Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 5.11 Religion and Activism
Presentation #1 Title
Liberating Appalachian Theology: Paternalism and Praxis in Faith-Based Social Justice Movements in Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In her groundbreaking book Appalachian Mountain Religion, Deborah Vansau McCauley leveled an important critique against emerging articulations of “Appalachian liberation theology.” Protestant and Roman Catholic churches and movements working for “social justice” which were influenced in some way by Latin American liberation theology, she said, were simply new forms of an old religious colonialism in Appalachia. McCauley based this important critique in large part on the 1992 pastoral letter of the United Methodist Bishops, God’s Face is Turned Toward the Mountains, but applied this argument too against the Roman Catholic bishops’ 1975 pastoral letter This Land is Home to Me as well as movements and organizations such as the ecumenical Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA). McCauley’s critique raises the question of what liberation theology is and what the difference between the appropriation of liberationist themes and the actual practice of liberation theology means in Appalachia. This paper argues that this distinction is important and that liberation theology has actually been practiced, and not just its language appropriated, in movements such as the Catholic Committee of Appalachia (the group which gave birth the Catholic pastoral letters) and CORA whose theologies have not only spoken of liberation but have been rooted in liberating praxis. The legacy of these traditions is not without ambiguity, yet these dynamic movements have not stood still, thus McCauley’s call for Appalachian liberation theologies to examine their relationships with Appalachian mountain religion should continue to inspire further reflection and concrete relational practices toward new, liberating Appalachian theologies.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Michael Iafrate is a doctoral candidate in theology at the University of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. His interests include liberationist and postcolonial theologies, faith and social change in Appalachia, and theologies of popular culture.
Liberating Appalachian Theology: Paternalism and Praxis in Faith-Based Social Justice Movements in Appalachia
Harris Hall 136
In her groundbreaking book Appalachian Mountain Religion, Deborah Vansau McCauley leveled an important critique against emerging articulations of “Appalachian liberation theology.” Protestant and Roman Catholic churches and movements working for “social justice” which were influenced in some way by Latin American liberation theology, she said, were simply new forms of an old religious colonialism in Appalachia. McCauley based this important critique in large part on the 1992 pastoral letter of the United Methodist Bishops, God’s Face is Turned Toward the Mountains, but applied this argument too against the Roman Catholic bishops’ 1975 pastoral letter This Land is Home to Me as well as movements and organizations such as the ecumenical Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA). McCauley’s critique raises the question of what liberation theology is and what the difference between the appropriation of liberationist themes and the actual practice of liberation theology means in Appalachia. This paper argues that this distinction is important and that liberation theology has actually been practiced, and not just its language appropriated, in movements such as the Catholic Committee of Appalachia (the group which gave birth the Catholic pastoral letters) and CORA whose theologies have not only spoken of liberation but have been rooted in liberating praxis. The legacy of these traditions is not without ambiguity, yet these dynamic movements have not stood still, thus McCauley’s call for Appalachian liberation theologies to examine their relationships with Appalachian mountain religion should continue to inspire further reflection and concrete relational practices toward new, liberating Appalachian theologies.
