Religion and Equality

The relationship between religion and equality is complex and contested. Religious traditions have been used both to justify inequality and to inspire some of the most powerful movements for justice and liberation in human history. The AQA specification requires you to understand liberation theology, feminist theology, the role of religion in racial justice movements, and broader questions about religion, human rights, and equality.

Key Definition: Liberation theology — a movement within Christian theology that interprets the teachings of Jesus in terms of liberation from unjust social, political, and economic conditions. It emerged primarily in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Liberation Theology

Liberation theology arose in Latin America in the context of extreme poverty, military dictatorships, and social inequality. It was deeply influenced by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which encouraged the Catholic Church to engage more actively with the modern world, and by the Latin American Bishops' Conference at Medellin (1968), which declared a "preferential option for the poor."

Gustavo Gutierrez (b. 1928)

Gutierrez, a Peruvian priest, is considered the founder of liberation theology. In A Theology of Liberation (1971), he argued that: