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Liberation Theology: What Happened in Latin America? Part V
By jbcobb | June 9, 2011
Challenges from Other Sources
Liberation theology, which had proven to be one of the most powerful and compelling developments for social and political change in Latin America during the three decades following Vatican II, began to witness great resistance from theological and political forces in the 1990s. More conservative elements of the Catholic Church, who had remained in power following the liberalization of Church policy in the 1960s, began to reassert themselves on doctrinal issues in the last decade of the century (Soares, 2009, p. 481). Additionally, more conservative Christian denominations began to move to Latin American countries in greater numbers, and brought with them ideologies which were antithetical to the leftist and socialist political orientation of liberation theology (Soares, 2009, p. 481). And possibly more important than these challenges, the failure of central government driven developmental strategies, such as import substitution industrialization, to successfully address issues of income inequality, abject poverty, and overall economic modernization in Latin American countries opened the door for new market-oriented solutions and free trade policies. Judith Soares (2008, p. 481) stated that “The defeat of socialism and the decline of the Marxist left, the return to liberal and pluralistic politics and the implementation of a neo-liberal economic agenda have left many wondering about the relevance of theologies of liberation in a world that has rejected Marxism as an ideology of social change and socialism as an alternative social system”.
Part of the theological challenge to liberation theology came not from within the Roman Catholic Church’s adherents of more traditional doctrine, but from the proliferation of protestant denominations, whose missionaries brought a more fundamentalist approach to religion, which not only stood in direct opposition to the theology of liberation, but which pronounced it as patently anti-Christian. Soares (2008, p. 483) explains the conflict between the fundamentalist and liberation views:
In opposing liberation theology, fundamentalism was premised on the view that any change in society could only be effected through divine intervention, because “salvation” could only be achieved through personal rebirth, and hence, a personal relationship with God and not with any man, government, or political party.
In effect, there is an ongoing struggle for the hearts and minds of believers in Latin America. While the more radical theology of liberation and their sympathizers among some protestant denominations have largely been marginalized by traditional elements of the Catholic Church and the growing numbers of conservative fundamentalist denominations, there still exists an allure among the poor in many countries for a concerted effort from the clergy to challenge the political status quo.
However, as a socio-political force in the region, liberation theology has certainly waned in popularity. Socialism and government-driven economics have been replaced by globalization and market driven economics throughout much of the region. While populism still retains some appeal to the very poor and politically oppressed, and communism still exists in Fidel and Raul Castro’s Cuba, they are now the outliers of Latin America, struggling to survive. Judith Soares (2008, p. 486) remains optimistic that liberation theology can survive as well, but not as one of the dominant forces in society, but “remains accessible for mobilization into popular movements under appropriate conditions and at particular historical junctures”.
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