LIBERATION THEOLOGIES AND THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED
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Liberation Theologies
The liberation theologies of the United States refers to the great American movements of the nineteenth and twentieth century that promised new hope to the oppressed by taking power from the elite. The church had a noteworthy role in the liberation of the oppressed in the United States since the movements redefined their position in society by associating a divine purpose for every action. The Catholic Church was predominantly associated with the needs of the educated middle and upper-class white society of the period, and this led to conflicting interests among the role of advocacy for the oppressed. The liberation theologies of the United States and Latin America are significant for questioning the power dynamics in society and allowing plenty of revolution to begin in America that was only possible due to human action.
After the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Catholic Church interpreted the discovery as God's divine plan to give his people a new world. The modern world was supposed to be pure and free from the corruptions of the European Catholic Church. There were great immigrations from across Europe to the Americas where the indigenous population was treated as vermin occupying the new world. The years that followed were full of annihilation and elimination of the indigenous groups in wars fought under the divine notion supported by the church.
Racial discrimination was witnessed in the conquest of America as white Americans confronted Mexican settlers in the south as inferior. The white Americans were interested in domination of the new world regardless of who they had to evict (Floyd-Thomas and Pinn, 2010, 62). The Spanish colony was forced to cede its territory in Florida as more Latin Americans were denied any right to their indigenous land. The indigenous population was subject to social restrictions before they decided to act and seek their own liberalization.
The minority groups in the Americas such as women and people of color began to organize themselves in the twentieth century to recover their human rights. The Catholic Church in America retained its bias practices due to the benefits acquired from supporting white Americans. The minority was motivated to break free and form their protestant church that supported their rights and interests. The early 1980s marked a critical period in the development of the Protestant Theology in the Americas to work in favor of the minority groups and resist white Americans oppression. The new social structure of America had distributed power equally among all the citizens as women, and other minority groups had the same rights as the whites in the United States.
There are several thematic connections between Liberation Theologies and Theater of the Oppressed by showing special support to the poor and working on empowerment from the base. Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed shows that all humans have five essential elements which include sensitivity, movement, emotion, rationality, and gender. All humans are cultural producers of what need to survive, and those at the base of society are equally important in forging the community. The human essence in everyone highlights their potential in becoming part of a creative society regardless of their social status.
Theatre has an important role in the Liberation of Theologies since it splits the human capacity into observers and actors. Routinely, everyone can be an observer performing a passive role in society by watching the injustices conducted by those in power. However, the theatre of the oppressed requires everyone in the audience to act and watch the impact of their actions without fear of failure. The role of theatre in this liberation introduces people to the function of being reflexive in society by acting on certain realities such as the ones observed in the liberation theologies of the United States.
Theatre in the life of people introduces change and creativity that are valuable in the life of human beings. The capacity of human beings to act upon certain injustices in the society requires the ability to introduce change in a creative manner. The different actions performed from the theatre of the oppressed facilitate an individual’s capability to learn about their body and apply the focus gained on specific duties. The aspect of self-observation is deemed central to humanity as more people need to conduct the art in order to practice proper acts in society. Similarly, the poor people in the American society of the twentieth century required to know the possibilities of eliminating their social oppression.
The movements in the twentieth century required the minorities to device problem-solving processes to overcome their oppressors. In the context of the liberation theologies, biblical oppression requires solutions in the same line. Thus, the development of the Protestant church to contest the atrocities of the Catholic Church was an excellent solution to counter the divine oppression by white Americans in the United States. The theatre of the oppressed fosters awareness among the people to initiate dialogue and formulation of solutions from the discussions held about the social situations around them.
Among the activities performed from the theatre of the oppressed is the act of drawing a circle with one hand in the air and drawing a cross with one leg in the air (Boal and McBride, 2008, 5). The act is particularly difficult to perform since the mind cannot coordinate to opposite functions at the same time. Thus, every time one tries to perform the act, and one action is ruined by the performance of the other simultaneously. In the case of the liberation theologies, efficient performance would include focusing on a single element of the social situation, resolve it and then move on to the next task for progress to be achieved. Hence, the activity taught in most workshops educates people to prioritize when conducting certain functions in society.
Social justice works involved in this movement for the liberation theologies of the United States include advocacy for the rights of oppressed groups. The twenty-first century is the period when the rights of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) have been fully acknowledged (Floyd-Thomas and Pinn, 2010, 181). In the twentieth century, the LGBT group was treated as a social disorder that required treatment through psychological interventions. However, society has advanced its view of the group, and individuals displaying signs or intentions of joining the association are not attacked due to their social freedom of expression and association. Liberation in the American society is progressive as more people join the fight for social justice in support of the rights of the oppressed.
The United States has special churches that support and advocate for gay marriages in the twenty-first century as the social works of liberation are progressive. The early twentieth century is a period when the church was seen as an advocate with special interests; presently, the American church is an institution that acknowledges the need for social justice in all areas. The church has transitioned from the role of simple encouragement and advancement of charity operations to playing significant roles in distributive social justice. Distributive social justice employs the tools of self-observation and planned actions as practiced from the activities in the theatre of the oppressed.
Throughout the twenty-first century, the American states have witnessed continuous urbanization and industrialization that enhances the powers of people to call for economic, social and political equality. Every member of society has a voice in the United States regardless of their race, social class or level of education due to the ongoing liberations. For the church to retain its position of influence, the social institute has changed over time and continued to use its religious appeal in guiding the social movements of today.
References
Boal, A. and McBride, C.A.L., 2008. Theatre of the Oppressed. London: Pluto Press: 2-34.
Floyd-Thomas, S.M. and Pinn, A.B. eds., 2010. Liberation Theologies in the United States: An Introduction. NYU Press: 62-200.