Liberation Theologies in the United States: An Introduction

Since the founding of the United States, religion has been used to justify oppression. Yet while religious discourse buttressed such oppressive activities as slavery and the destruction of native populations, oppressed communities have also made use of religion to critique and challenge this abuse. As Liberation Theologies in the United States demonstrates, this critical use of religion has often taken the form of liberation theologies, which use primarily Christian principles to address questions of social justice, including racism, poverty, and other types of oppression.

This volume brings together a stellar group of liberation theologians to provide a broad introduction to the historical development, context, theory, and goals of a variety of U.S. liberation theologies, from feminist, womanist, and gay/lesbian to Black, Latino, Asian American, and Native American theologies.