THE UTOPIA OF AN ETHICAL TOMORROW
Just as Netanyahu has become the main promoter of antisemitism, the various Christian churches have become the largest factories of atheism and hatred of the religious phenomenon. The institutionalization of spirituality has only served to transform religion into an instrument at the service of political and economic power. Absurd and cruel inventions such as the idea of hell, the virgin birth, and the doctrine of original sin have caused the idea of God to be associated with cruelty, revenge, and oppression. The less-than-exemplary history of the churches, which have accumulated wealth, promoted massacres, and abused the innocent, has only strengthened this phenomenon.
Despite everything, I harbor a deep spiritual restlessness. I don't believe in dogmas or catechisms, but I do believe in the hope of an ethical tomorrow. Eternity can be interpreted as that "realm of ends" of which Kant spoke. It is the place where victims are rescued from oblivion and history overcomes all its failures. We will never be able to demonstrate the existence of this ethical tomorrow through experience, but if we eliminate its possibility, if we radically deny its existence, Auschwitz, Gaza, My Lai, the Katyn mass graves, the Rwandan genocide, or Hiroshima—to cite just a few examples from a sadly endless list—will not only be the most tragic hours of human history, but the end of history for the innocent sacrificed by hatred and the lust for power.
In proposing an ethical tomorrow, the underlying intention is not simply to deny finitude through a metaphysical pirouette, but to open the horizon to a utopian future. Of course, this utopian future begins here and now. It is not about promising a paradise to the unfortunate, but about fighting against the wrongs suffered by the most humble and vulnerable. Therefore, spirituality cannot be an apolitical experience, but rather a historical, real, and concrete commitment to the creation of a more just and supportive world. As Ignacio Ellacuría, the philosopher and Jesuit priest assassinated by the Salvadoran army, stated, "No one has the right to the superfluous until everyone enjoys the essential."
Today, the main enemy of a just and peaceful world is the unbridled capitalism sustained by neoliberal theories. Neoliberalism is a form of materialism. It worships material goods and justifies the exploitation of people to ensure the well-being of a privileged minority. It disguises itself as democracy to quell protests, but its essence is inequality, abuse, and sometimes the destruction of peoples, under the pretext of a just war.
What we call democracies today are merely corporate oligarchies. "The highest authority on the planet is the authority of those who suffer, with no court of appeal," writes liberation theologian Jon Sobrino. The true cultural battle is not a battle against the diversity that so irritates fundamentalists, but rather "the battle of language, created and controlled by the powerful. We must not allow ourselves to be imposed on the definition of what is terrorism and peace, the international community and civilization. More fundamentally, we must not allow ourselves to be imposed on the definition of what is 'human.' Accepting that there is such a thing as 'politically correct' language makes many things easier for the empire. Christians should be, viscerally, if you will, anti-empire and pro-kingdom. The kingdom of God is the kingdom where the poor save us and redeem us from selfishness and lack of solidarity. In this fight against imperialism, we Christians stake our very essence."
In the face of the inhumanity promoted by capitalism, we urgently need a spirituality or political theology that restores human dignity and helps us understand that true wealth is not associated with accumulation, but with the joy of sharing. "Atheists," Ernesto Cardenal noted, "say the same thing that the early Christians said, who were also atheists." The cult of the golden calf is the paganism of our time. Love for human beings, especially for the pariah, the exploited, and the marginalized, is the spirituality of the present, and I firmly believe that this is the path of truth and life.
