Liberationist approaches

• Why do the Church engage in social action?

  Biblical stories such as the Parable of the Sheep and Goats. Influenced by Jesus' actions eg his command to love thy neighbour. Other parables such as the Good Samaritan and the Rich Man and Lazarus
• What are ragged schools?

  Name given to 19th century charity schools which helped to educate the poor and gain skills
• Who was Keir Hardie?

  A Christian preacher and 1st member of parliament for the newly formed Labour Party
• Who were the Tolpuddle martyrs?

  A group of labourers / farmers who were charged with having taken an illegal oath. The real reason was that they had formed a trade union to protest for a higher wage. They were sentenced to seven years transportation in Australia
• What did Latin American theologians argue?

  Following the example of Jesus, Christians should act in secular society on behalf of the poor and oppressed. For example, trade unions and political parties or even revolutionary movements
• Brief history of Latin America and how the liberation movement grew

  - poverty in Latin America became endemic

  - Latin America not supported after WWII by the US despite Europe and Japan getting supported

  - resources drained from South America; imposed poverty. To support more rich in the USA

  - lack of money for the poor led to the rise of dictators and the oppression of Latin American people
• What is the liberation theology?

  a movement in Christian theology, developed mainly by Latin American Roman Catholics, that emphasizes liberation from poverty and the forces that oppress them
• What does preferential option for the poor mean?

  Christianity has a preference for marginalised groups
• What did Jesus focus his mission on?

  Helping those on the outskirts; the oppressed. Started with the poor rather than the rich
• Who was Oscar Romero and what did he do?

  Archbishop of San Salvador. He saw the struggles and repression the farmers faced at home and this opened his eyes. Over the next three years it got worse with electoral fraud and peaceful protests met with massacres. Romero supported the poor; he became their voice. He was vilified in the press and attacked and harassed. In 1980 he was assassinated
• How did Gustavo Gutierrez start the liberation theology?

  With his work. He examined our concept of God and the scriptures within Latin America with the reality of poverty and injustice
• What three things did Gutierrez remind us of?

  1. God's preferential love for the poor and our own need to side with the poor and oppressed in their struggle for justice

  2. Poverty is not the result of fate or laziness but due to structural injustices that privilege some while marginalising others

  3. Poverty is a complex reality and is not limited to its economic dimension. There are social factors too; eg early and unjust death or to be seen as insignificant in society
• Has the Church successfully challenged secularisation? Yes

  - McGrath responds to Dawkins

  - Rise of selfishness linked to material possessions is countered with Christian ideals of sharing, supporting one another and giving to society

  - Christian Church has responded with new ways of being Church. Fresh expressions and house church movement

  - Queen is still head of state and supreme leader of the Church

  - Liberation theology has been a good response to the poor
• Has the Church successfully challenged secularisation? No

  - Rise of atheism continues and church attendance has declined

  - Dawkins counters McGrath

  - The growth of materialism has shown that Christian ideas are not listened to

  - Prosperity gospel demonstrates Church has no coherent response to money and materialism