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"Liberation Theology"

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This term was very current in the 1960s, but is now rather passé.  Nevertheless, it remains a tidy label for that tendency in Christian thought that argues in favor of fighting for social justice.

Bergonian religion, like liberation theology, fuels political action:

Bergonian religion authorizes involvement in the world's affairs. Over two thousand years ago, banda warriors protected religious sites as well as the weak and defenseless.  Ierecina, the great Shufrantei prophet, provided the example of fighting to protect the weak.  The social activist also draws inspiration from the Christ who upset the money-changer's carts.

Ierecina also articulated a concept of state & society in harmony with the Gods' law.  Based on this connection, he encouraged the banda warriors to set up and defend the Shufrantei state.  If the state accorded with the law it deserved a defense from the faithful.  But if the state, or any of society's other institutions, was out of balance with the law-- which is to say oppressive or exploitative-- then one had a right and perhaps duty to rebel.  Ierecina's most explicit statement:  "A cruel ruler who causes suffering among his people offends the harmonies of the universe, and any of the people who resist the imposition are saints." 

This put the issue of obedience to religious precepts at the center of Bergonian politics.   Bergonian religion demanded obedience to the civil authority only as long as the civil authority was itself righteous.  Otherwise Bergonian religion authorized rebellion. 

All this culminated in the Miradi commandment: "A righteous man acts justly in the world."  In recent decades a corollary to these Bergonian ideas have appeared in Catholic "Liberation Theology." 

This stands in stark contrast with most protestant theology which tends to reject "works" and favors "faith" as the path to salvation.  Miradi thinking rejects this prevailing Christian tendency.  "One cannot sit inside the mansion and plan on a life in heaven while misery abounds outside the door," said Cathoro Balon, a widely venerated Miradi saint of the 1300s.  

Liberation Theology links:

A very basic definition

Web resources for Liberation Theology, courtesy University of St. Thomas.

Directory of links.

Catholic Instruction on Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation."

Christian Revolution in Latin America: The Changing Face of Liberation Theology" by Ron Rhodes

Liberation Theology - Past - Present - Future, by Manfred Davidmann

Also refer to the Catholic Workers Movement in the US, 1900-1940s.