The idea for examining the theme of decolonizing the Bible is rooted in the author's (yours truly) desire to maintain intact the belief in the sacredness of the text, while at the same time acknowledging the human element in it with all its flaws, short-comings, and weaknesses. In addition, I wish to stress the liberating element in the biblical message. This I propose to do by taking the approach of utilizing the biblical hermeneutics of Liberation Theology.
Liberation Theology focuses on the issues of human rights, oppression, and suffering in the countries of the so-called "Third World" of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Liberation theology represents a paradigm shift in terms of how these socio-economic and political issues are addressed within the framework of theology. Liberation Theology reverses the hermeneutical approach of the Western countries relative to how they utilize the Scriptures and traditions of the Christian faith in order to deal with these issues. While classical Western theology approaches these issues by examining them in the light of Scripture and tradition, Liberation Theology does just the opposite, i.e. it examines the Scriptures and the traditions in the light of the experiences of suffering and also in the light of the issues generated by that suffering.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Friday, September 27, 2019
PREFACE
This book is designed to make a case for stripping the Bible of its colonial elements, both in its writings, and also in its recording of the actions of the "people of the book" relative colonization, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. The writers of the book were members of a colonial and genocidal nation-state (ancient Israel) who justified these actions by saying that they were "God-ordained," and "God-mandated."
This writer seeks to debunk and deconstruct those theological paradigms which justify and sugar-coat human atrocities in the name of God. In so doing, I realize that I risk being alienated and ostracized by my fellow-members of the community of faith who only see the sacred element in the text, but fail to take into account its flaws by virtue of the fact that the book is a human enterprise written by flawed people.
As a Liberation theologian, I work from the premise that oppression and suffering are the starting points for biblical interpretation and theological reflection. For the purposes of this book, I will include colonization, ethnic cleansing, and genocide as forms of human oppression.
I wish to express my gratitude to the Rev. Dr. Chong-gyiau-Wong, President of the Tainan Theological College and Seminary for having allowed me the privilege of serving for two years as a Visiting Scholar/Professor of theology, during which time, I engaged in research preparing to write this book.
I dedicate this book to my beloved wife Ruth who is constantly prodding me to be the best scholar and writer that I can be. I so appreciate her affirmation and constant encouragement.
I also dedicate this book to our six children, i.e. Dr. Geoffrey Antonio Carmona-Baez, Jennica Carmona-Arandia, Jessica Carmona-Baez, Cinnamon Ruth-Leggett, Jeremiah Louis Ramos, and Adora-Rae Ramos and their beloved children. To them we dedicate this book with love and with the hope that they too, will pursue their careers and passions with the same intensity that Ruth and I have.
Juan A. Carmona
September 27, 2019
This writer seeks to debunk and deconstruct those theological paradigms which justify and sugar-coat human atrocities in the name of God. In so doing, I realize that I risk being alienated and ostracized by my fellow-members of the community of faith who only see the sacred element in the text, but fail to take into account its flaws by virtue of the fact that the book is a human enterprise written by flawed people.
As a Liberation theologian, I work from the premise that oppression and suffering are the starting points for biblical interpretation and theological reflection. For the purposes of this book, I will include colonization, ethnic cleansing, and genocide as forms of human oppression.
I wish to express my gratitude to the Rev. Dr. Chong-gyiau-Wong, President of the Tainan Theological College and Seminary for having allowed me the privilege of serving for two years as a Visiting Scholar/Professor of theology, during which time, I engaged in research preparing to write this book.
I dedicate this book to my beloved wife Ruth who is constantly prodding me to be the best scholar and writer that I can be. I so appreciate her affirmation and constant encouragement.
I also dedicate this book to our six children, i.e. Dr. Geoffrey Antonio Carmona-Baez, Jennica Carmona-Arandia, Jessica Carmona-Baez, Cinnamon Ruth-Leggett, Jeremiah Louis Ramos, and Adora-Rae Ramos and their beloved children. To them we dedicate this book with love and with the hope that they too, will pursue their careers and passions with the same intensity that Ruth and I have.
Juan A. Carmona
September 27, 2019
DECOLONIZING THE BIBLE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juan Antonio Carmona is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America and a theologian with a concentration in Liberation Theology. He was born and raised in New York City to parents of Puerto Rican background. He has served as a pastor, educator, and prison chaplain.
Dr. Carmona served for two years as a Visiting Scholar/Professor of Theology at the Tainan Theological College and Seminary in Tainan, Taiwan. At the time of this writing, he is serving as Resident Theologian at the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is married to Ruth Ayala-Carmona, a friend from his late teenage years. They have six children.
Dr. Carmona received his B.A. in Comparative Religions from the State University of New York in 1976, his M.Div. from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1978, and his D. Min. in Liberation Theology from the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in 1982.
He has taught in the areas of religion, church history, biblical studies, and theology at various institutions. He also served as a Protestant Chaplain with the New York State Department of Correctional Services for twenty-one years.
DECOLONIZING THE BIBLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About the Author
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Bible as an Historical Piece of Literature
Chapter 2 The Bible as a Document of Faith
Chapter 3 The Bible as Tool of Oppression
Bibliography
Friday, September 13, 2019
The Cuban Diaspora: A Theological Conundrum
This essay focuses on something that is more complex than what we encountered in the previous one of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. While Puerto Rico remains an unincorporated territory of the U.S.A., Cuba is an independent and sovereign republic. It does share, however, a colonial history with the U.S.A., just like Puerto Rico does. However, the historical dynamics of becoming a diasporic community are different. I will briefly cover the relationship between Cuba and the U.S.A., and then point out the difference between that historical relationship and the historical relationship between Puerto Rico and the U.S.A. I will also focus, briefly, albeit, on the socio-economic conditions of the Cuban Diaspora in the U.S.A., and then offering a theological view of the situation.
It is difficult to overstate the importance and impact of the Cuban Revolution on Latin America and the world. After his rebel army toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in January 1959, Fidel Castro and his comrades transformed Cuba from a capitalist ally of the U.S.A. into a fully socialized economy closely linked to and heavily subsidized by the Soviet Union. The Cuban revolutionaries carried out one of the most sweeping land reforms in Latin American history, radically redistributed wealth, providing all Cubans with basic health care, education, and social services, and became an important inspiration and ally in the export of Marxist revolution to other parts of the Americas and the Third World. The Unites States organized a failed attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro in April 1961, and the bitter conflict between the United States and Cuba brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in October of 1962. It is hard to imagine another country of its size (seven million inhabitants in 1960) that has played such a pivotal role in world politics in the last half century (Marshall C. Eakin, The History of Latin America: Collision of Cultures. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007, p.308).
One of the most striking aspects of the Cuban Revolution was the triumph of such a radically anti-Unites States, Marxist revolution in a country so close to the U.S.A. (90 miles off the coast of Florida) and with such a long history of integration into the U.S.A. economy. Observers have often noted that the extreme anti-Americanism of the Cuban regime was a direct result of decades of US cultural, economic, and political domination of this small island nation. The same holds true of the anti-Americanism of the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1979. The strong economic ties between the U.S.A. and Cuba go back to the eighteenth century. The raid expansion of sugar cultivation in the nineteenth century made Cuba the great sugar exporter of the world, and much of that production was controlled by U.S.A investors and corporations. Sugar dominated Cuba, and the U.S.A. dominated Cuban sugar. The sudden and dramatic U.S.A intervention in the Cuban-Spanish War in 1898 temporarily derailed Cuban independence, as the US Army occupied and ran Cuba until 1902. For the next three decades, the US Marines intervened repeatedly to "stabilize" Cuba, and to "protect American lives and property." After 1934, the U.S.A. strongly supported Fulgencio Batista, an army sergeant/stenographer who rose to power and maintained it through the control of the Cuban Army (Ibid,).
Ironically, the Cuban Revolution helped propel forward another fundamental change-this one in the U.S.A. Although Cubans had long moved back and forth between the U.S.A. and Cuba, in the early 1960's, some 250,000 Cubans fled into exile, mainly to south Florida and the New York-New Jersey areas. These exiles were largely white middle and upper-class Cubans who were well educated. They transformed the politics of both regions and created a very powerful political lobby in Washington that has played a role in U.S.A. politics for more than fifty years (as swing votes in more than one state.). In the early 1980's, facing internal and political challenges, Castro allowed another 125,000 Cubans to flee the island, and most again went to south Florida. The so-called Marielitos (named after the Mariel, the key point of departure in Cuba) were largely darker-skinned and less educated than those of the 1960's wave. Their arrival created serious rifts within the Cuban community in the U.S.A. The hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles have also played a prominent role in the growing "Latinamericanization" of U.S.A. culture and society. The bilingual and bicultural Cubans have been incredibly successful in academia, government, and the private sector. One of the great unintended consequences of the Cuban Revolution has been the diversification and enrichment of U.S.A society and culture as the country has become "Hispanicized (Ibid. p. 314).
On November 2, 1966, the U.S.A. Congress adopted the Cuban Adjustment Act, which gives all citizens of Cuba admitted or paroled into the U.S.A. after January 1, 1959, and present in the country for at least one year, the special status of "political refugees," with the right to automatic permanent residence. Under the Cuban Adjustment Act, refugees face none of the restrictions governing immigration to the U.S.A., such as presenting proof of persecution at home, and are virtually guaranteed permanent resettlement in the U.S.A. (unless they are convicted criminals), whether they simply overstate their tourist visas, or arrive anywhere on U.S.A. shores (and not just designated ports of entry) with no documentation at all. The Cuban Adjustment Act has remained in effect to this day, though it has come under challenge at times from those who believe that Cubans should not be afforded special status (Himilce Novas, Everything You Need to Know About Latino History. New York: Penguin Group, 2008, pps. 194-195).
Cuban Americans generally have nothing good to say about the Castro regime (Fidel Castro died in January 2017). They seem him as the dictator who stole their country, forced them into exile, and caused them incalculable suffering and pain. They call him the "tyrant, the devil, the grime ball" and other choice names. As for the U.S.A. sponsored embargo against Cuba, the majority of Cuban Americans are of the conviction that the only strategy for bringing an end to the Castro regime (Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's brother, was the defacto leader of Cuba from 2006 until 2018), and at the same
protecting the international community from potential acts of terrorism (especially bioterrorism, given that Cuba has invested heavily in biotechnology), is a continued economic blockade of the island (Ibid., p. 208).
How does one evaluate the situation of the Cuban Diaspora from a theological standpoint? As previously stated, it is a very complex situation. Latin American Liberation Theology addresses the issues of oppression and suffering generated by colonization, homophobia, imperialism, racism, sexism, and xenophobia.
Cuba, for a long time, was an economic (though not directly political) colony of the U.S.A.. Their economy was controlled by U.S. economic interests, resulting in a wide gap between the "haves" and the "have nots." As a result, there was widespread poverty. Liberation Theology denounces poverty, and calls for a total revamping of the economic structures so that poverty can be eradicated.
The economic and indirect political colonization of Cuba came as a result of U.S.A. imperialistic interests and the quest for hegemony. The concepts of the Monroe Doctrine and "Manifest Destiny" legitimized and sugar-coated this imperialistic venture. Liberation Theology denounces the concept of one country "lording it" over another.
The migration of Cubans to the U.S.A. in 1959 was generated by economic factors. However, it should be noted that the migration that took place, was carried out primarily by those who were members of a privileged socio-economic class who exploited the working class in Cuba. The migration was generated by the redistribution of wealth by the Castro regime. This redistribution promoted expanded benefits for the majority of the population. Liberation Theology denounces the hoarding of the resources by a few who use them for their own benefit at the expense of the many.
The privileged class who migrated was primarily white. They fled a government which was now moving to implement racial equality in Cuba. Liberation Theology denounces people being assigned and confined to social conditions the basis of race.
The more "well to do" Cubans of the Diaspora are the same ones who kept and maintained their fellow black Cubans on the island in a condition of subservience and secondary-class status. In essence, they seek to replicate the same socio-economic conditions which gave them a status of privilege on the island. Liberation Theology denounces the concept of "privilege" and advocates for an promotes the Gospel concept of equality.
En fin, Liberation Theology, in its application to the Latinx Diaspora in the U.S.A. takes on a different twist in the Cuban American community. The Puerto Rican and other Diasporic Latinx communities in the U.S.A. consist primarily of people who came to U.S.A. shores as a result of economic havoc wreaked by U.S.A. foreign policy. Cubans in the Diaspora constitute a community that led a country that gave them and their oligarchies the same country that all along was giving them protection and support.
A genuine Liberation Theology in the Cuban Diaspora would call for a community organizing that would mete out justice to all Cuban Americans and not just a select few. It calls for the Cuban American community to pursue a system in which all can equally participate in "the good of the land."
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dr. Juan A. Carmona
It is difficult to overstate the importance and impact of the Cuban Revolution on Latin America and the world. After his rebel army toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in January 1959, Fidel Castro and his comrades transformed Cuba from a capitalist ally of the U.S.A. into a fully socialized economy closely linked to and heavily subsidized by the Soviet Union. The Cuban revolutionaries carried out one of the most sweeping land reforms in Latin American history, radically redistributed wealth, providing all Cubans with basic health care, education, and social services, and became an important inspiration and ally in the export of Marxist revolution to other parts of the Americas and the Third World. The Unites States organized a failed attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro in April 1961, and the bitter conflict between the United States and Cuba brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in October of 1962. It is hard to imagine another country of its size (seven million inhabitants in 1960) that has played such a pivotal role in world politics in the last half century (Marshall C. Eakin, The History of Latin America: Collision of Cultures. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007, p.308).
One of the most striking aspects of the Cuban Revolution was the triumph of such a radically anti-Unites States, Marxist revolution in a country so close to the U.S.A. (90 miles off the coast of Florida) and with such a long history of integration into the U.S.A. economy. Observers have often noted that the extreme anti-Americanism of the Cuban regime was a direct result of decades of US cultural, economic, and political domination of this small island nation. The same holds true of the anti-Americanism of the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1979. The strong economic ties between the U.S.A. and Cuba go back to the eighteenth century. The raid expansion of sugar cultivation in the nineteenth century made Cuba the great sugar exporter of the world, and much of that production was controlled by U.S.A investors and corporations. Sugar dominated Cuba, and the U.S.A. dominated Cuban sugar. The sudden and dramatic U.S.A intervention in the Cuban-Spanish War in 1898 temporarily derailed Cuban independence, as the US Army occupied and ran Cuba until 1902. For the next three decades, the US Marines intervened repeatedly to "stabilize" Cuba, and to "protect American lives and property." After 1934, the U.S.A. strongly supported Fulgencio Batista, an army sergeant/stenographer who rose to power and maintained it through the control of the Cuban Army (Ibid,).
Ironically, the Cuban Revolution helped propel forward another fundamental change-this one in the U.S.A. Although Cubans had long moved back and forth between the U.S.A. and Cuba, in the early 1960's, some 250,000 Cubans fled into exile, mainly to south Florida and the New York-New Jersey areas. These exiles were largely white middle and upper-class Cubans who were well educated. They transformed the politics of both regions and created a very powerful political lobby in Washington that has played a role in U.S.A. politics for more than fifty years (as swing votes in more than one state.). In the early 1980's, facing internal and political challenges, Castro allowed another 125,000 Cubans to flee the island, and most again went to south Florida. The so-called Marielitos (named after the Mariel, the key point of departure in Cuba) were largely darker-skinned and less educated than those of the 1960's wave. Their arrival created serious rifts within the Cuban community in the U.S.A. The hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles have also played a prominent role in the growing "Latinamericanization" of U.S.A. culture and society. The bilingual and bicultural Cubans have been incredibly successful in academia, government, and the private sector. One of the great unintended consequences of the Cuban Revolution has been the diversification and enrichment of U.S.A society and culture as the country has become "Hispanicized (Ibid. p. 314).
On November 2, 1966, the U.S.A. Congress adopted the Cuban Adjustment Act, which gives all citizens of Cuba admitted or paroled into the U.S.A. after January 1, 1959, and present in the country for at least one year, the special status of "political refugees," with the right to automatic permanent residence. Under the Cuban Adjustment Act, refugees face none of the restrictions governing immigration to the U.S.A., such as presenting proof of persecution at home, and are virtually guaranteed permanent resettlement in the U.S.A. (unless they are convicted criminals), whether they simply overstate their tourist visas, or arrive anywhere on U.S.A. shores (and not just designated ports of entry) with no documentation at all. The Cuban Adjustment Act has remained in effect to this day, though it has come under challenge at times from those who believe that Cubans should not be afforded special status (Himilce Novas, Everything You Need to Know About Latino History. New York: Penguin Group, 2008, pps. 194-195).
Cuban Americans generally have nothing good to say about the Castro regime (Fidel Castro died in January 2017). They seem him as the dictator who stole their country, forced them into exile, and caused them incalculable suffering and pain. They call him the "tyrant, the devil, the grime ball" and other choice names. As for the U.S.A. sponsored embargo against Cuba, the majority of Cuban Americans are of the conviction that the only strategy for bringing an end to the Castro regime (Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's brother, was the defacto leader of Cuba from 2006 until 2018), and at the same
protecting the international community from potential acts of terrorism (especially bioterrorism, given that Cuba has invested heavily in biotechnology), is a continued economic blockade of the island (Ibid., p. 208).
How does one evaluate the situation of the Cuban Diaspora from a theological standpoint? As previously stated, it is a very complex situation. Latin American Liberation Theology addresses the issues of oppression and suffering generated by colonization, homophobia, imperialism, racism, sexism, and xenophobia.
Cuba, for a long time, was an economic (though not directly political) colony of the U.S.A.. Their economy was controlled by U.S. economic interests, resulting in a wide gap between the "haves" and the "have nots." As a result, there was widespread poverty. Liberation Theology denounces poverty, and calls for a total revamping of the economic structures so that poverty can be eradicated.
The economic and indirect political colonization of Cuba came as a result of U.S.A. imperialistic interests and the quest for hegemony. The concepts of the Monroe Doctrine and "Manifest Destiny" legitimized and sugar-coated this imperialistic venture. Liberation Theology denounces the concept of one country "lording it" over another.
The migration of Cubans to the U.S.A. in 1959 was generated by economic factors. However, it should be noted that the migration that took place, was carried out primarily by those who were members of a privileged socio-economic class who exploited the working class in Cuba. The migration was generated by the redistribution of wealth by the Castro regime. This redistribution promoted expanded benefits for the majority of the population. Liberation Theology denounces the hoarding of the resources by a few who use them for their own benefit at the expense of the many.
The privileged class who migrated was primarily white. They fled a government which was now moving to implement racial equality in Cuba. Liberation Theology denounces people being assigned and confined to social conditions the basis of race.
The more "well to do" Cubans of the Diaspora are the same ones who kept and maintained their fellow black Cubans on the island in a condition of subservience and secondary-class status. In essence, they seek to replicate the same socio-economic conditions which gave them a status of privilege on the island. Liberation Theology denounces the concept of "privilege" and advocates for an promotes the Gospel concept of equality.
En fin, Liberation Theology, in its application to the Latinx Diaspora in the U.S.A. takes on a different twist in the Cuban American community. The Puerto Rican and other Diasporic Latinx communities in the U.S.A. consist primarily of people who came to U.S.A. shores as a result of economic havoc wreaked by U.S.A. foreign policy. Cubans in the Diaspora constitute a community that led a country that gave them and their oligarchies the same country that all along was giving them protection and support.
A genuine Liberation Theology in the Cuban Diaspora would call for a community organizing that would mete out justice to all Cuban Americans and not just a select few. It calls for the Cuban American community to pursue a system in which all can equally participate in "the good of the land."
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dr. Juan A. Carmona
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Theology from a Puerto Rican Diasporic Standpoint
In this essay, I will be dealing with a very complex situation. This essay focuses on the Puerto Rican community in the U.S.A., otherwise known as the "Puerto Rican Diaspora." This community has both differences and similarities with other Hispanic (Latinx) communities in the Diaspora of the U.S.A. The basic similarities are ones of colonial history, language, religion, and second-class treatment as citizens and residents of the U.S.A. Puerto Ricans are U.S.A. citizens by both imperialistic imposition and by birth.
In order to address the issues of theological relevance to the Puerto Rican community in the Diaspora, one must first take into account their colonial history and how that history, in turn, generated migration to the U.S.A. In addition, one must consider and evaluate the economic, political, and social condition of Puerto Ricans living in the U.S.A. The role of religion also plays a part in making a theological assessment of the Puerto Rican community in the Diaspora.
Puerto Rico has a peculiar status among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. As one of Spain's last two colonies in the New World (along with Cuba), Puerto Rico experienced the longest period of Hispanic influence in the region. On July 25, 1898, U.S. troops invaded the Island during the Spanish-American War. In 1901, the U.S. Supreme Court defined Puerto Rico as "foreign to the United States in domestic sense," because it is neither a state of the union nor a sovereign republic. In 1917, Congress imposed citizenship to all persons born in Puerto Rico, but did not incorporate the island as a territory. Until now, Puerto Rico has remained a colonial dependency, even though it attained a limited form of self-government as a Commonwealth in 1952 (Jorge Duany, Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island and in the United States. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002, p. 1).
As an overseas possession of the United States, the Island has been exposed to an intense penetration of American capital, commodities, laws, and customs unequaled in other Latin American countries. Yet today, Puerto Ricans display a stronger cultural identity than most Caribbean people, even those whose who enjoy political independence. In the early part of the twenty-first century, Puerto Rico presents the apparent paradox of a stateless union that has not assimilated into the American mainstream. After more than one hundred years of U.S. colonialism, the Island remains a Spanish-speaking Afro-Hispanic Caribbean nation. Today, the Island's electorate is almost evenly spit between supporting Commonwealth status and becoming the fifty-first state of the union. Only a small minority advocates independence (Ibid., p. 2).
Recent studies of Puerto Rican cultural politics have focused on the demise of Puerto Rican nationalism on the Island, the rise of cultural nationalism, and the enduring significance of migration between the Island and the U.S. mainland. Although few scholars, have posited an explicit connection among these phenomena, they are intimately linked. For instance, most Puerto Ricans value their U.S. citizenship and the freedom of movement that it offers, especially unrestricted access to the continental U.S. But as Puerto Ricans move back and forth between the two countries, territorially grounded definitions of national identity become less relevant, while transnational identities acquire greater prominence. Constant movement is an increasingly common practice among Puerto Ricans on the Island and the mainland. We can raise questions of Puerto Rican identity, articulation, and definition. Reconsidering the Puerto Rican situation can add much to scholarly discussion on colonialism, nationalism, and transnationalism (Ibid.).
The original name of the Island of Puerto Rico was Boriquen (some pronounce it Borinquen). It means "land of the brave lord." It was the name given to the Island by its original inhabitants, the Taino, who were a subgroup of the Arawak, the collective name of the indigenous people inhabiting the West Indies (the islands in the Caribbean Sea, which are divided into the Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles, and the Bahamas). The Taino, a seafaring people, inhabited not just Puerto Rico, but also the other islands of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica), as well as the Bahamas and some islands of the Lesser Antilles (an island group to the east and south of Puerto Rico). In actuality, the native peoples of Puerto Rico did not call themselves "Taino" before the Spanish conquest of the America. Christopher Columbus christened this subgroup of Arawak indigenous people "Taino" meaning "peace," because it was the first word they uttered when they laid eyes on the conquistador (Himilce Novas, Everything You Need to Know About Latino History. New York: Penguin Group, 2008. p. 130).
Since all Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens-no matter if they dwell in San Juan or San Francisco-and are not foreigners, they can travel freely back and forth between the island and the mainland United States without passports or visas. In other words, their movement constitutes the internal migration of Americans, not immigration. Confusion abounds in mainstream society about Puerto Rican citizenship status. Most Puerto Rican mainlanders have a story or two to tell about the time they were asked to give their green card or about Puerto Rico's currency, or Puerto Rico's president. Some may even raise questions about the issue of "illegal" Puerto Rican immigrants in America (Ibid., p. 155).
Puerto Ricans first came to the United States in the 1860's. After Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States at the end of the Spanish-American War, more Puerto Ricans began making their way to the United States, and after 1917, when they were given U.S. citizenship, to the U.S. mainland-to settle or to sojourn, an experience fraught with risks, uncertainty, and obstacles, including a language barrier, poverty, social isolation, and overt discrimination. In the early days, the majority went to Florida and New York to labor in cigar-making shops. Forty percent of those who arrived between 1890 and 1910 eventually returned to Puerto Rico (Ibid.).
The first great wave of migration from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States took place in the aftermath of World War II and lasted until 1967. The reasons were many, but they essentially boiled down to one issue: economics. During World War II, about one hundred thousand Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. armed forces. Military life exposed these islanders to the "superior quality" of life on the mainland, fueling their desire to move north. In addition, Puerto Rico's population doubled in size to two million during the first quarter of the twentieth century, and continued to grow at a rapid pace due to improvement in medical services. With so many more people on the island, the standard of living did not rise substantially and the unemployment rate soared. By contrast, jobs on the mainland were plentiful. New York City was a major destination for Puerto Rican workers who found low-paying, labor intensive jobs in the manufacturing sector-which eagerly hired unskilled and semi-skilled workers-making apparel, shoes, toys, novelties, and electrical goods, and assembling furniture and mattresses. They also went to work in the food and hotel industries, the meatpacking and baking industries, distribution, laundry service, and domestic service. About half of these were women (Ibid.).
Since 1967, islanders have settled on the mainland in spurts, depending on the health of the U.S. economy and mainland job market. Those who went to New York City in the 1960's, generally wound up in manufacturing, even though this sector had already began as a gradual decline as early as the 1950's. Then in the 1970's, New York City was gripped by a major fiscal crisis as businesses packed up and headed south and overseas in search of low-wage non-union labor. This shrinking of the manufacturing sector had a devastating impact on New York City's Puerto Ricans, who generally did not have the formal education needed to fill the white-collar jobs that were opening in the city's growing service sector (Ibid.,, 156).
Puerto Ricans have historically been amongst the most socially and economically disadvantaged of all Hispanics. In 1998, for instance, a full 30.9 percent of mainland Puerto Ricans lived in poverty, and 43.5 of Puerto Rican children were below the poverty line, and in 2000, approximately 40 percent of New York City's Puerto Ricans had slipped to or below the poverty lines. The depressed economic status mainland Puerto Ricans has been attributed to a number of phenomena, such as the disproportionate number of poor Puerto Rican migrants settling stateside as compared to immigrant groups, owing to the fact that :Puerto Ricans' citizenship removes all obstacles to entering the mainland United States. Low levels of educational attainment, limited jobs skills, disease disparities (including a high incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression), and drug abuse have also been frequently cited as reasons for the economically underprivileged class of Puerto Ricans on the mainland. Some social observers have suggested that the culprits underlying all these social circumstances are rampant ethnic and racial discrimination, the language barrier, and the process of transculturation, of straddling two cultures and two languages, which is commonly accompanied by a disorienting sense of being neither "here nor there" (Ibid. p. 157).
However, it is also important to point out that the socio-economic status of mainland Puerto Ricans is advancing at a steady pace. Large numbers of mainland Puerto Ricans hold professional, managerial, technical, and administrative support jobs, which are part cornerstones of economic well-being. Interestingly, Puerto Rican mainlanders who live outside the Northeast, have shown better socio-economic outcomes than their counterparts in the Northeast, owing to their human capital and labor market characteristics (Ibid., p. 158).
What would a model theology look line for the Puerto Rican Diaspora? This is a very difficult question to answer, in that, religious practices among Puerto Rican-Americans vary from one community to another. Furthermore, there appear to be some points of similarity among the different communities. For example, the worship practices in Puerto Rican Pentecostal communities are similar to those of Santeria and Espiritismo (Spiritualism). Spiritualism, which has a strong focus on communicating with the spirits of the dead) is a practice that dates back to biblical times. We find in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) divine prohibitions of this practice. Yahweh, the God of Israel, commands the death penalty for those engaged in this practice.
Santeria has its roots in African spirituality. It emphasizes the veneration of the ancestors, some of whom are considered to be "saints" or as is said in Spanish "santos" from which the word Santeria comes. The major similarities between Pentecostalism and these other two forms of spirituality are the emphasis on individuals being possessed by external forces or spirits, and also speaking in other languages (tongues) other than the vernacular as a means of conveying the divine messages. In all these three faith groups, possession by external forces leads to manifestations such as dancing and trances. Pentecostal Christians will tend to get offended at this comparison, because they believe that these occurrences in their communities stem from a moving of the Holy Spirit, whereas, in the other two communities, they are considered to be prompted by demonic or diabolical spirits. The book "Masked Africanisms" by Dr. Samuel Cruz, a Professor of Religion and Society at Union Theological Seminary in New York, is a very good resource for information the link between Pentecostalism and the other two faith groups.
Liberation Theology is relevant to the Puerto Rican community in the Diaspora of the U.S.A. As in Latin America, and other parts of the so-called "Third World, Liberation Theology addresses the issues of socio-economic and political alienation and marginalization. "Essays from the Margins," written by Dr. Luis Rivera-Pagan, Professor Emeritus of Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary, provides much helpful insight in this regard. The Puerto Rican community in the Diaspora suffers from the historical legacy of colonialism, imperialism, discrimination, and second-class treatment in the U.S.A. How then, we ask, does Liberation Theology address the situation of the Puerto Rican Diaspora? I humbly submit the following:
1. As I have emphasized in previous essays, Liberation Theology emphasizes that theology should emerge from the "bottom up," and not from the "top down." In other words, theology should emerge from those who are alienated, marginalized, and powerless, not from those who are in positions of authority and power. Since the Puerto Rican community the Diaspora is a subjugated and marginalized group, their theological mindset and perspective must emerge from their experiential and existential reality, and not from the dictates of Western theological hegemony.
2. Those who are in a condition of powerlessness and subjugation are in a privileged position to receive and understand God's revelatory acts in history. This means, then, that Puerto Ricans in the Diaspora, together with all oppressed people, have been "chosen" to be not only the recipients, but also the conveyor belts transmitting God's salvific acts. It is through the Puerto Rican Diaspora and other oppressed groups and nations, that God's liberating acts are mediated.
3. Oppression and suffering are the starting points for biblical interpretation and theological reflection. The Puerto Rican community has to understand the message of Scripture in the light of its experience as a colonized and suffering people.
Although Liberation Theology, in the modern sense of the word, emerged within a Christian context, it offers a message of hope for the Puerto Rican Diaspora, regardless of the variety of religious practices within our community. It does not seek to demonize any particular religious expression, but rather to identify the liberating elements in all religious traditions, and to establish ties of solidarity with all those individuals and social movements whose goal is to dismantle structures of injustice and work for the construction of the Beloved Community. Our Puerto Rican sisters and brothers in the Diaspora, as descendants of our colonized parents, and as a people who have been treated as second-class citizens in the U.S.A., have in Liberation Theology, the call and the hope for a society of full equality, justice, and peace.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Dr. Juan A. Carmona
In order to address the issues of theological relevance to the Puerto Rican community in the Diaspora, one must first take into account their colonial history and how that history, in turn, generated migration to the U.S.A. In addition, one must consider and evaluate the economic, political, and social condition of Puerto Ricans living in the U.S.A. The role of religion also plays a part in making a theological assessment of the Puerto Rican community in the Diaspora.
Puerto Rico has a peculiar status among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. As one of Spain's last two colonies in the New World (along with Cuba), Puerto Rico experienced the longest period of Hispanic influence in the region. On July 25, 1898, U.S. troops invaded the Island during the Spanish-American War. In 1901, the U.S. Supreme Court defined Puerto Rico as "foreign to the United States in domestic sense," because it is neither a state of the union nor a sovereign republic. In 1917, Congress imposed citizenship to all persons born in Puerto Rico, but did not incorporate the island as a territory. Until now, Puerto Rico has remained a colonial dependency, even though it attained a limited form of self-government as a Commonwealth in 1952 (Jorge Duany, Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island and in the United States. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002, p. 1).
As an overseas possession of the United States, the Island has been exposed to an intense penetration of American capital, commodities, laws, and customs unequaled in other Latin American countries. Yet today, Puerto Ricans display a stronger cultural identity than most Caribbean people, even those whose who enjoy political independence. In the early part of the twenty-first century, Puerto Rico presents the apparent paradox of a stateless union that has not assimilated into the American mainstream. After more than one hundred years of U.S. colonialism, the Island remains a Spanish-speaking Afro-Hispanic Caribbean nation. Today, the Island's electorate is almost evenly spit between supporting Commonwealth status and becoming the fifty-first state of the union. Only a small minority advocates independence (Ibid., p. 2).
Recent studies of Puerto Rican cultural politics have focused on the demise of Puerto Rican nationalism on the Island, the rise of cultural nationalism, and the enduring significance of migration between the Island and the U.S. mainland. Although few scholars, have posited an explicit connection among these phenomena, they are intimately linked. For instance, most Puerto Ricans value their U.S. citizenship and the freedom of movement that it offers, especially unrestricted access to the continental U.S. But as Puerto Ricans move back and forth between the two countries, territorially grounded definitions of national identity become less relevant, while transnational identities acquire greater prominence. Constant movement is an increasingly common practice among Puerto Ricans on the Island and the mainland. We can raise questions of Puerto Rican identity, articulation, and definition. Reconsidering the Puerto Rican situation can add much to scholarly discussion on colonialism, nationalism, and transnationalism (Ibid.).
The original name of the Island of Puerto Rico was Boriquen (some pronounce it Borinquen). It means "land of the brave lord." It was the name given to the Island by its original inhabitants, the Taino, who were a subgroup of the Arawak, the collective name of the indigenous people inhabiting the West Indies (the islands in the Caribbean Sea, which are divided into the Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles, and the Bahamas). The Taino, a seafaring people, inhabited not just Puerto Rico, but also the other islands of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica), as well as the Bahamas and some islands of the Lesser Antilles (an island group to the east and south of Puerto Rico). In actuality, the native peoples of Puerto Rico did not call themselves "Taino" before the Spanish conquest of the America. Christopher Columbus christened this subgroup of Arawak indigenous people "Taino" meaning "peace," because it was the first word they uttered when they laid eyes on the conquistador (Himilce Novas, Everything You Need to Know About Latino History. New York: Penguin Group, 2008. p. 130).
Since all Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens-no matter if they dwell in San Juan or San Francisco-and are not foreigners, they can travel freely back and forth between the island and the mainland United States without passports or visas. In other words, their movement constitutes the internal migration of Americans, not immigration. Confusion abounds in mainstream society about Puerto Rican citizenship status. Most Puerto Rican mainlanders have a story or two to tell about the time they were asked to give their green card or about Puerto Rico's currency, or Puerto Rico's president. Some may even raise questions about the issue of "illegal" Puerto Rican immigrants in America (Ibid., p. 155).
Puerto Ricans first came to the United States in the 1860's. After Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States at the end of the Spanish-American War, more Puerto Ricans began making their way to the United States, and after 1917, when they were given U.S. citizenship, to the U.S. mainland-to settle or to sojourn, an experience fraught with risks, uncertainty, and obstacles, including a language barrier, poverty, social isolation, and overt discrimination. In the early days, the majority went to Florida and New York to labor in cigar-making shops. Forty percent of those who arrived between 1890 and 1910 eventually returned to Puerto Rico (Ibid.).
The first great wave of migration from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States took place in the aftermath of World War II and lasted until 1967. The reasons were many, but they essentially boiled down to one issue: economics. During World War II, about one hundred thousand Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. armed forces. Military life exposed these islanders to the "superior quality" of life on the mainland, fueling their desire to move north. In addition, Puerto Rico's population doubled in size to two million during the first quarter of the twentieth century, and continued to grow at a rapid pace due to improvement in medical services. With so many more people on the island, the standard of living did not rise substantially and the unemployment rate soared. By contrast, jobs on the mainland were plentiful. New York City was a major destination for Puerto Rican workers who found low-paying, labor intensive jobs in the manufacturing sector-which eagerly hired unskilled and semi-skilled workers-making apparel, shoes, toys, novelties, and electrical goods, and assembling furniture and mattresses. They also went to work in the food and hotel industries, the meatpacking and baking industries, distribution, laundry service, and domestic service. About half of these were women (Ibid.).
Since 1967, islanders have settled on the mainland in spurts, depending on the health of the U.S. economy and mainland job market. Those who went to New York City in the 1960's, generally wound up in manufacturing, even though this sector had already began as a gradual decline as early as the 1950's. Then in the 1970's, New York City was gripped by a major fiscal crisis as businesses packed up and headed south and overseas in search of low-wage non-union labor. This shrinking of the manufacturing sector had a devastating impact on New York City's Puerto Ricans, who generally did not have the formal education needed to fill the white-collar jobs that were opening in the city's growing service sector (Ibid.,, 156).
Puerto Ricans have historically been amongst the most socially and economically disadvantaged of all Hispanics. In 1998, for instance, a full 30.9 percent of mainland Puerto Ricans lived in poverty, and 43.5 of Puerto Rican children were below the poverty line, and in 2000, approximately 40 percent of New York City's Puerto Ricans had slipped to or below the poverty lines. The depressed economic status mainland Puerto Ricans has been attributed to a number of phenomena, such as the disproportionate number of poor Puerto Rican migrants settling stateside as compared to immigrant groups, owing to the fact that :Puerto Ricans' citizenship removes all obstacles to entering the mainland United States. Low levels of educational attainment, limited jobs skills, disease disparities (including a high incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression), and drug abuse have also been frequently cited as reasons for the economically underprivileged class of Puerto Ricans on the mainland. Some social observers have suggested that the culprits underlying all these social circumstances are rampant ethnic and racial discrimination, the language barrier, and the process of transculturation, of straddling two cultures and two languages, which is commonly accompanied by a disorienting sense of being neither "here nor there" (Ibid. p. 157).
However, it is also important to point out that the socio-economic status of mainland Puerto Ricans is advancing at a steady pace. Large numbers of mainland Puerto Ricans hold professional, managerial, technical, and administrative support jobs, which are part cornerstones of economic well-being. Interestingly, Puerto Rican mainlanders who live outside the Northeast, have shown better socio-economic outcomes than their counterparts in the Northeast, owing to their human capital and labor market characteristics (Ibid., p. 158).
What would a model theology look line for the Puerto Rican Diaspora? This is a very difficult question to answer, in that, religious practices among Puerto Rican-Americans vary from one community to another. Furthermore, there appear to be some points of similarity among the different communities. For example, the worship practices in Puerto Rican Pentecostal communities are similar to those of Santeria and Espiritismo (Spiritualism). Spiritualism, which has a strong focus on communicating with the spirits of the dead) is a practice that dates back to biblical times. We find in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) divine prohibitions of this practice. Yahweh, the God of Israel, commands the death penalty for those engaged in this practice.
Santeria has its roots in African spirituality. It emphasizes the veneration of the ancestors, some of whom are considered to be "saints" or as is said in Spanish "santos" from which the word Santeria comes. The major similarities between Pentecostalism and these other two forms of spirituality are the emphasis on individuals being possessed by external forces or spirits, and also speaking in other languages (tongues) other than the vernacular as a means of conveying the divine messages. In all these three faith groups, possession by external forces leads to manifestations such as dancing and trances. Pentecostal Christians will tend to get offended at this comparison, because they believe that these occurrences in their communities stem from a moving of the Holy Spirit, whereas, in the other two communities, they are considered to be prompted by demonic or diabolical spirits. The book "Masked Africanisms" by Dr. Samuel Cruz, a Professor of Religion and Society at Union Theological Seminary in New York, is a very good resource for information the link between Pentecostalism and the other two faith groups.
Liberation Theology is relevant to the Puerto Rican community in the Diaspora of the U.S.A. As in Latin America, and other parts of the so-called "Third World, Liberation Theology addresses the issues of socio-economic and political alienation and marginalization. "Essays from the Margins," written by Dr. Luis Rivera-Pagan, Professor Emeritus of Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary, provides much helpful insight in this regard. The Puerto Rican community in the Diaspora suffers from the historical legacy of colonialism, imperialism, discrimination, and second-class treatment in the U.S.A. How then, we ask, does Liberation Theology address the situation of the Puerto Rican Diaspora? I humbly submit the following:
1. As I have emphasized in previous essays, Liberation Theology emphasizes that theology should emerge from the "bottom up," and not from the "top down." In other words, theology should emerge from those who are alienated, marginalized, and powerless, not from those who are in positions of authority and power. Since the Puerto Rican community the Diaspora is a subjugated and marginalized group, their theological mindset and perspective must emerge from their experiential and existential reality, and not from the dictates of Western theological hegemony.
2. Those who are in a condition of powerlessness and subjugation are in a privileged position to receive and understand God's revelatory acts in history. This means, then, that Puerto Ricans in the Diaspora, together with all oppressed people, have been "chosen" to be not only the recipients, but also the conveyor belts transmitting God's salvific acts. It is through the Puerto Rican Diaspora and other oppressed groups and nations, that God's liberating acts are mediated.
3. Oppression and suffering are the starting points for biblical interpretation and theological reflection. The Puerto Rican community has to understand the message of Scripture in the light of its experience as a colonized and suffering people.
Although Liberation Theology, in the modern sense of the word, emerged within a Christian context, it offers a message of hope for the Puerto Rican Diaspora, regardless of the variety of religious practices within our community. It does not seek to demonize any particular religious expression, but rather to identify the liberating elements in all religious traditions, and to establish ties of solidarity with all those individuals and social movements whose goal is to dismantle structures of injustice and work for the construction of the Beloved Community. Our Puerto Rican sisters and brothers in the Diaspora, as descendants of our colonized parents, and as a people who have been treated as second-class citizens in the U.S.A., have in Liberation Theology, the call and the hope for a society of full equality, justice, and peace.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Dr. Juan A. Carmona
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