A Short Ode to Liberation Theology
College was the first time I learned about liberation theology. And once I learned it existed it was like the proverbial road to Damascus moment. Scales fell from my eyes and it was as if a whole new world of theology had opened up. Growing up, the theology I was taught was mainly focused on a heavenly salvation. Sure, good things could happen on earth if you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and obeyed God, because God would bless you, but there was also this insistence that we would be constantly persecuted by satan and other adversaries of God. We would frequently have our faith tested. Injustice, pain and suffering was just a part of life and we needed to just deal with it. Life on earth was a pale comparison to the heavenly realm, and our job was essentially to just get through this time on earth well so that we could be rewarded in heaven.
In terms of helping others who were suffering in terms of abuse, poverty, violence etc-sure, charity is something good Christians should do-but the main purpose of any acts of kindness was less about resolving the particular circumstances of suffering and more about trying to convert people so they could go to heaven. Even with acts of charity, the earthly realm and the pain and suffering that took place here, played second fiddle to going to heaven.
Even as a child, this theology was a bit unsatisfactory. Sure, going to heaven would be great, but what about the here and now? I am supposed to just suck up all the pain, suffering, and misery in this world in the hopes that heaven would be better? To be honest, the “Good News” of my youth, didn’t feel like good news at all.
But learning about liberation theology, helped me realize that there were different ways of being Christian. To be sure, even as I was first exposed to liberation theology, I recognized the limitations of the earliest forms of liberation theology-women's issues not being addressed, the Marxist political framework (let me be clear since the US has a heavy anti-Marxist bent without actually understanding it-my issue with the framework was less about it being Marxist and more about a weariness that any political ideology can become a dangerous idol. So while using political frameworks to further one’s theology isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Christians need to be weary and aware of how political frameworks can dominate and take precedence over theology, which can have disastrous consequences).
Yet the mere fact that liberation theology existed, gave me hope that the Fundamentalist version of Christianity of my youth was not the only option. And of course, once I learned about liberation theology in it’s Latin American context, I soon learned that liberation theology is also varied: Black liberation theology, feminist theology, womanist theology, queer theology-just learning about liberation theology was a step into a whole new world filled with theological possibilities.
I bring up liberation theology because one of the “Fathers” of liberation theology Father Gustavo Gutiérrez died at the end of October at the age of 96. Liberation theology has had such a profound impact on my life, and I am forever grateful for the work of Gutiérrez and many others who have expounded on liberation theology. Knowing that God cares and suffers with the vulnerable and knowing that God demands action in the here and now, has contributed to my passion for social justice and desire to create a more equitable and just world
Liberation theology in all its various forms, is also needed now more than every-especially in the face of white Christian Nationalism. When power and theology come together, the result can be disastrous. We need those like Gutiérrez, to serve as a corrective and a reminder that a God who does not care for the suffering of the marginalized is not a God worth worshipping.
Image: Crown of thorns. Text: “The denunciation of injustice implies the rejection of the use of Christianity to legitimize the established order.”
― Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation