Act Balancing Christian Conflict Contemporary Liberation Obligation

The Qur'an instructs Muslims to discuss and deliberate as a means of confronting and solving problems (known as the obligation of shura, or consultation), but for these deliberations to be genuine and meaningful, a measure of humility and self-awareness is necessary (Q. 3:159; 42:38;). Moreover, one of the central themes of the Qur'an is the normative obligation of enjoining what is good and resisting what is bad or evil (al-amr bi'l ma'ruf wa al-nahy 'an al-munkar).

act balancing christian conflict contemporary liberation obligation

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The Thirty-second Jesuit General Congregation suggests new ways of loving our neighbor. Like the corporal works of mercy, social service meets immediate needs, as for example the Red Cross when it helps victims of a flood. Social action engages in social analysis and tries to analyze the causes of suffering. Is it strip mining that is the origin of sudden flooding? If it is, we engage in social action. When dialogue with the coal companies gets us nowhere, we lobby for strip mining legislation. Both social service and social action are necessary and complement one another. But social analysis and social action moves us beyond social service. We need to love our neighbor so much and so well that we're willing to examine and re-examine any structure that may be oppressing her or him.A structure is the way things are, the way we do things. Although society once had barter, now we use currency. Since there were not many horseless carriages in the beginning, automobiles managed on their own. Now we have stop signs and traffic laws.Business corporations today are structures with a life of their own. Corporations become objects that live on long after their founders have died. Today we have schools, advertising, sports, forms of government, attitudes, cultures that have become social structures. Present structures can be graced social structures or sinful social structures or mixed with some of both graced and sinful. Racial segregation in the United States was a sinful social structure. Small social action communities are graced social structures. Advertising can be a mixed social structure. There is an advantage in letting others know what you have for sale and the quality and price of the product. But the almost frantic push for greater profits leads 5th Avenue to put greater emphasis on material possessions than on personal relationships.To examine social structures, society needs social analysis. Jesuit training and education can engage in this analysis of the signs of our times. The Thirty-second General Congregation recognizes that one of the strengths of the Society of Jesus has been its training in spiritual discernment. Retreat work has always been a priority. Now spiritual direction can give the resources to discern what direction small social action communities can take. We need the courage to see the evil in ourselves and in our world.Decree Four of the Thirty-second Jesuit General Congregation advises Jesuits therefore to deepen their prayer life, to practice discernment, to analyze the structures, and to work to promote the basic rights of all, especially the poor and the powerless.Decree Four also calls Jesuits to theological reflection, "carried on in a context which is both interdisciplinary and genuinely integrated with the culture in which it is done." This I think leads Jesuits to peace studies which is now in several Jesuit Universities.The 32nd international meeting of the Society of Jesus decreed: "The grace of Christ enables and impels us to seek 'the salvation and perfection of souls'--or what might be called, in contemporary terms, the total and integral liberation of all, leading to participation in the life of God . .the local Jesuit community is an apostolic community, not inward but outward looking, its concern being the service it is called upon to give others." Not only does the Thirty-second Congregation list goals but a way of proceeding, communal apostolic discernment, "a transformation of our habitual patterns of thought through a constant interplay of experience, reflection and action." (no. 40) Jesuits need to be involved in the lives of the poor in order to know their joys and hopes, their grief and anxieties. Jesuits need to use intelligently social and cultural analysis. If Jesuits are faithful to the process, "we will then understand better how the service of faith and the promotion of justice are not two juxtaposed, much less conflicting, goals but a single commitment which finds its coherence and deepest expression in that love of God and love of neighbor to which God calls us in the One Great Commandment.? "One cannot act justly without love. Even when we resist injustice we cannot prescind from love, since the universality of love is, by the express desire of Christ, a commandment that admits of no exceptions." "To attain this universal love, we must continually learn how to seek God in faith, both for his own sake and as the abiding source of all justice and love." (no. 45)Truly we are technological giants, but are we moral infants? The Jesuits at the Thirty-second General Congregation again and again point to our free choices as the true cause of injustice. It's not the laws of economics which we have freely created. It's not our human nature. It's not our lack of intelligence. It's our lack of will. That's a spiritual problem.

A Campus Guide to Catholic Social Teaching in Action For the Campaign for Human Development Thinking with the Church, the Body of Christ in HistoryArchbishop Oscar Romero's episcopal motto was Sentir con la Iglesia "to feel or to think with the church." Romero often made the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Romero, however, led the Archdiocese of San Salvador as he saw fit. He was often in trouble with the Vatican and always in trouble with other Salvadoran bishops. What, then, did it mean to Romero to think with the Church? To think with the church meant to identify with the Body of the Risen Christ in history, sacrament of salvation in the world. To identify with the Church meant to embrace its mission, the mission of the Risen Jesus, to proclaim the Reign of God to the poor.The power of the Gospel is revealed in particular historical circumstances. In 1980 thinking with the Church demanded discernment that was attentive to the particular circumstances of the local Catholic community. Romero had a great capacity to listen, as though he wanted to be sure of the sensus fidelium, to see what the people thought. To think with the church meant to evangelize in concrete circumstances of the poor and powerless, exposing personal sin and sinful structures that pushed the poor aside, proclaiming and promoting the love and justice of the Reign of God, undeterred by repressive forces that served under another standard. It wasn't necessary to tell the campesinos that they were oppressed or who their oppressors were. Both were obvious.A great influence on Archbishop Romero was Fr. Rutilio Grande, S.J., leader of the Jesuit Pastoral team in Aguilares. Rutilio Grande followed the Fathers of the Church and Jesus himself by describing the reign of God as a banquet. The material world is like the table of the Eucharist, a common table, beautifully adorned, with room for everyone to pull up a chair.Monsenor Romero found himself with a choice: to continue to please the nuncio, whose reactions were informed by the reactionary sector of Salvadoran society, or to support his clergy, whose concerns were those of the suffering people. Romero opted for unity with the priests and with the poor majority of the people. When the clergy wrote in support of the archbishop, they entitled their statement "To touch the Archbishop is to Touch the Heart of the Church."Romero clearly condemned the institutionalized violence of an unjust society, the repressive violence of the state, and terrorist violence. In the pulpit Romero was transformed, captured by the Spirit, another man, completely different. The hospital where Romero stayed was a place of prayer, of consulting with God. Romero was manipulated; he was manipulated by God."The teaching of the Church demanded of Romero intellectual assent and much more. The teaching of the Church demanded that he read the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel. The teaching of the Church demanded that he pay attention to the concrete circumstances of the communities of the archdiocese and to the needs of Salvadoran society as a whole. The teaching of the Church called him to put himself on the line, to overcome his natural timidity, to identify himself with the church, the people of God, the Body of Christ in history. It called him to preach good news to the poor and to accept whatever conflict that might entail. Sometimes those conflicts were with members of the Church who understood its teaching differently, with the nuncio, who 'lives very far from the problems of our clergy and our humble people', with Vatican officials who were often misinformed, with oligarchs who absolutized their wealth, with solders who absolutized their power, or with members of political movements who absolutized their organizations.. . St. Ignatius's 'to be of one mind with the Church' would be 'to be of one mind with the Church incarnated in this people who stand in need of liberation.'" Fr. Douglas Marcouillere, S.J. "Archbishop with an Attitude, Oscar Romero's Sentir con la Iglesia." Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, 35/3, May 2003, p. 51.The Jewish Tradition and Peace with JusticeBelow is a talk by a Rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati given at Xavier during a discussion of Israel-Palestine."I would like to begin by thanking Father Ben for warmly welcoming me to Xavier and to this discussion. I also want to thank everyone for comingto this discussion tonight(Before I discuss the Jewish concepts of peace and justice, I wanted to quickly tell you who I am and what informs me. I am currently a rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, located across from the University of Cincinnati in Clifton. I grew up in Denver, Colorado where I spent most of my weekends during the winter on the ski slopes and my summers hiking in the mountains of Colorado. I graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in International Studies with a focus on Middle East. During my undergraduate experience I studied at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, located in Beersheva where I researched for and published with the Nigimin Center for Bi-National Research, the Negev Center for Regional Development, and Mutah University in Karach, Jordan on an evaluation of the Israeli-Jordanian Peace process. My research required me to spend significant time in Jordan - I have been there five times. After college I matriculated to HUC-JIR, which requires its first year students to study at our Jerusalem campus. After returning from studying in Jerusalem, I returned to Cincinnati where I currently serve a small 100 member synagogue in Winnipeg, Manitoba - on the weekends.)I may not be presenting on the same exact issues as Father Ben or Karen Dabdoub of the Muslim Community since I only found out that I was speaking yesterday, I want to make it clear to everyone here that if I do not cover an important subject, I am certainly open to your questions and I will try my hardest to answer them the best I can.The discussion of peace with justice must be understood through the lens of what causes strife. To attain peace and justice we must challenge or subvert the causes of conflict within our world.The root cause of conflict begins when individual or group needs for physical safety and well being, access to political and economic participation, cultural or religious expressions, are threatened or frustrated. Strife especially arises when one group is being unfairly disadvantaged compared to other groups.Conflicts between ethnic groups or nationalities begin when basic human needs, such as the need for physical security and well being, communal or cultural recognition, participation, and control, have accumulated to the point where one group is disadvantaged in relation to another. When this occurs, we should call this a lack of "human security."Therefore, human security is the best foundation upon which peace with justice can be built and sustained. Evidence suggests that the most secure states in the world are those that provide the greatest human security to their populations. Weak states are those that either do not, or cannot, provide human security.In a world where resources are finite, their supply is often distributed unevenly. Dominant groups enjoy adequate satisfaction of their needs; Non-dominant groups suffering privation. Property rights, jobs, scholarships, educational admissions, language rights, governmental contracts and development allocations all confer benefits on individuals and groups. In many societies competition over resources is at the very center of what begets strife.Generally, in the 21st century, it is the political state that provides physical and cultural safety and regulates political and economic access. Thus, the prime objective of any oppressed group (ethnic, cultural, or economic class) is the mobilization for the goal of political access. Typically, most non-dominant groups begin non-violent protests, which may escalate to violence, if their concerns are ignored.We need not look further than Cincinnati to find this very issue. Sure, we have not had race riots in Cincinnati in the past few years, everything is calm - - but I ask you, is there really Peace in this city? Is there justice? Strife is not the only indicator of a lack of peace or injustice. If people in power ignore the needs of the poor, you can say that there is calm but you can not say there is peace with justice.The denial of physical security, recognition of group identities, and access to scarce resources is largely regulated by the political state and not our religious theologies.So, when I turn on the news, read the newspaper, or browse internet news portals, and I see the economic injustices, the lack of health care for our citizens, the lack of equality for all people in the world - I do not think for a second that the people leading our political bodies are reading our sacred texts and then acting incorrectly. In reality, our sacred texts and theologies do not often inform the political process of our leaders. That isn't to say that politicians aren't crude enough to use religious symbols or theology to garner support for their political cause. They are. But the use of religious symbolism does not equate to acting with religious piety.In my religious tradition, the attainment of peace and justice is presented as a map. But, Judaism's sacred texts do not offer an analysis of any modern situation. Rather, Judaism offers a spiritual map and not a political solution.Furthermore, the religious traditions of any of the faiths presented (Christianity, Judaism, or Islam) are not responsible for the political conflicts that have dragged religion and theology into them. Just as most Muslims do not wish their theological positions on peace and justice to be represented by the fundamental Islam found in the hills of Afghanistan - which led to destruction in this country, or those who encourage children of fourteen and eleven years old to commit homicide bombings in Israel, Christians do not want their theological positions on peace and justice to be represented by the actions and precedent of the crusaders, Torqemoda in the inquisition, or even those right wing Christians who determined that the war in Iraq was supported by Christian theology. Likewise, Jews do not want their positions on peace and justice to be represented by minority groups of Jews in the West bank or various inappropriate and un-ethical actions of the political state of Israel.All three faiths could say that some of their religious symbolism, sacred texts, theology and faith have been hijacked for reasons that are not of the higher calling. Yet, how is this possible? How is it that the sacred texts of the different faith traditions could possibly be used for unjust means? Aren't the people who are causing ethnic strife in the name of our religions reading the same verses from scripture that we are.Here in lies the problem with the activity of blindly citing verse after verse of scripture and solely relying on scripture alone as the roadmap towards peace with justice. If fundamentalists use scripture to support their position and we disagree with it by responding with another biblical verse, there is an implication for us that violence is a result of either not reading correctly or being so unlucky that our traditions may not have the right verse to counter the religious fundamentalism.But the truth is that any scripture, the Koran, the Hebrew Scriptures, and the New Testament contains within it good and difficult verses - verses that can be understood as both loving and punishing, accepting and rejecting. Thus, the exercise of blindly citing verses in scripture is a truly empty exercise - because our collective scriptures are so vast that they often contain contradictory values. Let's face it, anything out of context can be read in any way. We must understand that scriptural verses ARE NOT the reason that people are killing each other or why there is poverty in the world.