Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Many “escape theology” rallies in places like El Salvador are funded by like-minded
Christians in the US. The sermon here would promote these principles: Heaven and
earth are separate. Wealth is a blessing, and poverty is God's will. Be obedient to au-
thority, both church and political. Accepting your place in life is a key to your salvation.
When you die, you'll be rewarded in heaven.
a social and economic structure that
keeps them poor.
In the 1990s, after the peace
accords ended the Civil War, this
revolutionary movement morphed
into a political party (FMLN), and the
Christian Base Communities slowly
lost their vibrancy. Today, Liberation
Theology seems dormant as a politi-
cal force. The progressive side of the
Catholic Church has been tamed.
Instead, there's been a resurgence
of “escape theology”—the apolitical
yin to Liberation Theology's yang—in
the form of fundamentalism. North
American televangelists supplement
this empire-friendly approach to Chris-
tianity by inspiring their followers to
send money so the downtrodden south
of our border can be taught to “just
say no” when it comes to the political
struggle for dignity. The charismatic,
US-friendly Pentecostal faith—with an
emphasis on building a personal rela-
tionship with Christ, rather than deal-
ing with the root causes of economic
injustice—is also booming. This “suf er
now, enjoy later” theology keeps the
opiate in religion. These days, in many
El Salvador churches, it's taboo to talk
politics. When it comes to economic
injustice, don't ask why.
Traveling—whether in Christian,
Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist lands—you
see how religion injects passion into
local politics. Lessons learned on the
road tend to give me both empathy for
people's struggles and a respect for
the importance of separation of reli-
gion and state. Just as I oppose prayer
in school in the US, I don't like it when
a Muslim society becomes a theocracy
and legislates morality according to
Quranic values. Yet when a politicized
Church (such as the one that stood by
the revolutionaries of Central America
in the 1980s) fi ghts for economic jus-
tice, I fi nd myself rooting for the politi-
cization of religion. My heart makes my
politics inconsistent.
