Liberating theology
* Philippines Progressive Christians are a fundamental component of progressive forces in the Philippines. Our staff writer Jean Dupont spoke to Filipino Marxists who have been rethinking their approach to "Church people"
ideological resources - theology, spirituality, liturgy, signs and symbols, political influence, missionary work and charity, religion plays a role in shaping the hearts and minds of people. It can be an opium of the people, or a catalyst pushing people towards revolutionary involvement. It has both domesticating/
This line of thinking links Christian faith with active involvement in human realities, including the socio-political and economic dimensions.
Church people who subscribe to this theology find motivation in their Christian faith to work for the eradication of unjust social structures, and for the
STUDENT: JOSEPH ESTRAD The catholic church is dominated by reactionary and reformist forces. But there is no region of the country (or world) where the church hierarchy has completely suppressed the Christian tradition of participation in movements
Early Christianity was a movement of the disinherited masses.' Its vision, mission and goall was the total transformation of individuals and society. A kind of utopian socialism. It suffered persecution and martyrdom.?
Its subsequent history has been marked by historical and theological revisionism. It became married to the socio-economic order, and its hierarchy strove to give dogmatic and ideological support to the dominate elite. This was true in slave-owning societies like the late Roman empire, right through to the conquest of the Philippines by Spanish, then US colonisers.
The paradox is that, throughout this "Babylonian captivity" of the church by the ruling classes, progressive and revolutionary elements kept the fire of revolution aflame. Some took the side of the oppressed from within the church, some left the established church in order to do so. Europe had Jan Hus and Tomas Munzer. The Philippines had Hermano Pule's lay Christian peasant movement. During the 1896 revolution against Spain, Aglipay and many other priests
Under the Marcos dictatorship, there was a massive progressive movement among lay Christians, nuns and priests. A movement which would have been even more massive and influential if the MaoStalinist Communist Party had not used its massive influence to tie the progressive Christian movement to its dead-end National Democratic line.
The Christian church is too impregnated with reaction to return en bloc to its original, revolutionary path. But the efforts and heritage of the revolutionary element within the church cannot be allowed to go to waste. It must be sustained and reinforced.
Religion is part of the cultural dynamic of society. Throughout its cultural14 International Viewpoint #308 February 1999
PREC mystifying aspects and liberation/trans-
This gives the clergy, and church workers, a "captive audience." In addition, churches are institutions of influence within their specific communities. Where the local leaders are progressive, the churches can be a source of inspiration and a support mechanism for the popular and revolutionary movements. Liberation theology
Liberation theology is based on the concept of the People of God who, like the ancient people of Israel, are seeking to liberate themselves from the modern Pharaoh (emperor) - from the oppressive and exploitative structures of bourgeois society, which structures prevent them from attaining total human development.
The South American theologian Gustavo Gutierrez elaborated the basic ideas of liberation theology. He wrote at a time when national liberation movements were vigorously mounted against the US-supported dictatorial regimes in the more backward countries of the
Liberation theology entails solidarity with the poor, deprived and oppressed sectors of society on the part of Church people. It calls for serving the people and loving the neighbour.
CULTURE radical transformation of society.
In several Latin American countries, liberation theology gradually became identified with revolutionary armed struggle and political activities. Activists cited documents of the Catholic Church which make revolutionary uprising a legitimate option under conditions "where there is manifest, long-standing tyranny which would do great damage to fundamental human rights and dangerous harm to the common good of the country... " 3 Vatican opposition
The Vatican has taken a strong stand against the involvement of church people in active politics, particularly in national liberation movements. The Catholic hierarchy continues to downgrade and oppose liberation theology and any supposedly Marxist-inspired thinking
Indeed, the hierarchy of the Christian churches have used their influence to discourage Marxist revolutionary activity, discriminating against atheists and communists. Bishops and church leaders have used the Christian religion to blunt the sharp edge of the class struggle of the proletariat.
Their hatred for liberation theology is not surprising. They recognise its potential for raising the consciousness and
The Church challenge
Modest guidelines for a Communist organisation wanting to intervene in the church sector... Ideology
• A more systematic education campaign among church people. As in other sectors, the party must move away from its blinkered application of Mao Zedung Thought towards a more creative, pluralist Marxism. Instead of a fixation on the Chinese experience, all revolutionary paradigms and experiences should be examined and used pedagogically. And education work must receive the proper priority, rather than being constantly neglected in the name of short-term campaigns.
• An ongoing discussion of faith and ideology. These are distinct disciplines, not necessarily contradictory. The Maoists are wrong to see faith, theology, spirituality, the missionary vocation, liturgy and symbolism as ideological resources of the church. They are resources of faith, which is not just another kind of ideology. Both faith and ideology can be motivating factors for revolutionary political involvement.
The aim of such dialogues is not to convert one or the other, but to find complementarities, in order to further enhance revolutionary work.
• This means that the party must adopt a relational/interdisciplinary approach to education and social analysis. Various fields of knowledge must be combined. Disciplines of knowledge provide, at best, tentative conclusions, which must be used comparatively and syntheti-
• The party must encourage ideological, theological intellectual fermentation among comrades, and facilitate the development of an organic grouping of activist intellectuals to take this work forward
• The party should encourage, facilitate and initiate various forms of sectoral organisations within the church. Progressive Christian movements can build broad coalitions on a range of popular issues and
• These sectoral organisations should embark on creative forms of struggle, maximising the "arsenal" of church practices, liturgy, signs and symbols.
• Progressive Christian movements should be a machinery for the open and honest propagation and promotion of the proletarian socialist agenda in the church.
• Within the institutions, it may sometimes be important to struggle for influence or domination of leadership bodies in those institutions which have elections and lobbying for strategic positions in
But capturing leadership is of little use if those elected become bureaucratised, or find themselves unsure and unguided. This utilitarian approach to "capturing" positions in the church institutions was a major failing of the approach of those influenced by the Communist Party of the Philippines.
As in other areas of life, the Stalinist-Maoist concept of proletarian leadership through the Party was typified by infiltration, capturing leadership positions in broader movements. This rests on the fundamental - wrong - assumption that no institution can serve the people unless it is tightly controlled by the party leadership.
The party wasted its efforts, deploying large numbers of comrades and cadre to win positions in the church, but without a strategy for using those positions won.
And in any case, positions in leadership bodies do not guarantee that the movement can be controlled. It is more important to have an influence at the grass roots, and to put pressure on the leadership from
The institutional struggle will be less important in the coming period Instead, party members in the church sector should concentrate on education, organising and mobilising. More cadre and comrades in proletarian communities should take part in this work.
Rather than church institutions and leadership bodies, the party should deploy its cadre towards parishes and local churches which are directly part of communities where revolutionary work may be
Where institutional struggle is absolutely necessary, such as when the base of the church demand the removal of a particularly reactionary leadership, then the party can throw its weight into the struggle. But it is not necessary to pit cadre against these incumbents. There is a much wider pool of people with both the leadership skills and the basic pro-people orientations.
• It is, however, important to maintain control or influence over strategic programmes in areas like education, poverty relief and welfare. A minimum goal in education work is to maximise the populist, rather than conservative wing of the church. A maximum goal would be to build the proletarian and socialist currents within the church people. Poverty and welfare prog rammes should be freed from corruption, and contribute to the empowerment of the proletarian
• It is also important to create new institutions and leadership bodies to open up opportunities and serve the interests of the proleGlobal links
Like the proletariat, the Christian churches transcend borders. Catholics have the Vatican, mainline Protestants have the World Council of Churches, and the smaller groups have their own global networks.
This translates into a vast network influence over countries and related international political and policymaking institutions like the United
Revolutionary socialists need to exert a creative pressure on the church milieu, and harness these
But international solidarity links not be confined to the search for much-needed funds. More important is the contribution such links should make to socialist education and organising in other countries, to help revive and strengthen the international socialist movement. The begging-bowl mentality is as dangerous as nationalism in this regard. And a word of warning...
The party may find it useful to institute a Marxist-Christian dialogue on ideology and faith. But revolutionary parties should avoid arguments on the question of religious belief, or faith in God, some kind of energy, power, or higher force.
Faith is a very personal matter, and any artificial strife merely serves the bourgeoisie in splitting proletarian solidarity, and diverting the party's attention from the more pressing and urgent problems in economic and political life. [JD] * These recommendations are a basis for discussion among Filipino revolutionary Marxists, and do not represent an "official" editorial position or recommendation.
International Viewpoint #308 February 1999 15
* Philippines politicising church people. Certainly in the Philippines, many church people and foreign clergymen who have embraced liberation theology have proved open to Marxist literature and ideas. Many have moved towards or embraced a Marxist-Leninist outlook, even joining Communist groups. Basic Christian Communities
The church programme of building basic ecclesiastic or church communities draws its inspiration from the life of early Christian communities in Jerusalem. According to the bible, these lived in "close fellowship, sharing their belongings with one another, distributing the money among all, according to what each one needed... praising God, and enjoying the good will of all the people." *
The subversive essence of this movement comes from its call for the base population to share in what Christians call the three fold function of Jesus Christ: priest, prophet and King, and to be actively involved in the various ministries of the church. This includes working for justice and the defence of human rights, and participation in social transformation. This is seen as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel [the Christian message] and of the
Parishes and local churches generally represent a cross-section of the classes in society. But church-related community-based organisations, particularly the base communities, almost always consist of the proletariat or semi-proletariat.
In the early years, many of those building these base communities used progressive methods of community organising. Some even applied Gramsci's writings, as a way of studying and transforming Philippine society. During the martial law period, this programme found acceptance and funding among church-based foreign agencies, who widely encouraged and financed its implementation in local parishes across the Philippines.
Recently, however, even conservatives are interested in the base communities approach. The recent IInd Plenary 16 International Viewpoint #308 February 1999
Council of Philippine Catholic Bishops called for a national programme of base community building.
In the minds of the conservative bishops, this programme is a two-edged sword. They hope that it will lessen the influence and impact of radical activists within the church communities. They also hope that the new officialisation of the strategy will enable them to regain, or at least consolidate their fast-evaporating control over the grassroots of the church.
Their panic is not just the result of Marxist agitation. Christian fundamentalists from the evangelical Protestant wing of Christianity, often supported by rich groups in the USA, are also making inroads in Asia's largest Catholic "flock". Theology of human rights
Christian involvement in the human rights movement is based on the concept of man as being created in according to God's image, and therefore having innate dignity. Anything which degrades man and his dignity, particularly state-initiated action, must be vigorously condemned and opposed. Conversely, anything which contributes to social justice and social progress, or which advances human rights, must be advocated and promoted.
Given the importance of Christian beliefs for many Filipinos, the engagement of church people in the human rights movement continues to have enormous potential for generating support for the national democratic struggle, and its democratic agenda.
Of course, the theology of human rights has its weaknesses. The bourgeois ruling class can use a rhetoric of human rights to negate the justness of revolutionary struggle, particularly if such a struggle erupts into violence or civil war. In the bourgeois conception, human rights transcend classes, and can be claimed even by the exploiters. Under the guise of equality of the individual, bourgeois democracy proclaims the equality of the exploiter and the exploited, with the state and the market as supposedly neutral mechanisms linking
Of course, the real meaning of the demand for equality is a demand for the abolition of classes. No genuine human rights can be possible, as long as the capitalist system and the global imperialist order exist. One cannot speak of a humane Christian society if the majority toiling masses do not enjoy equality in wealth and resources, and if social classes with antagonistic interests
Fundamentalist Christians propagate a version of humanism and human rights that transcend classes. At the same time, they gloss over the evils of the capitalist system. This kind of thinking only favours the exploiting and propertyowning classes.
Life before death
Conservative theologians and teach those who toil and live in want all their lives to be submissive and patient here on earth. They should take comfort in the hope of a heavenly reward Meanwhile, those who live by the labour of others are taught to practice charity. This offers them a very cheap way of saving their consciences, and justifying their entire existence as exploiters.
In preaching Christian humanism and Christian peace, some priests effectively hide the reality of antagonistic class
Of course, the bourgeoisie would like to propagate a picture of universal industrial peace and harmony. But genuine humanism can only result from the abolition of capital and from the abolition of classes.
This is the perspective of working class revolution. The proletarian party challenges Church people to be truthful and faithful to reality. To oblige everyone to recognise human dignity and personal worth regardless of class, without touching capital, and the whole capitalist order, which is the root of inequality and degradation of certain classes in society, is irrelevant and ridiculous. Worse, it is destructive of humanity itself.
It is the task of the proletarian party to safeguard the independent class interests of the working class, to lend a proletarian imprint on the human rights movement, and to stress the socialist goals which, alone, can ensure democratic rights for all of humanity.
But once the party has made clear its position, it should forge alliances and solidarity with church people, individuals and groups, local and international, who advocate equal dignity, democratic rights and political freedoms for all. Theology of ecology
According to the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, "The Earth is the Lord's, and so is everything on the Earth. Do not destroy the Earth nor the life on it." This injunction deserves to be added to the ten more well-known Christian and Jewish commandments.
According to the above citation from the Bible, every Christian is called on to become an ecologist, one who takes care of and heals the earth. The Christian is motivated by faith to advocate struggle against ozone depletion and destruction of forests, the poisoning of the oceans, rivers, soil and air, and the various forms of pollution of the environment.
The theology of liberation can be a weapon against capital. The capitalist system has caused the greater part of the pollution and destruction of our environment. It should be brought to account for the wanton destruction of our natural
The ecological movement may serve to curb the greed and ruthlessness of the monopoly capitalists who are the princi-
pal culprits in the destruction of ecology. Big multinationals would rather turn a blind eye to environmental protection, which, if implemented, would only cut into their huge profits.
In Africa, some theologians and environmental activists are paying greater attention to "cultural ecology" those traditional beliefs and practices which encourage people to respect nature and maintain their resources at a sustainable level. Although Christian and Muslim missionaries tended to discredit these ideas, they have continued to coexist in popular consciousness alongside elements of monotheistic belief. Theology of wholeness
The Protestant pastor Oscar Suarez has tried to reconcile Christian faith with Marxist ideology. He argues that faith is about coming to terms with the sacred dimension of humanity. This sacred dimension reveals our ultimate concern for justice. In seeking justice, one as introduced to ideology, which is concerned with scientifically measurable and historically tangible political, economic and social development. To adhere to faith and ideology is to promote total human development.
We must argue for and insist on wholeness, rather than be satisfied with mere fragments. "Not by bread alone!" This development does not begin and end in the individual, as in capitalism, but becomes collective, as in socialism.
In this concept of theology, revolution is in itself the promotion of God's design for humanity - the integrity of creation, life abundant. The present theologies of liberation and struggle are incomplete because their concern is limited to the processes of transformation. Theology of wholeness is concerned not only with the process but with the end result, the vision and goal of such processes. A new heaven, and a new earth. The new Jerusalem that Christian socialists seek to establish.
Like socialist ideology, faith motivates people - often at a very primary level - to involve themselves socially. This may translate further, into revolutionary participation. The ultimate concern of the revolution is the salvation and development of humanity and creation. Christianity, according to Suarez, should present itself as an unashamedly humanist religion.
Proponents of the theology of wholeness seek to combat all forms of fundamentalist, mystical and obscurantist theologies. Some have gone further, and tried to present faith as something separate from religion, or at least separate from a particular God. * Notes 1. On the history of Early Christianity, F. Engels. 2. The Bible, Book of Acts, chapters 2 and 3.] 3. Development of Peoples, by Pope Paul VI. 4. The Bible, Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35 5. Theology of Wholeness, Series of lectures by Dr Oscar Suarez