Philippine E-Journals

THE CONVERGENCE OF MARXISM AND CHRISTIANITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR PHILIPPINE DEMOCRACY

Victor Aguilan

 

Abstract:

In the struggle for Philippine democracy, two sectors have played avital role: Christians and Marxists. During the Marcos dictatorship, the Communists led an armed opposition against the dictatorship with the objective of establishing a national democratic (ND) society. Progressive Christians opposed Marcos’ authoritarian regime because of grave human rights violations and demanded the restoration of democracy. 1Eventually, the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship led the two to converge. In their struggle for democracy and social liberation in the Philippines, Filipino Marxists and Christians started building alliances. A number of theologians began to reflect on these alliances between Marxism and Christianity.

In 1982, the “theology of struggle” was the name embraced by a group of Christian activists in the Philippines, who committed themselves to social transformation of Church and Philippine society. It has appropriated Marxist critique of Philippine society, an ideology perceived as antithetical to Christian beliefs. Marxism has transformed the way theologians understand the nature of the Church, State, politics, and democracy.