Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mls@cbnewsm.att.com Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Liberation Theology Message-ID: Date: 8 Dec 89 08:08:57 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 76 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Despite the reservations I expressed: > That is, the Vatican II statement leads quite easily to liberation theology, > as well as American and European "democratization" of the Church. I accede > to his caution about the concordance of the path within and that of unity, > and the warning not to arrogate to ourselves the judgment of history. But some of what I wrote could be construed as a plea that the Church act as a political agent. Even though I am sympathetic to liberation theology, that is *not* my intent. I do not want an established church, a church as politcal party or even a church as wheeler-dealer or power broker as in contemporary Poland. That is true whether the political agenda agrees with my own or not. The social and political implication I draw from communion/unity is a more complex sort of thing. It first of all *frees* individual Christians to act in the world, sustained by their participation in the Body of Christ, and thus not *bound* by any ideology. Possession by ideology is the most common modern form of demon possession, and Christ has power over these demons, too. But it is an abdication of the Church's responsibility to smile benignly at all comers to its services and allow itself to be used by secular "authority" (as it often has since Constantine) to "legitimate" injustice. The Church's role, from the beginning, has been the fostering of "widows and orphans" -- namely the socially dispossessed. This role, and the prophetic presence of the Church must take precedence over the "needs" of rulers. Jesus tells us: "If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny." -- Matt. 5:32-25 or "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church [assembly]; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as [an outsider]." -- Matt. 18:15-17 It is the place of the Church to "prod" the memories (notoriously short) of the comfortable, when their comfort is built on inequity and power and the oppression of those whom Jesus, like the prophets, especially attended to -- the "little ones" who seek justice at the city gates. Only in extremity does this mean an exclusion of the oppressor from the community of the people of God. For some, such as most of us comfortable Americans, the advice "sell all you have and give it to the poor" is about the *only* practical advice for extricating ourselves from webs of exploit- ation we did not ourselves weave, but which nonetheless our daily activity continues. *We* need some aid and comfort from the community if we are to be able to *give* justice, in God's name. So the Church has a critical role in ministering to oppressors as sinners, as well as to those sinned against and driven by despair to vengeful violence. Such violence is not likely in its turn to "establish justice, enusre the domestic tranquitily, etc." -- the result is (in the classic Greek term) _stasis_, a continual state of civil war. But the continual "absolution" of the oppressors by the Church is *guaranteed* to lead to hatred. I don't suggest that the Church should run guns or staff a revolution; I even agree with Ratzinger that this could mire us deeper in human alienation from God. But if the Church is not the advocate, in all forums, of the victims of injustice, it has failed in its sacramental duty, forgotten that it does indeed *represent* Christ in this world. -- Michael L. Siemon We must know the truth, and we must ...!cucard!dasys1!mls love the truth we know, and we must ...!att!sfbat!mls act according to the measure of our love. standard disclaimer -- Thomas Merton