JS423 E-Journal Reflections

Task One: E-Journal


Lecture 1 –

Chapter reading and reflection on Liberation Theology:

This Chapter reading was quite uplifting and insightful. ‘To know God is to do Justice” is the subtitle of this reading. I appreciate these words as I believe that being fair and forgiving towards our neighbour is being in the image of God; who is a mystery of love. We have been created in the very image of God and it is up to us to allow this image to shine through our actions and personhood. To know God is to love and share this truth that God is merciful and Compassionate. He sent his only Son, Jesus so that we may all share in the Good News. His desire is for us to pass on the Good News to the poor, the blind and the marginalised.

According to this reading, Liberation theology is a “discourse with God” or an “encounter of love” with God and his people. God’s people are the poor who are neglected; they are his partners as they reveal his loving nature to the rest of the world. Liberation theologians discuss the commitment that we should have to the poor in their struggle to escape from poverty and attain human dignity (page56). As Christians we should reflect on our actions in light of the Word of God and examine our consciences to see if we are helping in the cause of the poor.

Reflection on Lecture material:

Ultimately, our attitude to Social Justice needs to be clear and consistent if we desire to assist in and expose the plight of the poor. We should strive to hold the following views by:
· Bringing light into the dark and acknowledging the truth of the oppression or injustices
· Exposing the Reconciliation process and making it public as the people who inflict the oppression still hold power when they are not confronted and/or exposed
· We can never forget the persecutions and terror afflicted; as we are all one body with Christ- If one member is hurting…the whole body is hurting…
· An essential Ingredient of Social Justice is Solidarity (standing with the poor who don’t want to be forgotten but supported)

In reading the signs of the time we can observe a great deal of injustice. Such as the following:
· growing inequity: obscene equity
· fear
· neglect
· poverty
· violence
· despair
· displacement
· intolerance
· Unequal distribution/discreet causes/the system that allows poor to be poor and rich to be rich is unjust

Chapter reading and reflection on Liberation Theology:

The focal message of liberation theology “is the good news of liberation”. There are three emphases which can not be separated:1. Liberation theology is liberation from unjust social structures that destroy people2. Liberation from the power of fate and the emphasis on hope3. Liberation from personal sin and guilt by the gratuitousness of God’s grace.Jesus is our ultimate liberator, through a love channeled by God. He is the one who sets us free from; the destructiveness of social structures, fate, personal sin and guilt by the nature of his forgiving love (Page 64). He is the one who empowers us with hope and gives us life anew.

Lecture 2

Chapter reading and reflection on The Soul of Politics:

According to the Prophet Isaiah in his prophesy to the children of Israel and to the neighbouring Egyptians about the suffering of their societies; Society’s greed, social injustice and idol worship is a judgement that comes in the form of spiritual degradation, violence and the break-up of community. The people turn on one another “neighbour against neighbour, city against city and kingdom against kingdom”.

The Politics of Violence… “Violence is not the problem; it is a consequence of the problem” (page 4). On a domestic and global level we are suffering a crisis of leadership, morality and spirituality. In reference to the reading article, America is given as an example, which lacks consistent and persuasive social vision (page 5). Problems such as excessive consumerism, ecological crises, disintegration of family life, domestic violence and all forms of oppression are eating into the social fabric of society. An interesting note that the chapter raised was Poverty, by itself, does not necessarily generate violence, it’s the loss of hope that creates violence (Page 6). This makes me reflect on the importance of instilling the virtue of hope into our lives on a personal and social plane.

In the soul of Politics, we need more politicians to speak up against the ethics of selfishness, materialism and individualism and address the underlying issues. Such topics that need more emphasis and backing from Political leaders include; social justice in the community, environmental stewardship, ethics and morality. In essence, to build up an ethically based society, we can’t just rely on Politicians. In essence, the promotion of the common good of a society is a journey that needs to be made by each one of us…by living as witnesses to the Gospel truth in loving and respecting our neighbours.

Chapter reading and reflection on how Societies choose to fail or survive:

Farms in societies are not generally prone to collapse. However, today the richest and the most technologically advanced societies are facing growing environmental and economic problems that should not be underestimated (Page 2). Past collapses offer a useful reference point from which we can learn how to keep on succeeding (Page 3). Societies that once were mighty can end up collapsing if they underestimate the cost of ecological destruction such as deforestation, soil problems, over hunting and over fishing; just to name a few (Page 6). Consequences for societies may include food shortages, starvation, scarce resources and wars over people fighting for too few resources. Eventually, population decreases through starvation, war or disease and society loses some of the political, economic and cultural intricacies.

Environmental complications that are hard to manage today were certainly even more difficult to control in the past. Notably, a society’s collapse is not just attributed to environmental damage. Other factors include; Climate change (Global warming), hostile neighbours, friendly trade partners and the society’s response to its environmental problems. Globalisation makes it not possible for contemporary societies to collapse in isolation, as did Easter Island and Greenland Norse in the past. Nowadays, any society in strife, no matter how remote such as Somalia and Afghanistan as examples can cause complications for prosperous societies on other continents (Page 23). An interesting point that I learnt was that for the first time in history, we face the risk of global collapse. However, on a positive note we benefit from the opportunity of learning quickly from developments and collapses of other societies worldwide.

Lecture 3 and 4

Lecture reflection on the Moses and Jesus Movement:

There are two alternative points of view in regards to Prophetic projects:
Prophetic: Theology of salvation in doing justice (Corporate works of Mercy)
Purity: theology of salvation in keeping the laws of the Church perfectly

The Prophetic theory streams from the Exodus story whereas the Purity theory streams from the Mosaic Law given on Mt Sinai. Strictly speaking, the purity project lacks pastoral nuance (reading the moment and understanding the people’s needs). Although, the law component is also a useful pastoral guide that gives identity and structure. At its extreme there is great violence in the purity project. Throughout the history of the Church you can trace the contest between these two view points and today this tension still exists in our society. In effect, there is a fatal flaw in both projects. In its severe case the prophetic theory has no central truth, as everything becomes ok...which is not good. Tolerance has no boundaries and the problem of Relativism emerges. God becomes an option and structural violence is allowed such as honour killing, abortion and abuses in cultures.

Chapter reading and reflection on the Alternative Community of Moses:

After reflecting on the Alternative Community Moses reading I have come to better appreciate the deeper meaning of what it means to be a prophet…someone who not just speaks out against injustice and inequity but someone who sees a crisis and responds to it by sacrificing them self to meet the needs of the suffering people.

Bishop Romero was a prophetic leader and a good example of a person who in the 1980’s lived and read the oppressive situation in El-Salvador in Gospel terms and rose to the moment. Bishop Romero spoke out against the disturbing truth of repression and violence. Unexpectedly, he was killed in the Mass whilst consecrating the Host into the Body of Christ. This is a powerful symbolism of him sacrificing his blood with the bloody sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. Even though they threatened to kill Bishop Romero on a number of occasions, he kept on risking his life to make the truth known and sought. Ultimately, his blood was a seed of freedom. There is always hope! Even though Bishop Romero was killed, the body of Christ, being the people of God will never perish.

In this reading, I came to appreciate more deeply Jesus’ solidarity and love for the poor. Jesus in his unity with the poor is moved to compassion. His compassion becomes a public criticism against the numbness of society towards the marginalised. Jesus, through his compassion experiences the numbness by taking on his people’s pain. His action of sacrifice proclaims a vital message to the rest of society that the hurt and the exploitation of the poor are not to be accepted as normal. Jesus’ passion and crucifixion was a result of the life he led. His life was challenging, confronting, revolutionary and a life of service. Ultimately, Jesus is killed because he fundamentally opposes the vision of the world in his time. He had the vision of living the kingdom of God. Jesus was faithful to this vision and this brings him in conflict with the imperial project of the temple.

An interesting point that I have come to better appreciate was the situation that Jesus was confronted with in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus whilst in great agony says to God His father “not my will…but yours be done”. Jesus has two choices either to:• Runaway: this would discredit his ministry and mission• Stay: this endorses his mission of salvation for allNoteworthy, Jesus is choosing to be faithful to His father and for the coming of the Kingdom of God in every man and women’s heart. On Holy Thursday Jesus accepts his Cross of Suffering as a consequence of his faithfulness. Jesus sees that this project of the coming of the Kingdom of God is worth dying for on the Cross. In essence the great endorsement of the Kingdom of God is the Resurrection. Finally, this prophetic project which is Jesus can not be killed off as God is always providing courageous people to carry it on.

Lecture 5

Reflection on the war of Terrorism:

September 11 is seen a historical event like Pearl harbour. However, we need to read the terrorist violence in the context and politics of our time. This event is an iconic example of Terrorist attacks on the West. We should appreciate terrorist events as a language. According to the 80:20 principle, the Majority (80%) who are the poor are saying that’s enough to the wealthy world (20%) who are consuming all the world’s resources whilst the poor are struggling to survive. An interesting question that is raised…Who taught the poor world violence? The whole relationship between the poor and the rich has always been a direct violent undertaking. When the poor have the means to speak up to the rich, they speak in violence…through terrorism…that’s how they were treated and were taught. It is a vicious cycle of violence and the major vehicle or engine of the terrorist violence is poverty.

Terrorism shouldn’t be viewed just as a military issue but also as a social and economic issue. In 2002, the annual American Military budget was 400 billion dollars. In the United Nations there are 191 countries involved and in total the US spent more than all the countries put together on Military and defence equipment. How much safer would we be if we were alleviating the problem and not just defending the privileges or fencing the Western world. The poor who make up 80% of the world are busy keeping alive and generally don’t have time to get back at the rich who comprise of 20% of the world’s population. Furthermore, the revolutionary violence of the terrorist attacks are against the oppressors on behalf of those who are oppressed.

The face of modern terrorism is us…how we live, the choices we make, and our life styles all affect the equality of the population. I can terrorise with my selfish choices and over consumption of resources and goods. The engine of the terrorism is the chronic over consumption of the 20% (the rich). Nowadays, the wants of the Rich have become needs, which are very cleverly marketed by society.

Lecture 6 –Final lecture 22nd May 2007

Lecture reflection on terrorism

The National Security is the physical defense security organisation that protects America against Terrorism. The American dream is under attack when we talk about Terrorism. America has subtly constructed a fantasy of perfection, naivety and hence manipulated people to fight wars on their behalf. This is in order to maintain an elite life style of freedom and affluence. America engages in a conservative and public dialogue of patriotism. America as Fatherland and this confused patriotism is not going to help us to overcome terrorism. This raises the question is America’s dialogue with other countries substantially divorced from reality?

A quote made by George Bush which demonstrates this fierce pressure between the terrorists and the western world- the rich and the poor “You’re with us or against us…good or evil”. This makes me question the missing principles of solidarity and unity with the poor. Unfortunately, these above ideas are often passed as light hearted entertainment in the western cultures. Nevertheless, we need something greater…we need peace making solutions…solidarity in serving the poor countries and meeting their needs.

Catholic Social Teaching reading and reflection:

In the social mission of the Church, I have learnt that an integral element of living out the faith is to do “justice”. Evangelisation and justice work hand in hand. Pope Paul VI further emphasised this in his Encyclical Evangelisation in the Modern World where he advocated that preaching the Gospel would be incomplete if it did not take into account human rights, the themes of family life, life in society, peace, justice and development.

Noteworthy, John Paul II’s The Missionary Activity of the Church affirms the importance of liberation to the Church’s mission. The Pope recognises that liberation involves the activity to alter situations of economic and political oppression. The encyclical notes the value of work for economic development and the promotion of human rights.

Catholic Social teaching aims to provide an ethical framework regarding just relationships in political, social and political life. The social teachings of the Church draw upon four major sources of insight which form their structure and conclusions:
Revelation- the bible has always been the starting point for Christian Ethics
Reason- which sheds light on how we may use our God given gifts of intelligence to discern proper courses of action
Tradition- this includes the role of the fathers in explaining Church Tradition
Experience- the important role of human experience

In reading the nine key themes of Catholic Social teaching I have learnt about the importance of the following:
The significant dignity and sanctity of every person being made in the image of God
The essence of solidarity in striving for the common good of the whole community
The vital notion of the family being an important unit of society where God is reflected in their everyday activity
The crucial value of subsidiarity where various levels of society assist to bring out the best for all its members
A true respect for the common good and the sharing of property ownership
The vital dignity of work, rights of workers including minimum wage, safe and health regulations, pension plans, social insurance and support for labour unions
The imperative role of Colonialism and economic development
The common striving for world peace and disarmament
The preferential option the Church has to serve the poor and vulnerable

References:

A New Way of Encountering God. ‘Liberation Theology’, An Introductory Guide, Robert McAfee Brown. Chapter 3.

“Signs of Crisis” The Soul of Politics: A Practical and Prophetic Vision of Change, Jim Wallis, Harper Collins,1994. (3-16)

Diamond, Jared, Collapse. How societies Choose to Fail or Survive. Penguin, 2005.
Prologue, A Tale of Two farms, (1-24)

The alternative Community of Moses” The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann. (11-28)

“Criticism & Pathos in Jesus of Nazareth” The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann. (80-96)

Henriot, Peter J., Catholic Social teaching, Our Best Kept Secret. Chapter2, ‘ An Evolving Social message,’ (7-14)

The Sources and Methods of Catholic Social Teaching.’ Living Justice, Catholic Social Teaching in Action. Massaro, T. Sheed and Ward, 2000.

‘Nine Key themes of Catholic Social Teaching. Living Justice, Catholic Social teaching in Action. Massaro,T. Sheed and Ward, 2000