20SP_RE201A-CI-Christianity

This lesson intrigued me because of how much history plays a role in the current Christian beliefs of Latin America. Learning about how oppression shaped the views of Christians was very interesting. 

I was completely surprised about the history & in depth details on poverty.

I am confused on how fighting the greed and corruption in America will do anything for these countries. I completely understand fighting for your people and helping with a poverty issue, but I dont think that the root cause is coming from America. 

I believe that liberation theology is beautiful but I also do not understand why those that come from the areas of American oppression fluctuate to America. I know this may sound ignorant but why come to the snake that is terrorizing your people.  If you are standing up against poverty in your nation you should stay there and stand strong. 

I was surprised by the two conflicting arguments about poverty, just as I was surprised to hear about the ideas on poverty from the Pentecostal televangelists. My whole life I have always heart things like "money is the root of all evil" and the verse about how it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle. Before this class, I did not know that people rejected poverty as a sin or punishment using Christian-based reasoning. I was baffled but also very intrigued to read about all of the different perspectives on poverty and liberation theology.

Not only did the cultural blinking surprise me of having to pick a side in Christianity but also how so many different people had their own version of Christianity 

It was interesting to find out that there are so many different meanings by so many different people on what it means to be a Christian. Im sure if you asked more people you would get even more different answers. The idea of liberation theology is very interesting itself, and the use of the Bible to decry the greed of Western nations could be used in so many different applications. The exploitation of Central America has created an entire theological discussion, and it is rightfully placing the blame on greed.

How on Earth is the historical and current violence inflicted upon Central America by the U.S. completely left out of the national discussion on immigration? Even the most pro-immigration politicians won't talk about the real reasons why there is a large number of immigrants coming to America. From Teddy Roosevelt to Obama and Trump, the U.S. has viewed large swaths of destitute people in Central America as an economic gift, and has taken whatever violent means it takes to either place or maintain dictatorships in power. 

I'm now realizing when separation of church and state is invoked and when it's not. It's convenient for congress to use the bible when making decisions on abortion and lgbt human rights, but it's not convenient when making decisions about foreign policy and military affairs. 

I also really enjoyed the discussion about dependency theory, Angela Davis applies this model to individuals in her book Women, Race, and Class to show who we deem as dispensable, surplus people.

I had no idea about the story of Guatemala, John Foster Dulles, and the United Fruit Company. What is so shocking for me is how much in common that story has with what else we learned in the lecture. I am glad that the Catholic Church, its followers, and its Pope made those bold efforts to strive to make the christian way vibrant across the globe, and not just across particular parts. 

Although almost unavoidable, I thought it was very brave of the Catholic Church to stand up against the exploitation of the Latin American people. It is always dangerous to go against those in positions of power, especially entire countries, but the Catholic Church made the right decision. It is sad to see that this use of exploitation is common throughout history, but it is good to know that there are people who fight injustice.

Something I learned new was the whole theology that to be a true Christina meant to pick sides.  This is an example of cultural blinker that arose out of their particular situation of being oppressed and treated unfairly.  I think it makes sense that these people would want the church behind them because God cared for people in unfair, oppressed positions.  It is nice for these people to have someone that is on their side and cares about their well being.  What I do not know is that a church really has the power to save these people... I think there has to be a policy change there.