To get to heaven, first we must struggle to create a paradise on earth: linking the teachings of black socialist preachers in the U.S and liberation theology in Latin America

Disclaimer: The point of this piece is not to diminish the devastation caused by the Christianisation of different communities across ‘the Americas’. It is, however, ahistorical to depict communities which suffered from forced Christianisation as passive victims that did not resist the ideologies of the oppressors— communities across the region resisted, despite the repercussions. This resistance can usually be classified into three categories:

1. by secretly practicing their traditional religions/spirituality

2. by combining Christianity and traditional practice

3. by reinterpreting Christianity to meet the needs of their material conditions.

This piece is a very brief attempt at exploring point 3.

If you were to ask a student of theology which Christian ideological movements caused the most stir in the past two centuries, liberation theology is likely to be somewhere in the list. Liberation theology is often credited for being popularised by Catholic priests in Latin America in the second half of the 20^th century. Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutierrez wrote the foundational text for the movement, ‘A Theology of Liberation’, where he highlights how theology is critical reflection and that reflection needs to focus on the socio-economic issues faced by working-class people in Latin America. He criticised the concept of development introduced and reinforced by the West onto the Third World, calling it a “a false picture of a tragic and conflictual reality” which “obscures the theological problems.” ⁽¹⁾ He states liberation is

“the aspirations of oppressed peoples and social classes, emphasizing the conflictual aspect of the economic, social, and political process which puts them at odds with wealthy nations and oppressive classes...” ⁽¹⁾

A Theology of Liberation played a pivotal role in exploring the contradictions “between faith and human existence, between faith and social reality, between faith and political action.” ⁽¹⁾ It became the foundational text for the more militant left-wing members of the Catholic church that took the teachings of Marxism and mixed it with Christian theology, coming to the conclusion that it is the responsibility of Christians to fight against exploitative systems like capitalism and imperialism. Some of these priests, like the Colombian priest Camilo Torres, even joined communist guerilla movements and took up arms to fight for a more just world. This resulted in the martyrdom of many priests that either openly supported left-wing movements or sympathised with oppressed communities—this includes Bishop Oscar Romero, arguably the most famous martyr across Central America, who was slaughtered by a right-wing death squad during the Salvadorean Civil War for supporting left-wing movements.

Although liberation theology became wide spread in Latin America from 1960s onward, there were black preachers in the U.S that came to similar conclusions over 60 years earlier. Reverend George Washington Woodbey was born in 1854 and ordained as a Baptist minister in 1874. He wrote political works which linked the bible with socialism and black liberation. His earliest work ‘What to Do and How to Do It: Socialism vs Capitalism’ from 1903 gives some of the most convincing case for why black Christians should support socialism. He frames this piece as a conversation between a mother and son, where the mother asks questions like “how can we produce anything without money, George?” and he responds,

“Money never produces anything; it only represents things; it only entitles one to go into the markets and get so much wealth. What little money the laboring man gets is a check to the store for so much of the wealth his own labor has produced, and which the owners of the capital took from him and now sell back to him at a profit. The laborer gets thirty-two cents for producing a Stetson hat in a factory for which he would have to pay five dollars in order to buy it. If the people who do the work owned the factory, the worker would get the hat at cost, and so with all other things.” ⁽²⁾

In his work, Woodbey discussed the role of social agitation in bringing about political change with a focus on organising the working class into a political party and gaining control of state power. His more popular piece ‘The Bible and Socialism: A Conversation Between Two Preachers’ uses biblical scripture to argue against economic exploitation, private ownership of land and interest. The most impactful part of this work is when he is asked why Christians should believe in socialism when most socialists at that moment didn’t even believe in the Bible. Woodbey states,

“It is my belief that a large number of them (socialist) are what they are (non-Christian) because the churches and theologians have persisted in telling the people that, according to the Bible, we are not to expect any great change in our condition, in this life, but we must endure oppression without making any special effort to better our condition … and that all will be righted in heaven…

We Socialists stand with the prophet, in this case, and say that on earth is the place to begin doing right and that the courts have been turning the judgment of the poor into the bitterness of wormwood long enough.” ⁽³⁾

This is essentially the same message shared by Gutierrez and other Latin American priests. It reminds me of a quote from a fictional book by the Salvadorean writer by Manlio Argueta which explores the rise in the consciousness of peasant communities oppressed by the right-wing paramilitaries in the country,

“To get to heaven, first we must struggle to create a paradise on earth.” ⁽⁴⁾

The paradise Argueta, Gutierrez, Woodbey and many others spoke of was the construction of a world where the masses were not economically exploited or subjugated by multinational companies which destroyed the land and their livelihoods. Although charity has long been part of the church, what liberation theologians asked for was different- a fundamental transformation of society. The point was that charity was a starting point and the establishment of a society where people do not have to rely on charity is the end goal- the paradise on earth. In the writings of Reverend George W Slater Jr, another Black socialist preacher who wrote for the Chicago Daily Socialist, you will see this point very clearly. In ‘Negroes Becoming Socialists’ Reverend Slater Jr wrote,

“Since the most serious phase of the race problem has its seat in the industrial situation, which situation is due to the ill-born capitalistic competitive system, whereby white men are made to hate even other white men, both also of the same political faith with the most intense hatred, it is most foolish and illogical to conclude that a change of political allegiance on the part of the colored man will, under the present industrial system, help his condition materially. A few leading Negroes may get a few political appointments and a little money, but the masses will remain as before.

The fact is patent to any thoughtful mind that neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party can solve the problem. Neither can education, industrial training nor the recognition of the dignity of service do it. This is evident from the fact that these have not solved even the white man’s industrial problem, as seen in the death struggle between the union and non-union laborers, and the 5,000,000 unemployed men in the United States today.

The only solution for this problem is the destruction of the capitalist competitive system whereby a large part of the working class of people being unemployed get not much more than a mere existence, while at the same time a very small part of the people (rich) who produce nothing get at least 85 percent of all that is produced.” ⁽⁵⁾

Extract of Rev Slater Jr’s column in Chicago Daily Socialist

Combining economic liberation with black liberation, Slater Jr wrote in ‘The New Abolitionists’ (1909),

“The old abolitionists stood for the overthrow of chattel slavery and the essential manhood rights of the colored man; but the new abolitionists, while in spirit kind no more noble, yet in magnitude are far greater. They stand for the overthrow of wage slavery and for the maintenance of manhood rights not of any race variety or in any particular country alone, but for the establishment of a practical human brotherhood and cooperation throughout the entire world.” ⁽⁶⁾

This was a great departure from the type of Christianity preached by the oppressors. The oppressors’ Christianity encouraged passivity, submission and acceptance of the conditions on earth in hopes of a paradise in the afterlife. Beyond this, the church often encouraged an individualised look at Christian spirituality, “a certain kind of contemplative life, hermitical, monastic, characterized by withdrawal from the world, and presented as the model way to sanctity” ⁽¹⁾ as Gutierrez puts it. This type of Christianity, where one is only concerned about their own problem, distances Christians from the struggles of the masses. Liberation theology doesn’t call for the complete removal of the philosophical and contemplative aspects of Christianity but rather provides a new way to do it.

“Theology as critical reflection on historical praxis is a liberating theology, a theology of the liberating transformation of the history of humankind and also therefore that part of humankind—gathered into ecclesia—which openly confesses Christ. This is a theology which does not stop with reflecting on the world, but rather tries to be part of the process through which the world is transformed. It is a theology which is open—in the protest against trampled human dignity, in the struggle against the plunder of the vast majority of humankind, in liberating love, and in the building of a new, just, and comradely society—to the gift of the Kingdom of God.” ⁽¹⁾

Interested in liberation theology? Here is where I started:

Black Socialist Preacher: The Teachings of reverend George Washington Woodbey and His Disciple Reverend George W Slater Jr (Edited by Philip S Foner)

A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation by Gustavo Gutierrez

We Drink from Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a People by Gustavo Gutierrez

As always, thank you for reading!

References:

(1) Gustavo Gutierrez. 1973. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation. Translated by Sister Caridad Inda and John Eagleson. SCM PRESS LTD.

(2) George Washington Woodbey. 1903. What to Do and How to Do IT: Socialism vs Capitalism. Pamphlet. JA Wayland, Girard, KS.

(3) George Washington Woodbey. 1904. The Bible and Socialism: A conversation between two preachers.

(4) Manlio Argueta. 1983. One Day of Life. Translated by Bill Brow.

(5) Reverend George W. Slater Jr. 1908. Negroes Becoming Socialists. Chicago Daily Socialist (September 15 edition)

(6) Reverend George W. Slater Jr. 1909. The New Abolitionists. Chicago Daily Socialist (January 4 edition)