African American religious history: liberation theology - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The Liberian women who fought relentlessly for restoration of peace are a clear indicator of liberation theology where the poor sacrifice for their fellow human beings. Three rival armies were struggling for power in Liberia although there were claims that the war was about the gap between the poor and the rich, ethnic differences, and the struggle for natural resources. During the war, children went hungry and they became traumatized of the killings and humiliations that were going on. Liberian women therefore started a peace initiative as Christian church members through collective prayers and unity. The initiative was extended to include their Muslim sisters, though this was opposed by a few church members. Meanwhile the warlords funded the young men and gave them guns and orders to take anything they wanted for survival. They killed their fellow human beings, and raped girls and women in front of their husbands, and totally degraded humanity. Through the initiatives, women pressurized pastors and bishops, who then pressurized the leaders and warlords for peace. They moved on to hold demonstrations with big burners written ‘We Want Peace’ in front of the warlords and Charles Taylor, the then president. These peace initiatives can be regarded as liberation theology, where the poor and oppressed women sacrificed lives to participate relentlessly towards the struggle for peace and restoration of humanity in Liberia. Liberation theology seeks to bring up awareness of individuals’ own suffering and their root cause. Liberation theology is also a reflection of the use of biblical themes and ideas of capitalist development used to cover up benefits of the powerful at the expense of the poor (Armentrout & Slocum 303). Religious Elements Present The religious elements present in Liberia are estimated to comprise eighty-five percent of the whole population Christians in combination with indigenous and traditional religions. A good percentage of the population practice indigenous and traditional Christian beliefs exclusively. Muslims also comprise a good percentage of the population though not as Christians do. There are a variety of Christian denominations such as Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Roman Catholic and many more alongside Pentecostal movements that are affiliated with other churches across the border. The Christian population is evenly widespread all over the country, while the Muslim population resides among the Vai and Mandingo groups. A huge percentage of foreign missionary population is evenly distributed all over the Liberian nation. The religious free distributions are supported by the Constitution of Liberia, which advocates for freedom of religion (Fahlbusch & Bromiley 266). Liberian women went ahead to get their husbands to start praying with them and to influence them to do whatever they could for peace restoration. They sent statements of appeal and even statements of demand to the administrations to reach an agreement and restore peace and humanity. Although Charles Taylor ignored them for a long time, their power and influence was so strong that he later gave in and agreed to meet with the women demonstrators. They prayed for the meeting and went to present their pleas to the Charles Taylor, who then saw that many supporters were behind the women. He agreed to go for the peace talks arraigned by the African delegates and the international community. After the peace talks, Charles Taylor was declared to have caused the war and suffering in Liberia and was to be arrested and accused of charges against human rights. The situation got worse, with more ...Download file to see next pages Read More