Liberation Theology for Quakers

We are Quakers. We have faith that there is a potential for good in every person, and that this “inner light” needs no mediation by priest or church. We believe in treating people as equals. We believe in nonviolence and forgiveness. We disavow retaliation or retribution. We try to practice direct speaking, speaking truth to power, and living consistently with our values. We follow a simple way of life and try to be responsible stewards of the earth and its resources. We think these are Quaker beliefs. At the very opposite end of the spectrum of Christian belief, it might seem, stands the Roman Catholic Church. Hierarchy, ritual, a prescribed liturgy, a fixed creed are sharply at odds with Friends’ practice of a gathered silent meeting in which any person present can become the channel through which a message, unpredictable in advance, may be voiced. Yet our most powerful spiritual experiences in recent years have been among Roman Catholics in Nicaragua who belonged to what they call the popular Church, that is, the segment of the Catholic community influenced by “liberation theology” and “the preferential option for the poor.” We urge Friends to reflect on the teachings of liberation theology. As a stimulus, we offer here a record of our own joint effort to live out our Quaker convictions, our own experiments in truth.