Embracing the Hopelessness of Those Seeking Pastoral Care

ABSTRACT

The uncritical appropriation of Eurocentric philosophical and theological paradigms is detrimental to disenfranchised communities of color. This article argues for a methodology rooted in the hopelessness found within marginalized communities of color. Advocating for an ethics para joder (screw with) disrupts a normative Eurocentric discourse which normalizes and legitimizes Empire.

KEYWORDS:

• Hopelessness
• liberative theology
• oppression
• white privilege
• an ethics para joder
• Young Lords

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Since obtaining his doctoral in 1999, Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre authored over a hundred articles and published thirty-six books (five of which won national awards). He is Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies. A Fulbright scholar, he has taught in Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Costa Rica, and Germany. Within his guild he was the 2012 President of the Society of Christian Ethics and co-founder/first executive director of the Society of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion. Also, he was the founding editor of the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion. A scholar-activist, Dr. De La Torre has written numerous articles in popular media. Recently, he wrote the screenplay to a documentary on immigration.

Notes

1 Walter, “First, Do Harm”; and Vastag, “U.S. Pledges $1.8 Million”.

2 Cimons, “U.S. Measles Experiment Failed”.

3 Williams, “Racial Bias Seen in Study”.

4 Stolberg, “Minorities Receive Inferior Care”.

5 Kahn, “Republican Support for Trump”.

6 De La Torre, Burying White Privilege: Resurrecting a Badass Christianity, 125.

7 Martí, Obras Completas de José Martí, 20.

8 De La Torre, Latina/o Social Ethics: Moving Beyond Eurocentric Moral Thinking, 3–4, 32.

9 De La Torre, Burying White Privilege, 128.

10 De La Torre, Embracing Hopelessness, 5.

11 De La Torre, Liberating Jonah: Forming an Ethics of Reconciliation, 142–47.

12 De La Torre, Latina/o Social Ethics, 92–93.

13 Sanders, Empowerment Ethics for a Liberated People, 14–15.

14 For a better understanding of Santería, see my award-winning book Santería: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004).

15 Space prevents a thorough exploration of all of these components of an ethics para joder; nevertheless, a full elucidation of these components can be found in my book Latina/o Social Ethics, chapter 4.

16 De La Torre, Latina/o Social Ethics, 92.

17 Ibid., 94.

18 De La Torre, Latina/o Social Ethics, 89.

19 Ibid., 89–90.

20 Ibid., 90

21 Ibid., 90–91.

22 Ibid., 91.

23 Ibid., 91–92.