The people of Flint can be described as ‘crucified’ insofar as their lives were considered dispensable by dominating systems of greed that consolidated and maintained power in the hands of predominantly white governance. They are ‘crucified people,’ … ‘Christ crucified in our time.’” ( Sobrino 2004, p. Referencing the words and lives of Bishop Oscar Romero and Ignacio Ellacuría he says, “The victims are more than victims. The residents of Flint, Michigan both are and are not the “crucified people”, as theologian Jon Sobrino talks about (See Sobrino 1994). While liberation theology and methodology undergirds the overall approach utilized in this project, the actual incident of poisoned water in a city within one of the wealthiest nations on earth contextualizes in complex ways some of the descriptors of “poor” and “oppressed” existent within liberationist discourse. Rooting the discussion in the actions and material responses of the community and of the clergy themselves invited us to listen and learn from each other, while also allowing the strength of those actions to flesh out a baptismal ethic. The flow was as follows: (1) reflection on actions taken in response to the Flint water crisis (2) reflection on the values communicated by those actions (3) reflection on the biblical texts and theological commitments that undergird those values (4) reflection on how the function and meaning of baptism informs and is informed by these biblical texts and theological commitments and (5) reflection on how the baptized outside of Flint can contribute to addressing the ongoing Flint water crisis. Instead of following a hermeneutic of seeing–judging–acting, we began with a list of actions from which to discern underlying values and theological commitments in order to reveal connections between the impact of toxic water experienced by the Flint community, responses taken by faith leaders, and baptism. The conversation structure followed a basic liberationist methodological framework, which was reverse-engineered. While the questions posed to guide the conversation drew from initial findings by Daley Mosier and Wymer, the fluid nature of conversation allows for a shared production of theological knowledge. 3 Inherent in this approach is an assumption that an ethic of baptismal solidarity manifests in tangible actions and advocacy for justice, as will be demonstrated below and further explored in the third section. 24) and (3) “tries to discover the courses of action that need to be followed so as to overcome oppression in accordance with God’s plan”. 24) (2) “tries to discern what God’s plan is for the poor” ( Boff and Boff 1987, p. Leonardo and Clodovis Boff describe the foci of liberation methodology as it: (1) “tries to find out why the oppressed are oppressed” ( Boff and Boff 1987, p. By initially selecting an adapted liberationist methodology Daley Mosier and Wymer sought to connect with and learn directly from community partners who are faith leaders in the Flint community, with the hope of conducting research in a way that would be mutually edifying. The starting point of this project is a liberationist commitment to the authority of those whose lives and bodies are adversely impacted in given situations, particularly in cases of environmental racism.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |