Outside Reading 4
12/9/16
Gustavo Gutiérrez,
the author, A Theology of
Liberation, founded Liberation Theology. Liberation Theology is a
denomination that is focused on the physical, emotional and spiritual
liberation of people. Liberation theologians are heavily involved in ministry
with poor and oppressed groups---their goal is to welcome the poor into the
church and empower them, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
One of my favorite parts of this book and of
Liberation theology in general is how it encourages people to really understand
the poor before trying to swoop in and “fix” all of their problems.
"At the same time it is important to realize that being poor is a way of living, thinking, loving, praying, believing, and hoping, and spending leisurely time, and struggling for a livelihood." (Gutiérrez xxi)
I love this quote because it accurately expresses the
incorrect mentality that I feel like most people have at least once in their
life. Our society in general really seems to look at the poor in a very one
dimensional way---as suffering individuals. When one actually interacts and
works with a “suffering” group of individuals though, one will start to notice
that they are very complex.
I have met and
befriended many people who I was at first tempted to think of as “suffering”
individuals, and then have walked away feeling humbled and blown away by the
wisdom, kindness, energy, and complexity of that person. At the same time
though, I have also walked away from someone thought of as a “suffering”
individual and have been blown away by how bratty, rude, entitled, and
inconsiderate that person acted towards me. I am a person that is at times
wise, kind, energetic, complex, bratty, rude, entitled, and inconsiderate---so why
wouldn’t those that are poor and oppressed be?
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