Faith And Solidarity: Oppression On The Basis Of Sexuality, Gender Or Race

Without faith, an equal trust of similar beliefs among individuals, the concept of solidarity within a population is not possible. Having faith in individuals who also have faith in you brings about solidarity: strongly identifying with others through shared humanity. Catholicism, as well as other religions, is a religion based upon mass solidarity and allows followers of similar ideals to unite. Furthermore, catholicism has the power to create positive change in the world by its persistence in the idea of having faith. Producing a major change in society through solidarity isn’t easy.

However, the catholic religion is fluid and views must constantly be adapting to the ideals of current time periods. Faith among many people, not only a few, creates solidarity which can correct past sins and wrong ideals and create new positive messages in society. In the readings Good Catholic Girls: How Women are Leading the Fight to Change the Church, Hispanic/Latino Theology: Challenge and Promise, and Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being, a world of oppression toward sexuality, gender and race is introduced by which the catholic religion can use its concept of faith creating solidarity as the key to positive change in morality.

In the excerpt from Good Catholic Girls: How Women are Leading the Fight to Change the Church titled: “Catholic Women for a New Sexual Ethic”, Bonavoglia pleads for a new sexual ethic in catholicism that accepts all sexualities and exploration of sexual behavior. Christine E. Gudorf, a professor of Philosophy and Religion at Florida International University, believes the bible should be evaluated more sternly with the issue being that, “ ‘We are still teaching a sexual code based in fear of the body and sexuality’ ” (Bonavoglia 1). Gudorf continues to express her belief that the church needs to change its strict mentality on sexual acts. She believes procreation isn’t the only reason to participate in sexual intercourse. This blindness disables the prosperity of social love. To change the way catholicism views sexualities and the limits it sets, solidarity must be formed. Gudorf has faith that this can happen, initiating a movement of solidarity.

The Catholic Theological Society of America, for example, is determined in creating a new sexual ethic in catholicism, using their faith and solidarity as a group to produce change. Agnes Cunningham, a former president of this society, devoted her time to creating an idea of moral and immoral sexual behavior. According to Cunningham, “. . . moral sexual behavior is…‘self-liberating’. . . By contrast, sexual conduct would be immoral if it is…‘manipulative and enslaving of others…’ ” (3). Theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether, author of the article “Sex and the Body in Catholic Tradition”, called for the idea of “ ‘sexual covenants’ ”(4) that united young relationships together and promoted the idea of responsible, but pleasurable sexuality. Ruether uses the concept of solidarity by expressing her belief that adults should help young adults understand their sexuality. The church should be responsible to bless these relationships, no matter their sexuality. In the end, the Church needs to realize that catholics of this era have a new meaning of sexual ethic. Together their goal is to undo outdated catholic teachings and to invite back to catholicism those who were excluded due to their sexuality. Faith among individuals in this goal will, as it already has, bring about solidarity, increasing the possibility of change in the future.

In the article Hispanic/Latino Theology: Challenge and Promise, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, who is involved in a Christian Mothers group at her local parish, recollects of the time she hosted a friendship service at her house. Isasi-Díaz and other several women shared their life experiences as a Latina women and the conversation drifted toward the idea that, “. . . a little bit of justice--- that they think society owes the Latino community” (Isasi-Díaz, Segovia 1).

The theme of the article is centered around what Isasi-Díaz calls a mujerista perspective of justice. The hope of the Latinas is that the future brings the end of the struggle for justice and equality. Isasi-Díaz believes that for justice to grow, injustice must be pointed out and destroyed. The sharing of negative past experiences brings Latinas together and allows them to understand that oppression doesn’t only affect them. The first step to having faith in one another is to have “Group theological reflection…” (8), that “. . . makes it possible for the real religious beliefs and understandings of Latinas to come to the surface, to be articulated” (8). Giving Latinas the opportunity to express their voice inevitably creates solidarity and the possibility to create change. Also, Isasi-Díaz stresses that people who are not poor or oppressed must stand for those who are oppressed and listen to what they have to say. According to Isasi-Díaz, “Solidarity is a response to the cry for justice of those who are victimized” (8). Faith among not only the oppressed but the non-oppressed creates a significantly stronger solidarity. Faith and solidarity among the oppressed Latinas brings courage to speak out and to unbury their strengths. Isasi-Díaz believes that, “. . . these women live in Anselm’s definition of theology: ‘faith seeking understanding’ ” (19). Latinas must continue to carry out their religious practices as it gives them “. . . (strength for the struggle)” (19) and the solidarity that is key to the growth of justice. The sharing of their faith is the answer to the Latina’s hope for liberation.

In Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being, M. Shawn Copeland discusses the horrific acts of lynching, by white supremacists, in the post Civil War era. The lynchings, of course, was a gruesome and unjustifiable death against blacks strictly due to their race. Copeland, however, dives into the reasoning these lynchings were considered acceptable due to slavery being recently abolished. White supremacists, sadly, used catholicism as a means of justifying the lynchings against blacks. Copeland reveals that, “In fear and loathing, propped up by a version of fundamentalist christianity, Southern whites conflated blacks with a ‘satanic presence’ that must be eliminated” (Copeland 122). After the Civil War, there was a mass fear among whites that the black race would one day become superior. Therefore lynchings were used to assert their dominance. White supremacists used religion against the blacks.

The lynchings were accepted in society due to the act being related to the crucifiction of Christ. For justice to rise and liberation granted to all blacks, there must be faith within only a few influential figures. For example, Billie Holiday, in 1939, wrote the song Strange Fruit, which eerily described the physical body of a man/woman hanging from a tree. This song, along with Holiday’s fame, gave society a horrific image in their head, causing them to contemplate the humanity of lynchings and whether relating them to the cross is just. Many other black literary artists devoted their time and work to the liberation and struggle for equality for blacks. One by one, with each individual having faith in the other, solidarity is formed and blacks of all social backgrounds are motivated to come together as one and fight for their freedom. Copeland introduces the idea of a eucharist solidarity, one that “. . . opposes all intentionally divisive segregation of bodies on the precious grounds of preference for race or gender or sexual orientation or culture” (127).

For solidarity to grow, Copeland believes that there must be an acceptance by society of all humans. Most importantly, Copeland states that eucharistic solidarity should bring individuals to the cross of Jesus of Nazareth as a means of understanding the significance of suffering. Individuals must not only acknowledge the unjust acts of the white supremacists but actively create change. One must go against the racism at hand. Copeland also believes solidarity will be stronger if the sinners are forgiven and accepted back into society. Once again, faith, even though it may start small, can grow into mass solidarity in which something as extreme as racism can be positively changed. Faith and solidarity are the components of a math problem; without the other there will be no end result. In every example of oppression from the articles, whether it be sexuality, gender or race, faith among a few brave individuals brought motivation and hope to the oppressed. This motivation invited them to become a tightly-knit group, bringing about the concept of solidarity.

The more faith among individuals there are, the stronger a culture can become. Solidarity creates societal reflection, where historical mistakes can be recognized and fixed, preventing further oppression in the future. Faith produces solidarity, and solidarity creates change. Unlike a math problem however, liberation from any form of oppression is not so easy. The fight and struggle against oppression is a slow, tiring process. One must have patience, or faith that one day change will occur. As history suggests, change is not a dramatic, one-time event but rather a gradual change over time, one that will always challenge faith and solidarity.