with some of it as it might lead to unorthodox beliefs entering the Church.
Assessing Liberation theology: Is it right for Christians to prioritise one group over another?
-Liberation theology very specifically prioritises the poor and oppressed over the other groups. The Bible is clear that God works for the poor and needy and Jesus came to bring salvation outcasts.
-However, it is not just the poor who are outcasts. This might be behind Pope John Paul’s call to widen the scope in the spiritual poor as much as the materially poor.
-This can be found in Mark 2:17 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”. As Jesus taught in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich need as much salvation as anyone else. In this parable, the rich man who ignore the poor Lazarus at his gate ends up in hell and he is told that he had the opportunity to prevent this if he had paid more attention to the teaching of the Scriptures.
-Arguably, liberation theology could be over-emphasised the poor to the detriment of the rich: Jesus died for all people. A response might be that it is not so much the rich that are condemned for being rich, but those rich people who do not help the oppressed.
-The different Gospel writers all present the Jesus story in slightly different ways, probably because they were emphasising different things for the different communities they were writing for.
-Perhaps Christians need to follow their lead and consider who those most in need are in their own communities- at a local level- and then, at this local level, to prioritise those who need it.
