Liberation Theology and Marxism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Liberation Theology and Marxism - Essay Example By contrast, Marxism is an earthbound ideology, content to reward or punish those in the here and now based on their support of the ideals of fairness, equality and the distribution of wealth. Both Christianity and Marxism are fundamentally concerned with promoting the general welfare and improving the lives of the vast majority of the world's citizens, yet both have suffered as much damage to their credibility from followers as from opponents. The extreme and selfish proponents of these ideologies have severely undermined their cause through the organization of vast bureaucracies that leave precious little time for doing the real work of making lives easier. At the same time, both Christianity and Marxism have a long history of supressing dissident voices and violently repressing infidel movements. Marxist liberation theology as applied to Latin American countries that were systematically exploited first by and then for European, and later American, interests has long been viewed a s an ideological threat to traditional Christian liberation theology. ... Since Christian liberation entailed not just applying to the needs of the oppressed, but also to inculcating an ideology that coerced followers to view the Church and its leaders as infallible, the only possible conclusion one can make is that is that while it is a contradiction to speak of a Christian Marxist, the contradiction lies in the fact that Marxism is much closer to Christ's original intentions for the human race than the religion that was founded in His name. Pope John Paul II directly addressed the issue of liberation theology during the course of his Papacy; not surprising considering that he had first-hand experience with the worst excesses of the perversion of Marxism as practiced under Soviet-dominated totalitarianism. Recognising that Christianity in its purest form had much in common with Marxism in its purest form, Pope John Paul II wisely avoided condemnation of Marxist liberation theology's desire to find a common ground between Christian charity and missionary work and Marxist economics designed to liberate the working classes. It was not the Marxist preoccupation with the incompatibility of capitalist economics and social welfare that John Paul found objectionable. Rather the Pope pointed to the limitations of Marxist liberation; the liberation was not of human suffering, nor the soul, but merely the liberation of one citizen from an undesirable economic circumstance. The question that Marxism doesn't answer, therefore, becomes what happens after the revolution How do the newly liberation people respond to the destruction of the class system. Even Pope John Paul II recognised that the end of Marxism was not