Universality of Liberation Theology: One is Equal to All and All are Equal to One Dr. Saied Reza Ameli Presented in IHRC

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Universality of Liberation Theology One is Equal
to All and All are Equal to OneDr. Saied Reza
AmeliPresented in IHRCs conference on
Towards a New Liberation Theology Reflections
on Palestine12th June 2005
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Why Liberation Theology?

• Religion can not be neutral even if it is
  secular?!
• Religion exists to save people from any
  deprivation and life disturbance.
• Religion has to solve individual as well as
  social problems
• It should by dynamic, otherwise it will die
• Science can not be neutral even if it is secular
  science is alive if it reduces the pain

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Theology and Isolation

• Theology gradually became a topic of debate
  amongst clerics, abstract from ordinary life
  because of two isolations
• Isolation of theology from public life
• Isolation of people from social products of
  religion.
• These two isolations turned religion into a
  historical context which turned out to be museum
  types of ideas.

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End of All Past Production

• While in the age of globalization, the trend for
  endness became archetype for presentation of
  all new ideas, it seems society needs to return
  to the human origin to purify all impurities have
  been dominated the life.
• One such return is a return to the involvement of
  religion in politics. Liberation theology was
  considered as a turning point for
  repoliticization of religion and an action for
  desecularization of politics (Levine, 1990229).

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Concept of Liberation Theology

• Liberation theology is an attempt for liberating
  people of the world from poverty and oppression.

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Sociology of Liberation

• On the other hand the sociology of Liberation is
  also a consciousness raising concept among the
  oppressed society.
• It is perhaps more than merely consciousness
  raising, which has moved the sociology of
  liberation to an activist type of work rather
  than an academic discipline of thought.
• That activity is not on behalf of the oppressed,
  but it is achieved by learning to see the world
  from their perspective and joining with them.
• Liberation sociology means joining the
  Palestinian homeless and the Palestinians who
  have lost their children, fathers and mothers, so
  as to understand what homelessness in your own
  home means.

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Liberation Theology and Latin America

• In the academic and activist literature
  Liberation Theology introduced as a Christian
  Leftist Movement which emerged in Latin American.
• Since emergence of liberation theology, it has
  become a unique and permanent political movement
  throughout Latin America from Mexico to Chile,
  from Nicaragua to Brazil, this movement has been
  politically effective in merging together
  traditional, religious values with a commitment
  to social activism on behalf of the poor and
  Oppressed (Pottenger, 1989).

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Not only in Latin America

• For Jim Tuck1 (2005) Liberation theology didn't
  begin with the Berrigan brothers or Bishop Ruiz,
  but it goes back to l5th and l6th centuries. A
  remarkable man Las Casas devoted the greater part
  of his 92 years on earth to ameliorating the
  non-Caucasian people who lived in the vast
  Spanish empire.
• In reality liberation theology emerged by divine
  prophet such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus and
  Finally Mohammad.
• The were all fathers to the poor and they came to
  support the oppressed.

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Why Liberation Theology Emerged?

• For Harvey Cox (2005) Liberation theology was
  largely a response to the three coexistent
  social, religious and philosophical change in
  Latin America.
• First, worsening social and economic conditions
  for the majority of people in Latin America in
  the 1950s created a desire and expectations for
  change.

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Why Liberation Theology Emerged?

• Secondly, the structural causes of poverty were
  addressed in Latin American dependency theory,
  and class-based inequities were identified in
  Marxist critiques of capitalist systems. By the
  late 1950s a revolutionary climate was apparent
  in the region, exemplified by the Cuban
  Revolution of 1959.
• The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was the
  third Major reason. Pope John XXIII opened the
  council by expressing the hope that the Catholic
  Church might become once againthe church of the
  poor.

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Two Important Nostalgias

• Liberation theology is a response towards two
  important local and global nostalgias
• The first and the most important one is nostalgia
  for justice.
• The second one is nostalgia of metaphysical
  values.

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How would Liberation Theology work Universally
and be Effective for Palestine

• liberation theology requires three major elements
  to work as a Universal Solution
• Return to God
• Selflessness
• Centrality of Justice

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1. Return to God

• We are all far from God whether we are Muslims,
  Christians or Jews
• If we are not fair to God, we can not be fair to
  ourselves and we cannot be fair to others.
• To liberate Palestinians, one needs to see them
  as creatures of the same God and one needs to see
  them as members of their own community.
• This requires Liberating other followers of faith
  and force the International Community to
  liberate God from any attachment to Chosen
  Community.
• The only Chosen People are the oppressed and the
  poor and everyone are responsible to them.

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Return to God and righteous act

• This will effect our practices on the earth about
  ourselves and others So whoever expects to
  encounter his Lord, let him act righteously, and
  not associate anyone with the worship of his Lord
  (Surat Al-Kahf, Verses, 110).

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Universality of Gods Perception

• God has fragmented to many Gods Muslims, Jews
  and Christians and other religions divided God
  metaphorically to variety of God community
  which means my God is different to your God.
• This does indeed effect consciously and
  unconsciously our relationship with creatures of
  God.
• It effects our sympathy and commitment to the
  pain of people.
• Whether or not they are members of our
  Community of God?

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Divinity and Mankind

• According to all divine messages there is no
  differences between people except by their level
  of closeness to God
• O mankind! Indeed We created you from a male and
  female, and made you nations and tribes that you
  may identify with one another. Indeed the noblest
  of you in the sight of Allah is the most God
  weary amongst you. Indeed Allah is all-knowing,
  all-aware (Surat Al-Hujarat, versus 13)1.
• 1 ?? ????????? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ? ???? ?
  ??????? ????? ? ????? ????????? ?? ?????? ???????
  ??????? ?? ???? ???? ???? (???????? ??? 13)

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2. Selflessness and caring

• Selflessness, minimization of personal desires
  and dogmatic attachments to nationality,
  ethnicity and even religion are major
  requirements for caring for oppressed and poor
  people.
• This needs avoiding all things which can be
  considered as selfishness.
• Self here is not only a person, but it can
  cover all collective centralities such as
  Eurocentrism, Americocentrism and Zionism, which
  cause demolishing and destruction of others for
  the price of supporting the self.

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Selflessness

• Selflessness is a divine and mystical soul of all
  divine religions which brings Gods spirit to all
  aspects of life. Consequently, such ambition
  motivates ones caring tendencies, and even the
  sacrificing of life for others, rather than
  dominating, marginalizing, torturing and
  executing others.
• Here is where the Palestinian problem becomes a
  global issue for all human beings who care about
  others, here is the position at which all
  become equal to one and one becomes equal to
  all here is the position at which one can
  observe unity within diversity and diversity
  within unity.

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3. Centrality of Justice

• Decentralization of ethnicity and centralization
  of Justice for all human beings is another major
  element of the Universality of Liberation
  Theology. Here is the position which advocates
  sociological approach to the liberation of the
  Palestinian people.

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The Chosen Society is the Oppressed Society

• Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said Shall I let you
  know about the kings of the Heaven? Every
  powerless deprived1.
• 1 ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ? ??? ???
  ?????? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ??????
  (?????????? 5943).

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Future of the World

• In Islam the future is in the hands of those whom
  kept the powerless deprived. It is articulated
  that And We desired to show favour to those who
  were deprived in the land, and to make them
  Imams, and to make them the inheritors1.
• 1 ? ???? ?? ??? ??? ????? ???????? ?? ????? ?
  ?????? ???? ? ?????? ???????? (???? ?????? 5).

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Injustice and Corruption of the World

• Imam Ali said Injustice is the mother of all
  sins1.
• Imam Ali said Injustice is destructive force2
• Imam Ali said Oppressing the poor is worst
  injustice3.
• 1 ??? ??? ???? ?????? ????? ???? ???????
  (????????? 804)
• 2 ??? ??? ???? ?????? ????? ????? (?????????
  6)
• 3 ??? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ?????
  (??? ???????? ?????? 31)

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UN Statistic

• Palestinian refugees (about 5 million) represent
  approximately 18 of the total number of refugees
  in the world.

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Food Insecurity in Palestine

• Food security in the occupied Palestinian
  territory. Levels of food insecurity in the
  occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) are high.
• Over a million Palestinians are food-insecure,
  and another 975,000 are at risk of becoming so.
• This food insecurity is caused primarily by
  Israels closure policy and movement
  restrictions, which have resulted in massive
  increases in unemployment and underemployment (up
  to 30 in the West Bank and 40 in the Gaza
  Strip). (Source Humanitarian Practice Network)

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Conclusion Word

• According to Universal Liberation Theology, the
  issue of Palestine can not come to any positive
  conclusion unless world society can globally move
  to change the oppressive trend of the world.

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Caring about Others

• This trend will not come to any end unless world
  society can end selfishness by returning to the
  God and have great ambition to stand for justice
  not only because of justice but because this is
  the order of God
• God determinate Justice in Returning to God and
  only God.

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Alarm and Hope

• Dont forget that injustice is turning around,
  today it might be far from Us, but tomorrow it
  will be on Our doorstep,
• Today Palestine, Tomorrow your home.
• I am optimistic to the world, because I can see
  the dissident culture is expanding. Dissident to
  all injustice to all immoral behavior.
  Lets wish for a day which there is no
  oppression, there is no poverty, and there is
  nothing but peace, trust and sympathy.