People nowadays are tired of perennial poverty both material as well as spiritual. These people, upon experiencing these in every year, are trying to seek for a total alternative. And one of which examples is to go to church and pray, seeking for a miracle.
However,
Not all things are end up through prayers. Since praying does not rally give material support but of a spiritual wealth and guidance to help. That in the end, people were starting to question about themselves, their faith, and event their own fate as working people.
The church, on the other hand, was also questioning about their actions towards people. Especially abouyt their plight and a need for a support. History tells us that the church at that time became tainted with absolute corruption, benefiting from their conservatism, that some of the clergymen are starting to question about it, and even starting to read again their bible and at the same time examining the social crisis.
To a churchman, many reasons regarding their idea arise. Like "we're doing this according to the bible," "we're doing what the lord says," or "we're doing anything according to what Jesus Christ said."
Well...
These churchmen, despite telling anything to the laity in an overspiritualized manner, are still doing a task to alleviate popular misery, of poverty in particular, not just according to the bible-but also through scientific and logical means, or in other words in a materialist perspective.
But anyway,
Anything regarding faith and liberty starts in the scripture being written. People may interpret it "left," "right," or even "center." And one example is:
Matthew 10:34 - "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword"
And perhaps, people around us may interpret Christ's quotation hardly, stressing much on the word "sword" in that phrase, only to interpret it that Christ wanted not just peace but rather social justice by social revolutionary means; to be lead by the oppressed against the oppressor. And we all know that these people are waiting for a political messiah, but God sent instead a spiritual one, whose message, despite its spiritual rhetoric, lies a political meaning in to it, as well as calling for the liberation of mankind from oppression.
Therefore,
Christianity originally does not meant to be a "religion," or focused much on "faith" and on "spiritual" emphasis, but rather on social action and liberation, or in other words-a "revolution" that makes ever churchman likely to examine and interpret the society scientifically and to revolt against the age old cloister-centric traditions, especially the corrupted policies of the age old hierarchy and so forth.
In my idea, this so-called "revolt from tradition" against a corrupted, apathetic hierarchy lies a call for a "drastic" changes all in the name of faith and of the people. How would you imagine a clergyman or a laity joined in the ranks of the militant struggle, of becoming worker, of becoming peasant, of practising their faith by working along with them, including a right to defend during their strikes and calling for fairness by all means necessary. Since they ought to practise their faith by integrating themselves to the people-all for the salvation of the masses, especially the working class.
As what the segment of the hook "German theories of the corporate state", entitled "Social Catholicism," it says that:
"The churchmen, scholars, publicists, social workers and politicians who became the leaders of Social Catholicism were moved primarily by religious and humanitarian impulses...ways would be found to alleviate the popular misery."
But Social Catholicism at that time seemed to be trying to counter the Socialist movement as they try to negate class struggle although the "Social Problem" that they saw had its roots from working class discontent. Few churchmen perhaps may say that "There is a need to read Marx, Engels and at the same time of the Bible, to organize dialogue with the communists, and to alleviate popular misery through revolutionary means and not of the traditional ones."
Surely, churchmen like Camilo Torres, being "moved" by faith and humanitarian impulses made him a communist rebel, and his analysis about the society made him speak like activists do, of "expropriating" property from the capitalists to the masses, of land to the tillers, of independence- that made him forced to "defrock", but his idea remained still as he moved underground to liberate man from both temporal and spiritual suffering! Or even Martin Luther King Jr. whose sermons in the congregation urges people to stand up for their rights and urges them also for the white Americans to recognize the blacks as equal and at the same time as a community since "separate but equal" politics in the United States at that time was not really "equal" for the blacks and even other minorities in that country. And Martin Luther King Jr's teachings regarding equality were all based both from the bible and from realty.
Faith lies freedom, and faith with struggle leads to freedom. Faith, through its scriptures, lies total social action, including a call for reform the church and an active support for people's emancipation. For, as members of the faithful, we identify much of people's suffering, and as we read, listen, or speak what comes from the scripture lies a curtain call to participate into the people's struggle; the commitment to the struggle for national liberation and international revolution is a once expression, and a vocation to help build god's kingdom and a paradise we wanted to do. And using Christ and other martyrs, saints and activists as an example, of offering our lives for redemption lies in resurrecting the struggle of oppressed peoples, for sure in fulfilling these tasks also give flesh and blood to our faith, and also to the people we support.
