Rise of religious right isn't a death knell for liberation theology

It may be tempting to believe that a theology which centres on the poor and marginalised is on its way out, but its flames are still flickering. By Bruce Kadalie

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In the early 21st century, a profound and paradoxical transformation is reshaping the global religious landscape.

At the very moment when secularisation theories predicted religion’s gradual retreat into the private sphere, faith has reemerged as a potent, often disruptive public force.

However, this resurgence is not characterised by the humble piety of personal salvation or the social justice ethos of the 20th century. Instead, we are witnessing the dramatic ascendancy of the religious right wing a political project that fuses theological conservatism with nationalist, authoritarian and identitarian politics.

This movement, which spans from the US and Brazil to Hungary and Poland, seeks not merely to influence power but to wield it, framing its agenda as a divine mandate for cultural restoration. In the shadow of this cross-crowned nationalism, a critical question arises: what space remains for liberation theology, a tradition that once mobilised the global poor to see their emancipation as God's work? In a world veering toward authoritarianism, does this theology of the oppressed still hold prospects, or is its flame being systematically extinguished?

The anatomy of ascendancy

The rise of the religious right is not a spontaneous revival; it is a deliberate and strategic political project. Its power lies in its ability to recast religion from a system of belief into a marker of identity, a tribal banner in an increasingly fragmented culture war.

The contemporary right has masterfully transformed religion into “identity”, divorcing it from intricate theological debates and re-engineering it as a cultural and political signifier. This identity is defined by what it believes, but more powerfully by what it opposes: secularism, globalism, gender ideology and the erosion of traditional values.