God's Preferential Option

I'm making headway in my Gustavo Gutierrez anthology; it's been an interesting journey so far. His concept of theology as reflection on praxis, as a "second step" following after action, seemed odd to me at first; how could a-theological praxis serve as a basis for theological reflection? I think maybe he means to say that pre-praxis theologizing should be as minimal as possible, with maximal theologizing following the minimally theologized praxis. I still don't know why that would be a desirable scenario, but at least it gives theologizing a theoretical possibility of being recognizably Christian. I also still don't know how theology could be primarily reflection on praxis in the first place; that seems incoherent. I suspect, utilizing the methods of Marxist analysis that Gutierrez so admires, that both theology and praxis would have to have been previously based on something other than the practice of the Church in order for his proposal to exude even the slightest whiff of plausibility (which it might lack anyway). That is, I'm Marxistly suspecting G. of constructing a parasitic system.

Well, I was harboring such a suspicion until I came across G's thesis of "God's preferential option for the oppressed." This is sometimes stated as "God's preferential option for the poor," but Gutierrez remarks that it holds true for all the oppressed: women, minorities, inhabitants of previously colonial territories. The notion that God intervenes in history primarily for the oppressed and, through them, for all men, seems a powerful concept to me. And this is why: it occurred to me last night that there are truly despised ones in the earth; they are an absolute under-class which even women, minoritities, post-colonials, and Gutierrez himself despise. These pariahs are rejected by both powerful and disenfranchised, both wealthy and unemployed; their way of life is continually mocked, their convictions maneuvered into the region of criminality. Their very presence in society is regarded as shameful. They are known as "orthodox Christians." It occurred to me that, using Gutierrez's reasoning, God could be seen as "exercising a preferential option" on behalf of orthodox Christians. And right then and there I decided that I love liberation theology.