Over at Faith in Public Life.org comes this piece which discusses a recent symposium at a meeting of the American Academy of Religion in which Andrew Greeley displayed a remarkably paternalistic attitude toward developing theologies outside Europe. This is nothing new; in the Foreword to the 20th anniversary edition of his classic book A Black Theology of Liberation, James Cone noted that Greeley called Cone's book an example of "Nazi theology". That is hardly surprising; the evident anger in COne's work is a refreshing wind blowing through the aridity of scholarly theology. The text was not written for Greeley, and not even for me. It was a way of doing theology that grew out of the experience of being a person of color in a soceity dominated by white supremacy. It is a good example, however, of how the Roman Catholic Church has responded to indigenous theologies outside Europe in the last third of the 20th century. From Latin America through Africa and into Asia, theology has become a part of a broader struggle for life - it is a real life-and-death matter for many. Just ask Oscar Romero. Oops, can't do it, because he was gunned down by death squads trained by American advisors while saying mass.
Leonardo Boff was a Brazilian theologian and Franciscan brother. Threatened by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Boff continued to publish and was eventually forced out of the order and later left the priesthood. Other liberation theologians were similarly silenced in the Roman Church. Greeley's attitude - Third World theologians have to "take their ideas from us" (meaning western church leaders) - is a not-very-tame version of the same impulse. That we in the West and North of the world may have something to learn from voices that are vastly different from our own is simply outside the understanding of those who view theology as a settled matter, rather than a living, breathing thing, the result of a community's struggle with being Christian in a world that doesn't value those beliefs and practices.
I have been fortunate to have been exposed - just a bit, I grant you - to a variety of theologians not formed by western culture and society. I have met Gustavo Gonzalez, and had the little saint from Colombia lay his hands on me, a moment I shall never forget. I have drunk deep from the wells of fracno-phone theologian Eboussi Boulaga from Cameroon. Even North American theologian and professor of mine from Wesley Theological Seminary Josiah Young has been an inspiration to me, as he has struggled to find a voice that bridges the cultural rift of Afria and African-America. I have learned from them because their experiences are not mine, yet their faith is deep, their wisdom great, and their insights profound. I have learned, most of all, to do theology from life, not from doctrine and tradition. Theology serves life, as does the Church; we are not the products of the Church, but it is a result of us living and trying to figure it out as we go along.
Let us hope that there are others out there besides Andrew Greeley who can speak for a more humble, more open, and more inclusive vision of the Church as it moves further out into the world.
I can't get the durn link to link. Sorry.
Virtual Tin Cup
