MODULE 2 DISCUSSION BOARD ON LIBERATION THEOLOGY

ON POVERTY AND GOD’S WILL (LEARNING GROUP A)

AKI DIAZ – Explains in succinct terms the aspect of “human agency” in relation to both suffering and
love; identifies God’s love as our primary source and means in transforming structures; and finally
provides a direct and clear answer to the question “Where is God…?”

Fr. Arnel's homily points to the neuropsychological way in which God's role is perceived by
human beings in light of suffering. The world "allow" is fallaciously used in such a way that it
implicates God's part in bringing suffering onto the world. The connection I draw between Fr.
Arnel's homily and Roger Haight's statement lies in acknowledging that human beings have a
particular sense of agency, and are therefore responsible for the experience of human suffering,
but can also be responsible for the experience of human love. The theocentric approach to
suffering does not mean that our experiences are solely dependent on God, nor does it mean
that human efforts are futile, but it means realizing that God works with and through human
beings -- it is through God's love and goodness that we have the ability to cleanse sinful social
structures. After all, it is God's will for all to experience the fullness of life. This is reinforced by
Fr. Arnel, in which "whatever leads us to more faith, more hope, and more love for God and for
neighbor" is where God truly lies.

In suffering and death caused by poverty and oppression, God lies among the goodness of
people who are advocating for justice and restructuring sinful social structures on the sidelines.
God is present even in times of suffering, it is just a matter of realigning our thoughts.

JULIA ILLISCUPIDES – Clear integration of insights from Arnel Aquino and Roger Haight; relates
insights to human freedom; emphasizes God’s initiative in the ongoing project of the Kingdom

Fr. Arnel’s homily and Roger Haight’s message converge in their ultimate message of seeing God
act graciously through humans. In saying “God’s providence and covenantal love are concealed
infinite causes in the agency of human love” and “God constantly works in all ways, through
many people, to alleviate suffering that men, otherwise, engineer,” Haight and Fr. Arnel
respectively depict God as someone who looks out for his creation and acts through them. This
is not to say that God allows suffering to happen just so he can swoop in and save the day. Since
we are made in the image and likeness of God, humans are free to make decisions on how to live
their lives. This freedom may bring forth actions that unknowingly oppress those around us,
particularly the poor and marginalized. Fortunately for humanity, God alleviates this widespread
human suffering as it is contrary to what his envisioned Kingdom describes. And despite being
the cause of social injustices, God demonstrates his love yet again by inviting us to partake in his
liberation mission, rather than forcing it upon us. He willingly shares his work of liberation,
fueling humans to question the unjust structures we have cultivated and work towards
eradicating them. Humanity must simply open itself to this call—to use the positive side of our
minds and allow God to work through us.
MODULE 2 DISCUSSION BOARD ON RECOGNIZING AND
USING OUR PRIVILEGE (LEARNING GROUP B)

TRISHA TIU – Reflects on guilt and the resulting detachment and proposes to use privilege to unite
rather than to divide

Realizing our areas of privilege and oppression makes us understand how situations,
opportunities, and treatments are not universally the same for everyone. The privileges in
varying aspects and degrees in our lives sometimes causes us to unhealthily approach privilege
where we feel guilty and thus feel the need to detach ourselves from it to reassure ourselves
that we are not in the wrong for having such involuntary or voluntary privilege. A better and
productive approach would be to identify and accept our privileges and evaluate how we are
using it or how we can use it to give life to those facing oppression that may be brought about by
our own privilege. This can be done by learning and understanding our differences and finding
opportunities to support and advocate for and with them. As in this article
(https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/conversation-privilege-is-power-heres-how-to-use-it-
for-good/18317/), we have more power than we think because privilege is power and it should
be used to support those who are deprived of such. Given our unique privileges, we can drive
change within our society so that no gap can further deepen or form between each and every
one of us. I think that if privilege has the ability to divide people, it also has the ability to unite
people from different backgrounds or walks of life, as long as we keep an open mind and
awareness of ourselves, others, and society.

PATRICK MARTIRES – Tackled privilege in the context of oppression – an important point to

acknowledge about privilege

Because it is comfortable, therefore it is privileged. Although, it might be easy to mistake comfort

as something which is good, failing to understand how our "comfort" relates to the "suffering" of
the other can cause great harm. Privilege must always be understood in a context, that context
being the environment where society operates. Problems arise when the privileged become
complacent about their position of comfort. When they choose to use privilege as insulation
from the larger realities, from the systematic oppression of the poor. When they choose to
abandon the world that suffers. The challenge for the privileged then, is for them to use their
comfortable and relatively unburdened dispositions to holistically work towards the benefit of
the disadvantaged. For them to answer the call to contribute to the dismantlement of the deep-
seated institutions and systems that propagate oppression.