Introduction
Theological discourse makes use of liberation theologies to review the goal of human existence, religious thought and practice, and faith by focusing on individuals who have been deprived a voice, adequate standards of living, and a positive identity. Liberation theology critiques moral evil like undeserved and unjustified suffering, pain, and subjugation and marginalization.
Liberation theology is globally recognized, but the United States remains the origin/birthplace of various impressive liberation theologies. Liberation theology, therefore, concerns itself with the serious problem of injustice and oppression, seeking to “advance enhancing self-images and communal images, enabling coping techniques and socio-political adjustments that could foster greater social justice as a whole” (Valentin, 2010, p. 98).
It is precisely because of this that liberation theology makes inquiry into and searches for responses to questions on people’s thoughts and opinions about God; on human capability and limitation; on the saving example of Jesus Christ; on Christian hope to overcome underserved agony, inequity, unjustified subjugation, and marginalization; and on challenge and promise of the church.
In addition to placing much attention to injustice and suffering, and ameliorative impulses, liberation theology is characterized by two keynotes. The first one entails a comprehension of the factors that shape and govern the role of theological treatises. These factors include socio-cultural, historical, and socio-economic attributes. Secondly, liberation theology possesses a desire to reach into, and draw from certain realities of life, and expressive cultures of a defined group of people (Valentin, 2010).
Hispanic theology is a complex form of theology that encompasses the social and cultural contexts of the Latino/as. The Hispanic theology is composed of women leaders in various areas of life that unfortunately lack recognition from official leadership structures and within institutional church (Valentin, 2010).
Despite the eminent oppression, Hispanic theology acknowledges the important role played by women in the maintenance of life and health in the community. This paper gives insight into Hispanic/Latino (a) theology by discussing the effects and importance of Hispanic/Latino (a) theology and its link to Christianity.
Discussion
The nascence of liberation theology was as a result of fermentation of a long historical process in the 1960s and 1970s. This emergence was triggered by religious, economic, and political forces. It was a new approach to theology as opposed to the traditional form of theology that was characterized by an imbalance of power between the church’s hierarchy and its members (Isasi-Diaz, & Segovia, 1996).
The liberation theology was, therefore, a wakeup call to change the social conditions of the church members by denying a subordinate class, ethnic, or gender status. Hispanic feminist theology, known as mujerista, shares some characteristics with other North American feminist theologies.
The discrete and dynamic perspectives of the Hispanic women theology help the Latina/o community and its Diaspora to comprehend the multifaceted oppressive structures, define their preferred future and face internalized oppression (Dyrness & Kärkkäinen, 2008).
The origin of the Hispanic/Latino (a) theology is complex, intriguing and emanates from a combination of political, cultural, and religious factors. The Hispanic theology is born from the creation of the Hispanic/Latino/as. In actual sense the Hispanics are not foreign newcomers to the United States, but instead their history predates that of the United States. The exploration and colonization by the Spanish on the Caribbean islands is what gave rise to the Hispanics/Latino/as in North America.
The Spanish boon in the American lands gave rise to a new culture as the American indigenous populations were coercively conquered and their lands taken away from them. These natives were exposed to new strains of diseases obtained from the Spanish. The devastating effect of the diseases, mistreatment and imposition of a new language and culture took a huge toll on the indigenous Amerindians.
In addition, poor nourishment, broken family life and oppressive labor conditions led to a rapid and tremendous dwindle of the native populations. Scant labor force led to the conquering of Africa, and with their migration to this part of the world, led to the birth of new cultures and large populations of mestizo/as and mulatto/as.
This new culture had great impact on every aspect of the Latino/as. This community was characterized by a lot of heterogeneity, which was aggravated by variations in socio-economic standing and period of stay in the United States inter alia.
Irrespective of the heterogeneity involved, the U.S. Hispanic/Latino (a) population has forged a delicate but appreciable pan-Latino identity in the U.S. Since the 1960s with the birth of Hispanic theology aimed at bringing about wholeness or solidarity, panethnicity and collectivity among the Hispanics/Latino (as) is eminent. This solidarity has been a turning point to the Hispanics/Latino (as). Edna Acosta-Belen simply says that:
The shorthand label Hispanic/Latino is turning out to be a symbol of cultural affirmation and identity in an alienating society that traditionally has been hostile and prejudicial to cultural and racial differences, and unresponsive to the socio-economic and educational needs of a large segment of the Hispanic population (Valentin, 2010).
Other factors that have been responsible for the solidarity within the Hispanic community include common widespread cultural traits shown through language, customs, life sensibilities, and rituals; a sensibility of ubiquitous exile arising from annexation/colonization of a majority of Latino/as’ countries of origin by the United States; and due to a feeling of marginalization even among those Latinos born in the United States.
The Hispanics/Latino (as) mainly encounter racial discrimination and cultural alienation, which exudes from living within a dominant society that is after the victory of its own, excluding Anglo culture. In addition, the Latino (as) have mainly been at the bottom of the economic ladder and unfortunately lack the ability to ameliorate their socio-economic condition.
Hispanic theology, therefore in addition to the confounding factors mentioned above has played a pivotal role in bringing about solidarity and cohesion among the Hispanic as quoted by Edna Acosta-Belen. This quote is of significant implication because it aims at building strong ties among the Hispanics/Latino (as).
The Hispanic/Latino (a) theology makes responses to, reflects on, and builds on the complex history and complex amassment of the experiences by the Hispanics/Latino (as). This theological concern began in 1975 with initial inflections of the Mexican American Catholic theologian Virgilio Elizondo.
Mujerista theology aims at giving voice to Hispanic women, who are not comfortable with their identity in relation to mainline feminist theology. Mujerista is sourced from the lived experiences of Hispanic women, which is intrinsically connected to the survival of their community, and especially the children of the community.
The Hispanic women are constantly struggling to survive against anthropological poverty, which is beyond material poverty. They fight against sexism, ethnic prejudice, and class. The survival of Hispanic women revolves around self-definition and self-determination. It is also sourced from religion and culture. The religious aspect of Hispanic women theology aims at purging African and Amerindian influences (Sindima, 2008).
While Hispanic feminine theology seeks equality, the male Hispanic theologians, on the other hand, are inclined to the fact that women and men will never be equal. According to Williams, God is partial and discriminating. She illustrates this by using the covenant code in Exodus 20-23 and the holiness code in Leviticus 19 to indicate that male and female slaves were not treated equally.
Therefore, unlike male theology, the feminine Hispanic theology as described by Williams is skeptical that God is the liberator of all who are oppressed. Unlike the male Hispanic theology, the feminine Hispanic theology is more aggressive and more inclined towards achievement of self-description and self-determination (Kärkkäinen, 2004).).
I, however, defy Aquino’s mission statement that the poor are currently agents who are in charge of their own destiny. Theoretically speaking, this statement is valid, but in actual sense, the poor are still marginalized in contemporary society and the gap between the rich and the poor is continuously growing due to external forces. If only the Hispanic feminist theology would be a reality, but then it seems to be a whirling wind that stirs up a lot of debate.
Despite the fact that women have somewhat become liberated from the traditional perception, they are still a marginalized group within the dominant male community. A clear illustration of this continued marginalization is in the distribution of power and resources in the world we are living in.
Presidential candidature, for example, has entirely been a male ground and rarely will women assume such a prestigious position. In addition, male have full charge of most resources and even though the Latino (a) theology has been in the forefront trying to address marginalization and discrimination against women, this continues to be a contentious issue.
The Hispanic theology is shown as a representation of the religious and theological inflections of the Hispanic people staying in the United States. It is a North American theological tradition that has a solid origin and fundamental ground in the United States. The theological voice entailed in Hispanic theology is sourced from thoughts, writings, and activities of a pluralistic society of theologians. Hispanic/Latino (a) is a distinctive expression of liberation theology.
This is because the Hispanic/ Latino (a) theologians emphasize all the elements of liberation theology. For example, the Hispanic/Latino (a) theologians often delve into and seek responses for specific experiences and scenarios that have had impact in their lives and those of their colleagues in the social sphere of the U. S. Hispanic/Latino(a) theology is therefore built from specific people’s life experiences and circumstances, as well as their cultural practices.
This way, they focus on responding to fashion, and theological reflections that are fundamental to the Hispanic’s/Latino’s cultural agency. A representation of this is carried out through interpretation of the scripture and theological doctrines in the eyes of experiences and perceptions of the Latino (a) communities.
Poverty, alienation, marginality, exile, or estrangement, form the basis for these experiences and perceptions. A different basis is that of mestizaje or mulatez, which entails mixed ancestry and cultural heritage that acts as a vantage point in deciphering and exploring the meanings of religious ideas.
Hispanic/Latino (a) theology is bent on improving the lives of its people. The Latinos and Latinas experience discrimination and disrespect of their Hispanic cultures, and because of this, the theologians have embraced an identity politics /cultural politics to distinguish them from other cultures.
The Hispanics face cultural discrimination through: cultural domination, non-recognition, and disrespect. Latino theologians have voiced out these injustices especially related to culture because it is a potential source of oppression than political economy. Forms of cultural oppression include cultural imperialism, ethnic prejudice, sexism, and racism, all of which contribute to the agony of the Latino/as.
Hispanic/Latino/a theology, therefore, focuses on enfolding liberal cultural discourses to counter efforts at cultural homogenization by the United States. This theology aims to protect the beliefs and practices of the Hispanics/Latino/as and replace denigrating images with self-defines and affirming images of the Latino/as. This way, Hispanic theology helps in incorporating the Latino/ as full, equal, and active citizens into the society in which they live in (Valentin, 2010).
Christianity vs. Hispanic/Latino (a) Theology
Tradition, experience, scripture and culture form the sources of Christian theology. The scripture generally makes references to the Bible (both Old and New Testaments). The Bible provides a ground for the Christian faith through initiatory events, beliefs, and testimonies.
Tradition entails accrued interpretations of scripture, doctrines, and ritual/practice that have been transmitted in the history of Christian thought and practice. Culture in Christianity is varied depending on the theologian, thus it could mean a “sphere devoted to the production, circulation, and use of meanings and identities” (Valentin, 2010). A more general definition is that culture could refer to everything that makes up the social matrix in which occurrence and exercise of religion take place.
Experience looks at the personal life experience and perception and this entails religious experience and perception, as well as collective historical experiences of a group defined by religion, nationality, ethnicity, social norms and culture. Gonzalez interprets Christianity by use of Santa Biblia where he points out five injustices relevant to Christianity. These are marginalization, poverty, mestizaje and mulatez, exile, and alienation.
Just like in Christianity, Hispanic theology aimed at bringing about cohesion and unity among a heterogeneous group of people. Initially, there was disunity among the Hispanic themselves due to variations in origin aggravated by social position. Christianity also aims at bringing people of different mixtures of races and social classes, who have a common belief, together and guarding this belief in relation to tradition, the scripture, culture and experiences.
Christianity protects the Christians against non-believers. Hispanic theology is also charged with the responsibility of protecting the Hispanic people against outsiders, who aim at diluting the social and cultural norms and practices of the Latino/as.
Just like the Latinos who are mestizaje, Christianity follows this example since Jesus himself is described by Elizondo as a mestizo. This kind of mixed culture is expressed as a first-century borderland. Jesus was descendant of the Jews, who were at the borderline of the Jewish and the Gentile societies.
Poverty is an element of social injustice in both Christian and Hispanic theology (Isasi-Diaz & Segovia, 1996). This is because poverty is associated with alienation and inequality based on social position. Hispanic aims at bringing all people of different social positions together irrespective of their wealth. The church actually aims at helping the poor so that they can socially be uplifted and thereby fit in the church setting.
Churches and Christianity, for example, an international one known as the Joyce Meyer Ministries is well known for helping the poor and marginalized societies as a way of exemplifying equality and togetherness. Christianity is, therefore, the avenue through which wealth is fairly distributed to the poor and thereby addressing the issue of marginalization due to poverty. Jesus came from uninspiring village in Galilee called Nazareth.
Jesus, therefore, experienced marginalization as a Galilean Jew in the first century, just like the Hispanics in the U.S. today. In the same way that Jesus was able to generate new modalities of life from the margins of His society, the Latino (as) have also found their selves charged with a liberating mission not only for themselves but also for others in contemporary society.
Marginalization based on gender is also germane to Christianity, just as in Hispanic theology. Feminist Hispanic theology aims at addressing discrimination against women and giving them a voice. Christianity is also a means through which women are given an opportunity to express themselves and offer their services in the church.
It is through such roles in the church that women become appreciated and acknowledged as important and functional members of the community. In addition, Christianity stems from the experiences and life situations of its followers (the Christians) as Hispanic theology stems from the life situations of the Hispanics/Latino (as).
My Perception
I have always viewed Christianity as a mere believe in Jesus Christ, but after reading this text, I have realized that there is more to Christianity than meets the eye. As indicated above, Christianity is somewhat complex because it is defined by the scripture, people’s tradition, culture and experiences. These elements are mainly not realized, but I have learnt that surely Christianity has got to embrace these facets for it to thrive.
Therefore, Christianity is a critical facet of people’s lives that mainly goes unnoticed while considering the mentioned elements that define it. Christianity is used to bring about unity and give the marginalized people hope and a voice to express their experiences and life situations. Christianity acknowledges the important role played by everyone irrespective of their social and cultural status. In addition, Christianity seeks recognition as a unique entity and guards its followers from being assimilated into other doctrines.
References
Dyrness, W. A., & Kärkkäinen, V. (2008). Global Dictionary of Theology: A Resource for the Worldwide Church. Dormers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.
Isasi-Diaz, A. M., & Segovia, F. F. (1996). Hispanic/Latino Theology: Challenge and Promise. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers.
Kärkkäinen, V. (2004). The Doctrine of God: A Global Introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Sindima, H. J. (2008). The Gospel According to the Marginalized. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Valentin, B. (2010). Hispanic/Latino (a) Theology. In S. M. Floyd-Thomas, & A. B. Pinn. Eds. Liberation Theologies in the United States: An Introduction. New York: New York University.