Dr. Dan Campana
REL 349
22 April 2005
"Guilty Innocence"
"We are those who from the beginning have had to live beyond the myth of innocence." V. P. Elizondo
As I sit in church on Sunday mornings, I am reminded of where I am because of the message I hear coming from the pulpit. I am aware of the beliefs and doctrines that go forth in any given sermon. This is where I belong, in this setting, in this congregation. Amongst believers is where I have spent countless hours. Praise and worship has been the cornerstone of my existence. I know no other way of life. There has never been any doubt in my mind that what the Bible says is true. I have lived my life accordingly, falling from grace and again falling on my knees in repentance. God is to me what he is to my mother and her mother. This class, this paper raises questions that I would have not been aware of otherwise. I need to know now, I question before I believe, and I study for truth. As is the case among those who seek to understand, what their role is in a belief system that comes from a perspective of those in power. I will look at evolution, creation, the trinity, and humanity from a Hispanic view of theology. In comparison, I will also look at the same topics from what is understood to be a normative, universal theology, Evangelicalism.
First, evolution is the idea that man evolved into what we are today based on the scientific theory that the fittest and the strongest survive. This basic belief is Social Darwinism; the majority culture is ahead of the barbarians because they are the more evolved species. If you are not part of that majority, you are lesser, you are not fully human, and therefore you do not command the same standards of livi ...