How will these resources help you?

Liberation theologist Archbishop Dom Helder Camara stated: ‘When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor are hungry, they call me a communist.’ The aim of liberation theology is not only to minister to the needs of disadvantaged people, but to change the structures that are keeping them in poverty. This approach to religion is not without its controversies. These resources aim to help students evaluate some of these, and to extend understanding of key teachings within faiths and worldviews through seeing them being put into action. In addition, this topic is a great opportunity to apply the social sciences more broadly to the topic of religion – especially the application of a Marxist view of society within a religion as the means for transforming it, rather than religion being simply an ‘opiate’ for the masses.