Sunday Thoughts on Freire

I've recently started reading Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I'm barely into the first chapter, and already thoughts are flying. As I was sitting at Starbucks this morning reading Pedagogy and sipping a raspberry tea frappuccino, a quote lept off the page and grabbed my mind.

The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom. Freedom would require them to eject this image and replace it with autonomy and responsibility. pg 31

As I read this, my mind jumped to the disciples of Jesus and the dynamics within the early church. The following arose from this churning.

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Jesus attempted to create a non-hierarchical community of equals. But we repeatedly see the disciples try to entice Jesus into setting up a hierarchy within the group. We also repeatedly see Jesus refusing to do so. Immediately after his ascension the disciples began to set up the hierarchy they so desperately craved. Their internalization of the image of the oppressor outweighed the transformative freedom to be found in the way of Jesus. They adopted guidelines inimical to the Gospel; and yet despite this, the grace of God shines through, promising freedom for those who dare to walk in it.

But this walking demands a divesting of the old order. Those who wield societal power must relinquish the prerogatives of that power, and those who have been dominated by that wielding must reject the values designed to maintain that power.