Travelogue #11, Liberation Theology, El Salvador

Hi Dear Friends and Family,

The earthquake we felt a few days ago was minor and didn´t do any damage. It was much stronger in Guatemala, but apparently no one was hurt. Mom, Dad, and I are fine.

We’ve been learning about the oppression and poverty of the Salvadorian People by going to visit different individuals and groups working for social justice. For example yesterday we had a group discussion with a Catholic doctor / sister who graphically showed us issues with HIV/AIDS here in Central America. In the morning we met with a Catholic priest who is literally putting his life on the line to help empower the poor of his parishes to improve their own situations through base communities. If he hasn’t already been receiving death threats, he probably will be as the two priests before him were murdered by the government for doing similar work.

Liberation theology is a preferential option for the poor, and looking at how societal structures can be changed through giving impoverished people the language and conceptual tools to start to work for their own betterment. It is radical, revolutionary, and a great threat to the U.S. Government and the few wealthy who live here.

I studied social justice and liberation theology over twenty years ago, but it continues to be challenging, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. I need to ask myself several questions including, what am I doing to change the U.S. Government to make it more just and less oppressive of poor people both within our borders and in Latin America and the rest of the world? The U.S. Government still teaches torture at the “School of the Americas” (now renamed but doing the same work) in the State of Georgia. What is being done with my tax dollars and how am I working to change that? How does my lifestyle rely upon the enslavement of poor people including migrant workers and oppressed foreign workers who are not paid living wages? You may wish to ask yourself some of the same hard-hitting questions.

To see a few pictures and to read a little bit more from Charish Badzinski, a freelance writer who is accompanying us on this trip, please check out http://gate-travel.org/Articles/El_Salvador_Blog