Not EVERYTHING in Liberation Theology is dead wrong. Assuming that it is always heretical is where we go wrong in an attempt to maintain an Evangelical front. We get so gung-ho and politically militaristic that we douse the fact that along with Holiness is supposed to come not only the lip-service to "Loving even our enemies," but the activation of a social mission for feeding, clothing, directing, encouraging, educating and aiding, even them.
But what do typical American Right-Leaning Evangelicals all too often do? Out of their political fear(S), they over-emphasize the former and leave undone the latter. Sometimes, they do neither of these; they just hoot and holler about how we need the 'right' governmental leader to somehow make it all better.
It's time for U.S. evangelicals to get over that, while at the same time scrutinizing those aspects of Liberation Theology that may be cogent on the one hand and less than theologically correct, on the other hand. I should be able to take a book like James H. Cone's, God of the Oppressed, and at least see the valid points he makes within it all the while still not necessarily agreeing with the entire theology. We should be able to do this without taking the flame thrower to it ... we should save the verbal FIRE for where it's really needed and apply it in the right context.
Matthew 10:34-36; Luke 12:49-53
In and of itself Liberation theology it has to be denounced as heresy. You can't look at people and tell them to explore it for that 10% worth that is decent.
To pretend though, that Evangelical Christians are not giving, loving and caring people is to literally not know them.
I've never met more generous and kind people. They aren't perfect, but face to face they'd give the shirt off their back to anyone who had a need. Even those who themselves live in poverty would.
To me I guess that's what is striking, is that even out of their poverty they will give.
And look at my husband's family. They never met me and they opened their home to me and treated me better than I've ever been treated. Never pressure, never judgement. Just love.
You may not understand their mannerisms or their language, but they are Christians and they act like it in rural America in very real ways. They always have even if we aren't recognizing that in them.
Just after 9/11 is honestly the only time in rural America I ever felt a different vibe than this. And that was simply cause and effect. People are always going to react in certain ways, we are human after all.
It didn't stop any of my friends from coming to my get togethers or them inviting me to theirs. But at the gas station people would just freeze when they saw me and stuff.
I had more than one veteran tell me I actually set off their PTSD. I became friends with one vet because he wanted a safe exposure therapy so he didn't panic when he saw Muslims in public.
That's not to say there's not nuts. There are, everywhere. My husband says some people are just born junk yard dog mean, and you can't change them. But they aren't Christian either, nor are they evangelical even if they may vote similarly.
As far as public policies, in rural America we see nothing but abject failure of public policies, and most are living through the largest opioid epidemic in American history. It's serious out here.
My son has lost more friends to opioids - lost their actual lives - than I had known people to die by the time I was his age if we don't include his friends that got caught up in it. He's lost 7 or 8 friends to opioids. Funeral after funeral. I don't even understand how it's happening when they are seeing everyone die from it.
People never used to die like they die now.... Sure there were addicts but this is intentional murder by those making these drugs and selling them. They are trying to kill Americans and succeeding.
Put a few death pills in the bag of pills they're selling and boom; it's Russian roulette every time they buy drugs now.
It's so bad out here that the authorities recommend everyone keeps that drug that can bring someone back from an overdose even if you don't think you know anyone who does the drugs - just in case you find yourself somewhere and an OD occurs. They give it out free so people can do that.
When people say things about welfare and such, it's because of things they see in life. When people recommend giving charity to people in person and making sure it's not going to drugs etc it's because of what we see out here in rural America.
They still give, they just give how their conscious informs them instead of the way it's been failing to address real need and can sometimes support negative behaviors like drug addiction.
It might not sound loving to your ears, but it's actually because they care about people.
I'd never give my neighbor cash because he's a drug person. But I'd empty out my freezer to make sure he ate. Make sense? (No one who knows him will just give money, but they'll go to the gas station and put gas in his truck, or pay a bill for him, or buy him a space heater etc)
Some people think tough love is better, though I think there's a happy medium somewhere.
The accusations against evangelicals are simply false. Evangelicals just want people to hear that they think another way of helping the poor is better, it's not because they are somehow uncharitable.
