Latinos in the U.S.A.

This next series of essays is designed to have us examine the economic, political, and social conditions of the Latinx community in the U.S.A which will enable us to construct a theology for the Latinx diaspora.  As I mentioned before, theology does not and cannot take place in a historical vacuum. Theology always emerges from a particular historical and social context.

There are certain factors involved in dealing with Hispanic-Americans.  We will explore some of those issues in this series of essays.  A discussion of those factors include the following questions:

1.  Who are Latinx people?  Let me begin by saying that the terms Hispanic, Latino/Latina, and Latinx will be used interchangeably in these essays.  They are different ways of describing and referring to the same community in the Diaspora of the U.S.A.

From Himilce Novas, we get the following: "Over the centuries, many peoples from Spanish-speaking Latin America have either made their way to the United States to forge a brand-new life or found themselves citizens due to shifting U.S. borders and American imperialistic pursuits.  For the sake of clarity, Spanish-speaking Latin America is comprised of Cuba, Puerto Rico (which is a U.S. commonwealth, not a sovereign nation), the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala,  El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.  All U.S. citizens and residents of the United States who originated from these nations, or from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or, whose ancestors did, are Hispanics.  The U.S. Census Bureau also includes Spanish-Americans whose forebears came directly from Spain among Hispanics, but many scholars limit the definition to those of Spanish-speaking Latin American origin (Himilce Novas, Everything You Need to Know About Latinos.  New York: Penguin Group, 2008, p. 3)."

Due to their geographical location, some may want to challenge the notion of  Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico being part of Latin America.  My own response to that challenge is that culture more than geography dictates which countries are or are not part of Latin America.

2.  Why are people of Latin American descent present in the U.S.A? There are no easy answers to that question as there are a variety of factors that contribute to that reality.  Among the factors are the following included in our evaluation of this:

a. Land-grabbing.  There was land-grabbing by the Spaniards in the 15th century and then by the U.S.A. in the 19th century.  Much of what now constitutes the southwestern part of the U.S.A., belonged to Mexico.  As Novas informs us, "The history of Mexico and that of the United States are so inextricably linked that these nations have been compared to Siamese twins, who, before enduring a radical and painful separation, shared the same heart.  Mexican-Americans are not an ethnic minority who merely crossed U.S.-Mexico borders and then by slow assimilation, become incorporated into the great American mosaic.  They have ancestral roots in part of the territory within the boundaries of what now constitutes the United States, that is, the areas that formerly belonged to Mexico.  As the saying goes among Tejanos, i.e. Texans of Mexican origin, 'we never crossed a border: the border crossed us.' (Novas, op. cit., p. 49)."
We can also add to this history, the neo-colonization of the three nations of the Caribbean, i.e. Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, two of which were taken over by the U.S.A. in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War of 1898..

b.  U.S.A. Imperialism- When James Monroe was elected President of the U.S.A in 1817, U.S. industry prospered, and the concept of Manifest Destiny reared its head well beyond the nation's borders.  On December 2, 1823, he delivered a message to Congress, in which he declared that the United States would not tolerate European intervention and expansion in the Americas.  The issuances of this declaration, which became known as the Monroe Doctrine, was motivated by the concern that certain European nations were planning to use military force to restore to Spain the Spanish colonies that had recently gained their independence.  There was also concern that England was flexing too much muscle in the hemisphere (having seized territory by nibbling off Belize and the Mesquito Coast of Nicaragua, and that France, under Napoleon III, had designs on Mexico and intended to turn it into a client state.  The Monroe Doctrine sent a clear message to the empires of Europe to cease and desist (Ibid., p 138).

However, the Monroe Doctrine did not contain any language about the United States doing the same, i.e refraining  from interfering in colonies and nations in the Americas that were not its own.  Thus, while it appeared, at first glance, to be a straightforward exercise in isolationism and a good-neighbor policy toward the fledgling new republics to the south, such as Mexico, the Monroe Doctrine actually paved the way for the free ride U.S. imperialism was to take throughout the Western Hemisphere during many decades to come.  Puerto Rico was one of the stops along the way (Ibid.).

c.  Economics- U.S.A. imperialism, together with land-grabbing, contributed to the present-day economic problems of Latin America.  Many, if not most of those problems were generated by the foreign economic policies of the U.S.A.  Those policies wreaked havoc in the Latin American countries, widening the chasm between rich and poor, creating dire misery and poverty for the masses of these countries.  These conditions, in turn, generated massive immigration to the north (U.S.A.)

For further information on how the economic impact of  U.S.A imperialism generated chaos in Latin America, I refer the reader to the following books:

Open Veins in Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of A Continent by Eduardo Galeano
Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America, by Juan Gonzalez

How, then, is theology in the Latinx Diaspora supposed to be done and carried out?  We must take note of the fact that the above-mentioned factors generated the deplorable living conditions for Latinos in the U.S.A. These conditions lay the foundation for the emergence and development of Liberation Theology in the U.S.A. Diaspora.  These economic, social, and political conditions of the Latinx community will be addressed and discussed in subsequent essays.

In the Name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer. Amen. 

Dr. Juan A. Carmona 

Past Professor of Theology 

Tainan Theological College/Seminary  

The Latin American Story: The Conclusion

Up until this point, we have surveyed how Liberation Theology emerged from and functioned within the Latin American context.  We have also seen how Liberation Theology seeks to address the issues that have been and continue to be of concern in the Latin American context.  We now bring this series of essays to a conclusion by asking "What is the story of Latin America relative to the continued theological process in its context?"  In many respects, the Latin American story is the story of all oppressed nations and social groups in the world.  While the issues may not be the same in every context, the common denominator is oppression and injustice on the one hand, and how Christian theology and the Gospel of Jesus Christ address those issues, on the other.

The powerful theme of the Latin American story has great emancipatory significance to those who are engaged in the relentless struggle for meaning and personhood in the Caribbean and Latin America.  Theology is an important dimension in the study of human existence, and those who engage in theological reflection should always take full account of the intercultural nature of our common experiences and aspirations.  The intercultural theological process must play a crucial role if we are to engage in an authentic search for sustained personhood, spiritual maturity, authentic emancipation, and common growth toward the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  This is the goal of all our participation in theological reflection and Christian witness, this is the mission of Christ to which we profess allegiance.  We therefore seek to explore the meaning and scope of the Latin American story as an intercultural matrix in the search for a new theological process with distinctive liberating concerns (Kortright Davis, Emanicipation Still Comin: Explorations in Caribbean Emancipatory Theology.  Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1990, p. 117).

At this point, we may stop to ask "How can Liberation Theology address the issues of cultural, economic, racial, and social injustice in an environment which is not exactly monolithic?" Marshall Eakin presents to us the image of Latin America as a "collision of three powerful streams converging to produce a roaring river that mixed three peoples into a dazzling variety of combinations that were new and unique in world history (Marshall Eakin, The History of Latin America: Collision of Cultures.  New York: Palgrave Mac Millan, 2007, p. 270)."

Over centuries, the turbulent river gradually diverged into many different streams, but all had their origins in  the great river formed by the initial clash of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans.  Many Americas took shape within the political and cultural construct we now call Latin America, and the construct has been a work in progress.  By the beginning of the twentieth century, the story of Latin America became more difficult to be narrated coherently.  The collisions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries gave birth to a series of patterns with variations, but the narrative of conquest, colonization, and the emergence of new societies has a coherence that is lacking when we look at the region over the last century.  The colonial era has a powerful unity created primarily by European conquest and colonialism and the multiple reactions to these wrenching transformations.  By the end of the eighteenth century, the mighty river of Latin America had already begun to split off into many distinct streams, a trend that the wars for independence accelerated.  The similar process of independence, early nation-building, and entry into the international economy, however, provide us with a new set of common patterns even as the newly emerging nations produce increasingly divergent paths (Ibid.)

If the region is not exactly monolithic, then Liberation Theology has a challenge in dealing with the context.  Nevertheless, it also has opportunities to address in a coherent manner the issues that emerge out of each individual national context.  The Exodus story remains the main theological paradigm which establishes the emergence, formation, and development of Liberation Theology in a Latin American context, and also constitutes the "driving power" that brings it into the context in a relevant manner.

Jose Miguez Bonino challenges us to take into account the religious diversity in Latin America.  He says "Not all plurality is so peaceful.  Social contradictions, ideological differences, and conflictive historical projects are also reflected in the religious world.  They evoke religious and theological responses which create tension and conflict, only within religious groups, but perhaps even more, within them.  Thus we are not facing a "return of the gods," but a "conflict of the gods (Jose Miguez Bonino, The Condition and Prospects of Christianity in Latin America."  Guillermo Cook, ed., New Face of the Church in Latin America.  Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1994, p.261)."

Religion means different things to different people, and the concrete manifestation of their religious behavior often indicate what is their definitional approach.  If religion is used merely as systematic attempt to supplement felt inefficiencies in the human order, then the rise in human sufficiency will create a corresponding fall in the need for religion.  A fleeting glance at post-Christian Europe will illustrate this point clearly.  If,  on the other hand,  religion consists of the movement of one's purposeful response to ultimate reality and the pursuit of total fulfillment, then it grows with the person and undergirds all human experiences.  The Latin American story is the integrative experience of a people whose religion is characterized by this latter approach.  Because their God has been "a help in ages past," Caribbean and Latin American people hold unflinchingly to the assurance that in prosperity or poverty, God is "the hope of years to come (Davis, op. cit., p. 117)."

The Latin American story is thus a most powerful framework through which Americans, especially those of African and indigenous descent, can move forward in an intercultural theological process in the struggle for Christian solidarity, and the search for more concrete expressions of human freedom.  We contribute to each other's freedom by the collective engagement in the common discovery of our rich heritage.  Many of the tensions that have existed between Latin Americans of African and indigenous background, on the one hand, and African Americans on the other, have resulted from a lack of knowledge of each other-from our reluctance to understand each other's historical and cultural struggles, and from our insensitivity in communicating with each other.  The same holds true for Latin Americans of African and indigenous background on the one hand, and Latin Americans of European background on the other (Ibid., p. 126).

In essence, then, our struggle is an internal one as well one with external forces.  It is the story of the fight to rid ourselves of the shackles of imposed external colonization, and at the same time, a struggle against the internal barriers which exist among us a colonized people.  It would be totally be totally unfair to both assume and assert that our problems are due exclusively to our colonial legacy.

In conclusion, we may be considering the Latin American story as nothing more than a contemporary representation of the Joseph story.  Joseph was Jacob's dreaming son.  Nevertheless, his own experience of hurt by his brothers resulted in his own salvation, and that of his brothers.  Egypt for them was the land of liberation from hunger, and subsequently became the land of bondage.  The Latin American story is a continuing experience of Egypt.  The eternal spiritual truth is "If you do not know your Egypt, then you cannot know your Exodus (Ibid.)."

The Latin American story will unfold over and over again.  The story will be told over and over again.  As long as oppression and suffering continue to be a reality of the Latin American region, there will not be an end to the story.  There is a sense in which the Latin American story is a universal story.  We conclude this series of essays by saying "The Struggle Continues."

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dr. Juan A. Carmona

The Life of Liberation: We Praise God

One of the many issues that comes up from time to time, is that of the relationship between theology and worship.  I have often time advocated for and pronounced the notion of a worshipful theology on the one hand, and a theology of worship on the other.  The Church of Jesus Christ needs to have a theology which celebrates the liberating and salvific works of God in history, and at the same time, a well thought-out worship.  The two go hand in hand.  We cannot do a theology that does not have a component of celebration and praise, and neither can we have worship which is based on blind and uninformed emotions.

A big challenge for the Church of Christ in Latin America, and also for the Church which exists under oppressive conditions in all parts of the world is to consider the following questions:

1. How can we as a Church construct and develop a theology which emerges not from ivory tower speculation, but rather from the reality of suffering?

2.  How can we as a Christian community carry out celebration and worship in the midst of oppression and suffering?

3.  How can we as the Church make the distinction between faith as an anesthetic on the one hand, and faith as a lens of reality on the other?

There are no easy or simple answers to the above questions.  The Church has a call from God to articulate its faith in such a way that it will be understandable to both its constituents and to the world to which it seeks to apply the message of liberation.  The Church is also called to teach its constituents and the world how "to sing the Lord's song in a strange land."  The Church is, furthermore, called to enable its constituents to have a critical and analytical view of the socio-political environments in which it operates.

New ways of theological thought and praxis have been taking shape in Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean, and Afro-America.  Theological initiatives have been flowering throughout the oppressed world, and the struggle for the pursuit of human freedom as the gift of God, who wills all persons to be free, has been gaining momentum.  The new wave of the articulation of the faith and the search for common dialogue and solidarity among Third World theologians have made in impressive mark on the consciousness of Third World Christians.  Black theology, Minjun theology, liberation theology, and emancipatory theology have all been promoted as authentic expressions of understanding the faith in Third World contexts.  Local theologies proclaim the Gospel of freedom as the essential meaning of the person and work of Jesus Christ.  A central theme is Paul's dictum in Galatians 5:1, "For freedom Christ has set us free, stand fast, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery (Kortright Davis, Emancipation Still Comin.  Maryknoll:Orbis books, 1990, p. 105)."

"Freedom" and "liberation" are central motifs in Latin /American theology.  We may ask "Freedom and liberation from what?"  Classical evangelical theology tends to focus on individual conversion from sin.  The emphasis tends to be on liberation from individual sins such as sexual immorality, vices of alcohol, drug and tobacco consumption, and in many cases, abstention from certain types of social entertainment.  The biblical concept of liberation, however, is more structural and systemic, which approaches human beings in their social settings.

Traditional evangelical theology also focuses on "spiritual" liberation, which prepares people for celebration in the hereafter.  Liberation Theology focuses on having the Church carry out a liberating mission which will enable us to celebrate the "here and now," as we engage in God's liberating acts, which are designed to dismantle unjust social and political structures, and replace them with structures which will allow all people to live in dignity in the present.

In spite of the many advances made in Liberation Theology-advances that have caused reactionary governments to take countervailing action and to encourage theological espionage (police interested in theology?)-there remains a need for substantial range of active reflection.  Because the notion of "liberation" has been heavily overlaid with exclusive, and even divisive, ideological, and political concerns, the term "liberation" seems to be in urgent need of emancipation.  When North Atlantic liberals speak of "liberation," they often seem to mean something different from what the word stands for in the lives of those on the underside of history.. And yet, both types of people are genuinely in search of freedom.  Therefore, the importance of context must be borne in mind, since what is wine for one might be poison for another. For those on the underside of history, i.e. the historically poor and oppressed, the notion of emancipation might be more meaningful than the notion of liberation.  It ushers in a deeper range of theological reflection and response than is usually offered in the varieties in contemporary theologies (Davis, p. 106).

How then, do we move forwards from liberation to praise?  As worship, Liberation Theology gives concrete meaning to the evangelical vision of a new heaven and earth by seeking to bring into historical reality the freedom from heaven on earth.  This emancipatory vision of present conditions in the light of future possibilities enkindles the heart with joyful courage and the lips with joyful praise (Ibid., p. 115).

Howard Thurman says "I will sing a new song.  As difficult as it is, I must learn the new song that is capable of meeting the new need.  I must fashion new words born of all the new growth of my life, mind and spirit (Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart. Richmond, Indiana: Friends United Press, 1976. p. 206).

This celebration in the midst of suffering is reflected in a song of the Latin American and Hispanic churches in the U.S.A., i.e.  Yo Canto en el Gozo, Yo Canto en la Prueba (I Sing in Times of Joy, I Sing in Times of Trial )." It also reflects the words of the Psalm writer who says "I will praise the Lord at all times, His praise will continually be in my mouth (Psalm 34)."

Liberation Theology teaches us how to sing the Lord's song as we march towards freedom.  The difficulties and troubles of the present do not hinder us from pursuing the freedom to which God has called us and to which God moves us.  The goal of complete liberation inspires us to remain in the struggle..

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dr. Juan A. Carmona

The Church and Liberation Theology

One of the many issues that arises frequently in the life of the Church is that of "What does theology have to do with the Church?"  It is, indeed, a very strange question, in that it is assumed that theology emerges from and is constructed by the Church.  Nevertheless, it appears that from time to time, that theology exists in a world of its own, and making occasional inroads into the life of the Church.  There are many in the Church who believe that theology is not only irrelevant, but also unnecessary for the Church.  Those who think this way believe that theology amounts to ivory tower speculation that has no relationship whatsoever to the practice of the faith.

Throughout this series of essays, we have seen that Liberation Theology is a movement within the Church that seeks to address the ills of society, i.e  namely those of injustice and oppression of all kinds.  Liberation Theology, therefore, in some sense, seeks to be the voice of God on behalf of the downtrodden of the world.   Liberation Theology takes the message of the Gospel and that of Scripture as a whole, seriously, in both its contents and its approaches.  We now turn our attention to the issue of Liberation Theology in the life of Christians, both individually and collectively.  As we will discover, Liberation Theology is not a mere activity of intellectual pursuit or abstract speculation, but rather a movement, which to a certain extent, is the driving force for the Church of Christ to engage in the quest for social justice.

A New Model: A Church from the Poor

In the 1970's, there arose a growing consciousness of the true causes of underdevelopment as a problem that is not simply technical or political.  It is the consequence of a type of capitalistic development in the countries of the North Atlantic, which in order to maintain current levels of growth and accumulation, need to establish unbalanced relationships with those countries that are technologically backward, though rich in raw materials.  These latter countries are kept in underdevelopment, that is, the other side of development.  This development creates oppression on economic, political, and cultural levels.  In view of this, the long-range Christian strategy is to achieve a liberation that guarantees a self-sustained development that meets the need of the people, and not the consumerist needs of rich countries and groups associated with those countries (Leonardo Boff, Church: Charism and Power. Liberation Theology and the Institutional Church.  New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1985, p. 7).

The historical subjects of this liberation are the oppressed who must develop a consciousness of their oppressed situation, organize themselves, and take the steps that will lead to a society that is less dependent and less subject to the injustices.  Other classes may and should join this project of the oppressed, but without trying to control it.  In this way, beginning in the early 1970's, countless young people, intellectuals, and a whole range of movements arose to make such a liberation viable.  They made an option for the people: they entered the world of the poor, embracing their culture, giving expression to their claims, and organizing activities that were considered subversive by the forces of the status quo.  More than a few took on the violence of urban guerillas and campesinos, and were violently repressed (Ibid, p.8).)

Countless Christians and organizations took part in this process.  They were generally individuals and groups of middle class extraction, full of idealism, but lacking political sense in terms of the concrete viability of such a popular liberation (Ibid.).

Later, after years of harsh repression, the bases of the Church took on exceptional importance both ecclesiologically and politically.  The people themselves took responsibility for their destiny.  This generally began with reading the Bible,  and proceeded to the creation of small-base (grass-roots) ecclesial communities.  Initially, such a community serves to deepen the faith of its members, to prepare the liturgy, the sacraments, and a life of prayer.  As they became better organized and began to reflect more deeply, they came to the realization that the problems they encountered have a structural character.  Their marginalization is seen as a consequence of elitist organization, private ownership, that is, of the very socioeconomic structure of the capitalist system.  Thus, the question of politics arises and the desire for liberation is set in concrete and historical context.  The community sees this not only as liberation from sin from which we must always liberate ourselves, but also a liberation that has economic, political, social, and cultural dimensions.  Christian faith directly seeks the liberation and freedom of the children of God in the Kingdom, but it also has historical liberation as an anticipation and concretization of that ultimate liberation (Ibid.).

Latin America

The present conditions and the future prospects of Christianity in Latin America cannot be analyzed as if Christianity were a self-contained and autonomous reality.  The qualification "in Latin America," has to be taken consciously, seriously, and responsibly as a conditioning framework for any significant reflection on the question.  To unpack what is contained at present and future in "Latin America" seems such a theologically and sociologically risky enterprise as to be almost folly.  We must, however, try to suggest some lines that we might explore, in order to point out some significant variables.  We can propose some approaches, even while we are aware of the ambiguity inherent in this exercise, and consequently of the provisional and contingent nature of all the hypothesis that we may formulate (Jose Miguez Bonino, "The Conditions and Prospects of Christianity in Latin America."  Guillermo Cook, ed., New Face of the Church in Latin America.  Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1994, p. 260).

Relative to the social, political, and economic conditions, it is probable that the dominant tendencies which prevail today in most Latin American countries, will continue for the immediate and perhaps mid-term future.  Latin America will remain, directly or indirectly, under the unifying hegemony of the United States and the neo-liberal economic orthodoxy proclaimed and supervised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the international banking and financial system of the new world.  It will continue under the scrutiny order which the UN seems to have taken on (Ibid.).

If such a hypothesis is valid, we can expect that there will be in Latin America a worsening of the economic condition of the large majorities, i.e. a growth in the gap between rich and poor.  There will be a tendency to revert to two-class societies wit small and very conditioned middle sectors and a large totally marginalized percentage of the population.  Politically, this will mean formal democracies with different types and measures of control or repression.  Possibly, there will be an increase of local social explosions and occasional violent confrontations, social and political protests, and certainly growth in delinquency.  But we should not be quick to expect an ideal revolutionary situation or profound structural changes.  All of this means, of course, a high degree of social anomie and marginality (Ibid.).

As we can see, theology cannot be divorced from life.  Theology has to be historicized.  And because theology is the Church's expression of its understanding of divine revelation, the Church and its mission cannot be divorced from life.  Liberation Theology seeks to make the Church "keep it real."  In future essays, we shall continue to examine how the Church in Latin America, through Liberation Theology, seeks to address the various issues of economic, political, and social justice.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dr. Juan A. Carmona

Specific Issues for the Future of Liberation Theology

Like in other branches of theology, and like other theologies, Liberation Theology is an ongoing matter.  It is not by any stretch of the imagination a "once and for all" type of movement or activity.  Neither is it a "finished product" that was once carved and given to posterity.

As was pointed out in the last essay, we need to be faithful to the message of Liberation Theology.  Why do I say this?  It is because, for all intents and purposes, Liberation Theology is a contemporary restatement of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.  It is not the Gospel itself, nor can we put it on a par with Scripture in terms of a norm or standard of faith.  It takes the message of Scripture, especially the Gospel, and in fidelity to that message, applies it to the situation in which we are living today, i.e. a situation where society is divided into oppressed and oppressive social groups and nations.

New Historical Situation: Changes in Liberation Theology

The crisis of historical socialism in Eastern Europe and the advent of human-face perestroika in the Soviet Union ended the Cold War.  The worldwide confrontation between East and West-the so-called socialist block and the so-called democratic block-ceased.  Now capitalism is being touted as the only alterative for all of humanity.  When capitalism was forced to compete with socialism, it was concerned with showing a human face, with carrying out development policies in the Third World so that poor nations would not opt for socialism.  Now that capitalism has no competitors, it no longer needs to keep up a humanitarian façade.   Nor must it concern itself with Third World development.  It can definitely impose itself as the only solution.  Now we have a totalitarian World Order.  The government of the United States as international policeman, imposes its military and political hegemony upon the entire world in order to ensure the acceptance by all of one capitalist system.  The Third World has not alternative but to submit or perish (Pablo Richard in "Challenges to Liberation Theology in the Decade of the Nineties." Guillermo Cook, ed. New Face of the Church in Latin America,  Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1994, p. 247).

During the 1960's and 1970's, which saw Liberation Theology emerging and maturing in Latin America, capitalism was promoting a development policy for poor nations that in the process made them more dependent.  The liberation concept was used, then, to construct a model for autonomous or non-dependent development, even substituting the term "liberation" for "development."  A "theological break" took place as we moved from development theology to liberation theology.  Dependence theory made it both possible and necessary to develop both a theory and a strategy for liberation and revolution in the Third World.  "Developmentalism" and "reformism" were radically critiqued as dependency models and the "ideological break" was expressed by the term "liberation."  This new all-embracing concept pointed to many new breaks.  It expressed a new theory and a new praxis.  It became the reference point that defined a new culture, new ethics, and a new spirituality, as well as a new theology (Ibid., p. 248).

These developments make us ask "Is Liberation Theology a restating of the "faith once delivered to the saints," or is it pseudo-theology?  Because of its emphasis on social revolution and transformation, there are many that take it to be a revolutionary movement wearing the garb of theology.  Because Liberation Theology does not support the status quo, it is categorized as "theology stemming from demonic origins."

The challenge to Liberation Theology-all of these profound structural changes in the dominant system challenge us both theoretically and practically.  We need to develop new concepts to help us acquire a better grasp of the new historical reality, and the possibility of its transformation.  With the so-called crisis of Marxism, attempts have been made to undermine the capacity to theorize-to destroy the theoretical space that is needed to resist and to continue struggling.  The right to think alternatively is under threat as are the hopes and the utopias.  Countering these realities, Liberation Theology must again engage in dialogue, both critically and creatively, with the social sciences-particularly with economics, ecology, and anthropology.  At this new juncture, we must repossess our historical rationale in order to think critically and systematically about our faith in the God of life (Richard in Cook, p. 249).

Transforming Liberation Practice: New Role for Liberation Theology

Liberation Theology, as mentioned before, is a critical and systematic reflection upon faith within a practice of liberation.  The concept of "practice" is therefore crucial to Liberation Theology.  The changes that have been previously described relative to the dominating system and in the situation of the poor also modify liberation practice and the way we think about it.  This is, to be sure, a challenge for Liberation Theology.

The new world juncture demands new thinking about Liberation Theology.  It challenges us with new concerns.  Liberation Theology has the maturity and the necessary strength to face up to this moment in history, with its concerns and challenges.  This is not the end of Liberation Theology, as some people may have hoped, but rather a historical opportunity for its rebirth.  The new juncture opens up unchartered paths for the growth of Liberation Theology.  But this will require that it be seriously re-conceptualized and reformulated in response to the new historical situation (Richard in Cook, p. 257).

Liberation Theology has a future.  This fact should be a source of hope for the poor and oppressed of this world.  What ultimately matters is the future of liberation and the future of the life of the poor.  Liberation Theology's future is a function of the vital future that we desire for our entire threatened planet and cosmos.  The solidarity of all of the oppressed, as well as that of all conscientious women and men is needed.  It is with hope and solidarity that Liberation Theology will be constructed for the twenty-first and subsequent centuries (Ibid.).

As pointed out in previous essays, Liberation Theology is not merely a "new school of thought," or even merely another school of theological thought.  Neither is Liberation Theology a new fad that will have its heyday and be gone.  Liberation Theology is not a fashion show, nor  is it empty rhetorical regurgitation.  Liberation Theology seeks to take seriously the message of the Gospel, and makes it applicable to contemporary reality.  As long as there injustice and oppression in the world, there will always be a Liberation Theology

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dr. Juan A. Carmona
 

Challenges to Liberation Theology

Up until this point, we have examined and discussed the colonial and neo-colonial history of America, and how this history has contributed to the emergence and development of Liberation Theology in this region of the world.  We have examined the factors that have contributed to this emergence.  Against that background, we now proceed to raise questions about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Liberation Theology in Latin America.  We now deal with the "so what" of the history that we have discussed.

As mentioned in the previous essays, Liberation Theology has its roots in God's liberating and salvific acts in human history.  From a Judeo-Christian standpoint, it can be said to begin with the emancipation of the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt.  It continues throughout their history, including their return from captivity in Babylon.  Subsequently, the story of liberation develops into a paradigm for all oppressed classes and social groups that experience bondage in one way or the other.

What are the challenges that lie ahead for "God talk" in Latin America?  There are, indeed, many challenges that we can think of.  I will list a few that we can consider relevant to this discussion.

Pablo Richards tells us "If the world has changed so profoundly, the theology of liberation must also change.  In faithfulness to its original spirit and methodology, we must recreate it.  In response to the present challenge, we need a new theology of liberation to follow upon that which we have known.  Furthermore, this reconstruction of Liberation Theology should be an essential part of a new process of resistance and affirmation of life.  In spite of the idolatry of Western Christianity, we need to renew our faith in the God of the poor and the God of life.  In order to rebuild our solidarity and hope, we need to find new ways of doing Liberation Theology (Pablo Richards, "Challenges to Liberation Theology" in New Faces of the Church in Latin America. Guillermo Cook, ed. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1994, p. 246)."

Richard's statement leads us to ask whether there should be a theology of liberation in the first place, and if so, what is its relevance?  Why should we continue with all this "razzle dazzle" of Liberation Theology?  Can't it just simply be incorporated into classical and traditional theology?  Can't we just continue to treat it as an appendix to classical theology?

Many people believe that with the fall of historical socialism in Eastern Europe-the crisis of Marxism and the imposition of the New Economic Order-that Liberation Theology has no future.  We are, as it is said, living in the end of history, the final triumph of capitalism.  Any alternative ideas, any hope for a different world, all liberating utopias are irrelevant and condemned to failure.  It is said that theology of liberation has no meaning.  The expectations of those who enjoy the privileges of the New Economic Order is that never again shall there be a people motivated by hope.  This triumphalism and this expectation of the oppressor's brutality flies in the face of the reality of poverty, misery and oppression that continues to dominate a huge majority of the human race.

The historic rationale for Liberation Theology is still in place.  As long as the scandal of poverty and oppression exists-while there are Christians who live and reflect their faith critically in the struggles for justice and life-there will be a Liberation Theology (Ibid, p. 245)."

Those who believe in the eventual total demise of socialism, also tend to believe that any ideology associated with it (including, but not limited to Liberation Theology), will also undergo a demise.  They believe that capitalism as an economic system is destined to prevail because it is a "God-ordained mandate."  Subsequently, their attitude with socialist ideology is "Pack up your bags, go home, and when you leave, take Liberation Theology with you."

The main question, however, is not what will happen to Liberation Theology.  More importantly, it is what will happen to the lives of the poor, and what will happen to human life? What is to become of their liberation and of the commitment of Christians to their lives, and to their emancipation?  We do Liberation Theology to keep their future alive, to keep our commitment alive.  Yet Liberation Theology will not continue to exist by mere inertia or by repeating old formulas.  We will need to reconceptualize Liberation Theology at this juncture in history.  We must recreate and reprogram Liberation Theology with an eye to the future (Ibid., pp. 245_246).

Liberation Theology in the Latin American context was born in the 1960's and 1970's as Christians became involved in the historical process of liberation.  It was born as we reflected-theologically, critically, and systematically-on our experience of God in the practice of liberation.  The content of this theology has always been our experience of God.  But we live, celebrate, and reflect upon it in the context of a liberation practice.  We are not dealing with a new theological subject matter, but rather with a new way of doing theology.  The object was not liberation, but rather God Himself.  As a matter of fact, the theology of liberation was never feared merely because it spoke about liberation or because it was political.  It was feared because the starting points concerning God were the poor and the threat to life and justice in the Third World. Liberation Theology was able to discover the unsettling presence of God in the lives of the oppressed and in the liberation struggles.  Conversely, it denounced the unsettling absence of God in the oppressor's world and in Western culture.  The concept of "praxis" helped Liberation Theology to understand history critically, from the perspective of the oppressed.  While classical theology used Aristotelian and Thomist philosophy, Liberation Theology made use of the more critical and liberating stream of the social sciences.  Oppressors hide their oppressive actions behind abstract and "universal" themes.  In marked contrast, Liberation Theology discovers oppression in history and reflects upon it with a view to overcoming it.  It goes beyond rational discourse to become transformative practice.  This is its only logical rationale (Ibid., p. 245).

The basic structure of Liberation Theology-a critical and systematic reflection on the experience of God in the practice of liberation-remains unchanged at this crucial juncture in history.  To be sure, the Liberation Theology structure and rationale have not changed because today, more than ever, God is present in a special way in the world of the oppressed.  God reveals Godself in their struggle for liberation.  Having said this, we must also recognize those elements which are new in the present historical juncture, making it both necessary and possible for us to rethink and recreate Liberation Theology (Ibid., p. 247).

In subsequent essays, we will continue to deal with the challenges and opportunities that Liberation Theology offers us.  It lays before us the possibilities of thinking and rethinking or theology.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dr. Juan A. Carmona

Neo-Colonization of Latin America

In the previous essay, we dealt with how European (specifically Spanish) colonization and imperialism had an impact on Latin America.  We can see how the conquest planted the seeds of rebellion and resentment, and at the same time, the emergence of a theology that would address those economic, political, and social ills.

Today, we continue to look at and evaluate what has properly been called "neo-colonialism" under the aegis of the U.S.A. While many people in the Caribbean and Latin America see the arrival of U.S.A. troops and economic system as "liberation" from the cruelties of the Spanish empire, our coverage in this essay will demonstrate that it is just the opposite, i.e passing the goods (land and natural resources) from one thief to another, and how, in both cases, that imperialism has done its utmost to protect the stolen goods.

Latin America and the Caribbean today have become proving grounds for various experiments in neo-colonialism-transnational corporations, Japanese vehicles, tracking stations, satellite dishes, foreign television, military exercises, millions of tourists, and off-shore banking schemes.  It is in the light of all these considerations that the realities of the Caribbean/Latin American conditions have to be understood.  They explain why the current structures of poverty continue to be overlaid with a veneer of progress instead of being dismantled altogether; why the prospects for the sharing of power among the broad masses of landless people are neither nearer nor clearer; why in some cases of political independence has essentially ushered in new forms of structured dependence; and why the ideals of racial, cultural, and regional integration are ignored more often than they are pursued.  The process of underdevelopment, which began in 1492, has never been substantially challenged.  The only major shifts in the region have been from one form of dependency to another (Kortright Davis, Emancipation Still Comin.  Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1990, pp. 3-4).

In the century after the wars for independence in Latin America, two powers-one prominent and one emerging-would vie for political and economic influence in Latin America.  Great Britain, the preeminent power in the world at the beginning of the nineteenth century, would be the most potent external political and economic influence on most of Latin America into the 1930's.  The United States, as it emerged as an industrial and economic powerhouse throughout the nineteenth century, would challenge the British for influence in the region.  In the first century after independence in the 1780's, the power and influence of the United States radiated westward and southward from the old Thirteen Colonies.  It was on the North American continent and in the Caribbean basin that the United States would truly challenge and then supplant the British throughout the nineteenth century.  U.S. influence was minimal south of Central America and the Caribbean.  British power in South America began to wane with the First World War, and would be completely replaced by the end of the Second World War (Marshall C. Eakin, The History of Latin America: A Collision of Cultures.  New York: Palgrave Mc Millan, 2007, pp. 230-240).

The Spanish-American War in 1898, marks a watershed, not only in the role of the United States in Latin America, but also the U.S.. role in the world.  In many ways, 1898 marks the emergence of the United States on the world stage, and the beginning of more than a rise to global supremacy that continues into the twenty-first century.  Throughout the nineteenth century, the United States marched across the North American continent, conquering, colonizing, and creating one of the largest domestic markets the world had ever seen.  By 1898, the Second Industrial Revolution was in full swing in the United States, built on iron and steel, the internal combustion engine, petroleum, power, and a revolution in chemistry that would transform agriculture and warfare. The Civil War in the 1860's had brutally halted expansion and integration of the continent. In the decades after the war, railroads crisscrossed the nation binding the regions together, and steamships carried U.S. troops and exports across the oceans (Ibid. p. 246).

In the 1930's, several patterns were clear.  The British preeminence in nineteenth-century Latin America (especially South America) was rapidly disappearing and U.S. power in the region was growing dramatically.  U.S. investment in the region moved past that of Great Britain, the United States had decades of direct economic and military involvement across the Caribbean basin  and the Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. policy-makers were hard at work forging a Pax Americana in which the United States would "lead" the rest of the hemisphere.  The Second World War would accelerate all of these processes, opening an era  of unprecedented U.S. power and influence in Latin America after 1945.  As the peoples of the region forged their identities as Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Chileans, Brazilians-as Latin Americans- they did so in a complex and deeply conflicted relationship with the Colossus of the North (Ibid. pp. 251-252).

Against this backdrop of history, we must stop to ask, "What is the relationship between theology and these historical developments in Latin America?  As I have pointed out several times before, theology does not emerge from or operate in a vacuum.  Theology is developed within the framework of human relations and historical occurrences. History shapes and at the same is shaped by theology.  A knowledge of history helps us to understand the contents and nature of theology.  A knowledge of theology enables us to give a meaning to history

Liberation Theology, which addresses how the emergence and development of economic, political, and social structures under the influence of U.S. imperialism, seeks to identify, unmask, and denounce the environmental ills that these structures have generated.  Liberation Theology seeks to bring about a restructuring of Latin American society, so that there will be a more fair, just, and equitable system for its inhabitants.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dr. Juan A. Carmona