3. Liberation Theology Spreads, Part 2

The United States

Although persons and places have changed in the last twenty years, progressive Marxism in the form of liberation theology is still with us in economics, politics and religion. We continue with part two, the spread of liberation theology in the United States.

The Clergy
Under the caption, “American Clergy and Totalitarian Regimes,” Human Events (Dec. 3, 1988) described the attitude of the U. S. clergy during the Latin American Revolution, supported by the Soviets.

For reasons that are difficult to comprehend, many American clergymen, when they move from their religious vocation and regimes to discussing world affairs, show a marked tendency to defend and apologize for totalitarian regimes.

Consider their attitude toward the Sandinista regime, which has embarked upon a campaign of religious persecution…yet, rather than denounce religious persecution, many of our own religious leaders and groups have defended the Sandinista government. The National Council of Churches issued a statement entitled, ‘No Religious Persecution in Nicaragua.’ “The statement declared, ‘Reports of repression of religion in Nicaragua are exaggerated and are part of a general trend in the U. S. to discredit the Nicaraguan government.’

At about the same time, 525 bishops representing the 70-million-strong Anglican Communion met in Great Britain and gave their blessing to terrorism and the use of violence for political ends. This gathering…included 127 bishops from the U. S.

Why, in the battle between freedom and tyranny, are churches so often on the wrong side? This is a question that should trouble the men and women in the pews of churches that have turned the gospel on its head in an effort to be ‘relevant,’ not to the word of God but to the trendy politics of the movement. ”

This is unthinkable, but I can affirm that it is true. While researching and writing my book on this subject, I received little help from fellow-ministers, simply because we were on different sides – so many of they had bought this church-clad Marxism while I had opposed it.

The Reformed Church
The headquarters of the Reformed Church is in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is Allen Boesak’s church. (Remember Allen Boesak? He’s the pastor who wanted revolutionaries for members in his South African church, even if they were atheists). The Reformed Church was once known for its solid stand on the Word of God, but now it has accepted LT with its distorted interpretation of the Word.

Publishers
Orbis Books of Catholic Maryknoll Mission is the foremost publisher of LT books in the United States. Friends Press, the Quaker publisher, has completely gone over to LT and environmentalism. William B. Eeerdmans Publishing Co. of Grand Rapids, publisher of great Christian books for decades, has turned to publishing books on LT, feminism and ecology. Eeerdmans is the Protestant counterpart of Catholic Paulist Press. Sometimes they publish jointly, as in the case of Arthur Simon’s book, Bread for the World. (Simon is the founder and for years the executive–secretary of a lobby group in Washington that doesn’t give a loaf of bread to anyone but instead collects millions from churches, and lobbies congress to pass all sorts of social spending bills.) Many others are pushing liberation theology books also.

The Civil Rights Movement
The American Civil Rights Movement has been greatly influenced by Marxist socialism. Jesse Jackson has been one of the most influential leaders of this movement. A number of years ago a Peruvian terrorist, a Maoist revolutionary, along with his guerillas were devastating Peru. He, like the other drug dealers, hid out and couldn’t be captured. But one day they caught and imprisoned him. A petition was sent out for signatures, demanding his release. I saw a copy of the petition and was not surprised to see that Jessie Jackson, along with a number of university professors and other influential people had signed it. Jackson’s protests, marches, strikes and shake downs are highly motivated by the Marxist philosophy of “spreading the wealth around.” This is an Obama quote, but Marx and Jackson said it first.

The Feminist Movement
Women picked up the Marxist philosophy and the LT parlance, and their new-found faith spread like the latest fashion from Paris. Some became all heart and wanted to give the world to the poor, while others became aggressive and controlling, disrupting the tranquility of their churches. Their “new affection” had expelled their lovely, gentle manner and turned them into secular materialists. By the time the Soviet Union fell, socialism and liberation theology had become deep-rooted in society. The women were deceived and changed by this experience; some were disillusioned and joined the drift toward socialism, led by their church organizations and national leaders. Do you realize how rapidly and how far our nation and churches have drifted in this direction? Deception is the better part of Marxism.

Women’s Study Groups
In my research, I noticed some words that the liberationists have brought into vogue in Latin America and South Africa, which were showing up in our church literature—words such as praxis (practice or doing and seeing results, i.e., “doing theology”) and kairos (the opportune time). The former word suggested replacing biblical theology with practicable theology (as if biblical theology is not feasible) and the latter referred to a theology for the present political crisis. The women of the churches used these revolutionary words in their classes, not knowing where they had come from or exactly what they meant in their contexts. For a while their theology was a praxis theology and every moment was a kairos moment! But when the Soviet Union fell and Latin America and South Africa stopped using these words, which also disappeared from the women’s literature. This was only liberationist jargon. These are good words but they were exploited for Marxist use. The women of the churches went right along, keeping step with both the Marxists and the liberationists. Why are people so gullible and so prone to follow passing fad?

Peace and Ecology Movements
Peace and Ecology Movements, ranging from Greenpeace to the Mennonites and Quakers, have gone completely over to Marxist theory of liberation. Two words have became very popular in these movements—peace and justice. “Peace” meant the cessation of anti-communist resistance and allowing the Marxist to establish socialism, and “justice” meant the elimination of capitalism and the distribution of wealth to the poor. American Christians picked up these words and used them as if suddenly they understood them for the first time. They harped on peace and justice without understanding what these meant in their context, just as the women used praxis and kairos.

The list could go on and on. That which was once an “exciting new theology,” is now so entrenched and familiar that it has become the norm. But you must remember that it is still religious Marxism. As Lenin predicted, Marxist philosophy has been “dressed up in religious clothes and accepted by the church.”

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Response to Liberation Theology Introduction: “Lacy, this is a lot to take in, but what a challenge.... love Betts.” (This will no doubt be the case with others, but those who accept the challenge for the next few weeks will be the ones who understand what is happening in the dark world of postmodern theology, and will shine the light of Christ upon it; stay with me. LW)