Theological Laundry

The brand of theology I love and am working on is called liberation theology. It comes in different stripes, varying by the experiences that gave rise to the theology. And therein is the first key: liberation theology begins with a people's lived experience (particularly of oppression), reflects on the presence and power of God in that experience, and tries to discern God's will through that experience, particularly God's will for the liberation of the people. Black theology, feminist theology, womanist theology, Latina/o and mujerista theology, native American theology, queer theology, African theology, Latin American theology, Asian theology ... it's a long list, unfortunately, because particular experiences of oppression are legion.

Liberation theologies often begin with what Ada María Isasi-Díaz calls "the cry of the oppressed." This cry names and denounces the form and sources of oppression, and calls for the justice that liberates. As I began learning liberation theologies, I was struck by what seemed to me their rightness and intrinsic authority. And then I began to wonder ... "What is the cry of the oppressor?"

Put simply, how do I love my neighbor as myself if I and other selves like me have been treating the neighbor wrong? How can I move from being the enemy to being one who loves?

The theology I am working on through this dissertation will try to answer that question; this, too, will be a liberation theology. So, it begins where liberation theologies begin ... with experience. My own experience as a white female child growing up in South Texas is not irrelevant. My personal and social history grounds my theologizing; some of the things I know about God -- some that are important to this theological project -- I would not know if I had not had those experiences.

But the experiences are not always pretty. Every life includes a mixture of oppression and privilege, and describing my own experiences means putting what some would call "dirty laundry" out for the world to see. (There may be some comfort in the fact that dissertations have a very small readership!) That's not easy. Fear and shame arise immediately. But I am not the first person to face these particular demons. To paraphrase one of my heros, Audre Lorde, our silences do not save us.

And then there was that man from Nazareth, who said "you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Time to do the laundry.