Honors Program
Midway Honors
Date of Award
5-2011
Thesis Professor(s)
Michael Allen
Thesis Professor Department
Philosophy and Humanities
Thesis Reader(s)
Leslie MacAvoy
Abstract
Liberation theology has played an important role for overcoming structural violence. Originating in Latin America, the movement continues to expand throughout the developed and developing world. Marxism and liberation theology share similar philosophies – showing preferential option to the poor. While many Marxists may believe that a solution to structural violence is alienating violence through justified revolution, the chance of success is limited. Liberation is a process, not an event. This essay identifies an alternative to liberation: applying the teachings of John Rawls and applying the Suffering Servant model of Jesus Christ. When we apply the Veil of Ignorance and the Difference Principle to liberation theology, we can realistically implement a system of equity in juxtaposition to the goals of a Marxist.
Document Type
Honors Thesis - Open Access
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Calloway, Jonathan, "Ending Structural Violence: A Rawlsian Approach to Liberation Theology." (2011). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 11. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/11
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.