Brief: US v. Liberation Theology (Part 1)
Conspirituality1 Marras 2025

Brief: US v. Liberation Theology (Part 1)

This is the first of a two-part deep dive into how U.S. foreign policy stared down the political threat of Liberation Theology by promoting Evangelical Christianity in Latin America. The CIA and USAID, in league with Vatican conservatives like Cardinal Ratzinger, spent money and social capital on the suppression of this vital new movement which insisted that poverty is political and that faith without structural change is hollow. By contrast, the Evangelical emphasis on individual sin, salvation, and personal prosperity aligned with Cold War and neoliberal interests. Spiritualities engineered to serve empire don’t just pacify the poor abroad—they come back to police democracy at home. The “Evangelical boomerang” shows up in shifting Latino religious demographics and voting patterns, while the “reverse boomerang” hints that Liberation Theology language—once condemned—now shapes Pope Leo’s message in this time of rising fascism. If MAGA mystics, prosperity preachers, and tech-bro shamans offer a gospel of self-aggrandizement, Liberation Theology counters with a message of shared material reality: no one owns the food, we share it; the Sabbath serves people, not power; love of God is inseparable from love for the poor. Part 1 lays the intellectual and historical groundwork; Part 2 follows the covert money networks and then asks whether a newly emboldened Catholic social vision can stiffen global resistance to authoritarian capitalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jaksot(765)

Bonus: Hay House & New Age Jesus

Bonus: Hay House & New Age Jesus

Coming off of Conspirituality 22 with Rebekah Borucki, Matthew casts a wider net over Hay House’s cultural influence in two parts: a brief survey of some of their top authors, and then an examination ...

26 Loka 202043min

22: Racism & Fraud in New Age Publishing (w/Rebekah Borucki & Dr Jay Mohan)

22: Racism & Fraud in New Age Publishing (w/Rebekah Borucki & Dr Jay Mohan)

Author and publisher Rebekah Borucki joins the Conspirituality team as our first co-host for this episode. She’s got a story to tell: the culture of her publisher, Hay House, was so resistant to takin...

22 Loka 20201h 45min

Bonus: A Letter to a Friend in a Cult

Bonus: A Letter to a Friend in a Cult

More than 20 years ago, Richard Vaughan wrote Matthew a very kind and perceptive letter, asking him to reconsider whether his participation in a Buddhist cult would forever alienate him from the real ...

19 Loka 202011min

21: Om-ed and Dangerous: Militant Wellness (w/Sarah Hightower)

21: Om-ed and Dangerous: Militant Wellness (w/Sarah Hightower)

We still can’t believe alt-health Bali retreat rockstar Sacha Stone called for the “evisceration” of public officials last week. Are conspiritualists really crossing over into militancy? Are the produ...

15 Loka 20201h 39min

Bonus: The White Yogi, The Brown Activist, and the Evil Billionaire

Bonus: The White Yogi, The Brown Activist, and the Evil Billionaire

Who’s right, who’s confused, who’s noble, who’s the bad guy?Nothing exists in a cultural vacuum. The emergence of yoga as a hugely popular and lucrative phenomenon in the West is no exception.In this ...

12 Loka 202027min

20: The Second Wave: Pastel Q Goes Undercover (w/Ben Lee)

20: The Second Wave: Pastel Q Goes Undercover (w/Ben Lee)

The reality of a second COVID wave started back in the Spring. Now that With over half of American states are experiencing increased cases, the conspiracy theories are surging. At least 32 White House...

8 Loka 20202h 21min

Bonus: Bullying Gates, Bullying Biden: The Conspiracy of Male Violence

Bonus: Bullying Gates, Bullying Biden: The Conspiracy of Male Violence

Bill Gates is unknowable—except to close and estranged friends, family members, his therapist if he has one. His empire sprawls; his philanthropy is tangled. He’s clearly not any one thing. But what i...

5 Loka 202025min

19: Hurtling Into the Q-Hole (w/Mike Rains)

19: Hurtling Into the Q-Hole (w/Mike Rains)

Thirty-two days out from the election and every hour reveals another layer of intensity. The more widely conspirituality and QAnon spreads, the more normalized mundane political violence becomes. In ...

1 Loka 20201h 44min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
tiedekulma-podcast
rss-poliisin-mieli
utelias-mieli
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-ylistys-elaimille
radio-antro
rss-sosiopodi
docemilia
filocast-filosofian-perusteet
mielipaivakirja
rss-tervetuloa-tervemenoa
rss-tervetta-skeptisyytta
rss-luontopodi-samuel-glassar-tutkii-luonnon-ihmeita
rss-lihavuudesta-podcast