Santería is a religion with Afro-Cuban roots, rising out of the cultural clash between the Yoruba people of West Africa and the Spanish Catholics who brought them to the Americas as slaves. As a faith of the marginalized and persecuted, it gave oppressed men and women strength and the will to survive. With the exile of thousands of Cubans in the wake of Castro's revolution in 1959, Santería came to the United States, where it is gradually coming to be recognized as a legitimate faith tradition.

Apart from vague suspicions that Santería's rituals include animal sacrifice and notions that it is a syncretistic form of Catholicism, most people in America's cultural and religious mainstream know very little about this rich faith tradition -- in fact, many have never heard of it at all. De La Torre, who was reared in Santería, sets out in this book to provide a basic understanding of its inner workings. He clearly explains the particular worldview, myths, rituals, and practices of Santería, and he discusses what role the religion typically plays in the life of its practitioners as well as the cultural influence it continues to exert in Latin American communities today.

In offering a balanced, informed survey of Santería from his unique insider-outsider perspective, De La Torre also provides insight into how Christianity and Santería can enter into dialogue -- a dialogue that will challenge Christians to consider what this emerging faith tradition can teach them about their own. Enhanced with illustrations, tables, and a glossary, De La Torre's Santería sheds light on a religion all too often shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding.

For two thousand years, Christianity has been wrong about sex. To this day Christians grapple with defining gender, sexism, heterosexism, and what constitutes healthy sex. Miguel A. De La Torre--noted ethicist and scholar on the intersection of religion with race, class, gender, and sexuality--shines new light on these intimate issues in Liberating Sexuality, a provocative compilation of his writings that apply justice to the most private parts of our lives.

Grounded in biblical scholarship, Liberating Sexuality will help you discover new ways of thinking about God beyond gender, heterosexism, masturbation, and many other topics. Wrestle with controversial topics such as an androgynous Jesus, ethical S&M, and confronting racism in one's sexual preference. Gain a critical understanding of how others view their own sexuality in ways you could never before comprehend.

Gonna Trouble the Water considers the sacred nature of water and the ways in which it is weaponized against non-white communities. With compelling contributions from scholars and activists, politicians and theologians, Gonna Trouble the Water de-centers the concept of water as a commodity in order to center the dignity of water and its life-giving character. Firmly grounded at the intersection of environmentalism and racism, Gonna Trouble the Water makes clear the message: to deny water is to deny life.

With compelling contributions from scholars and activists, politicians and theologians--including former Colorado governor Bill Ritter, global academic law professor Ved P. Nanda, Detroit-based activist Michelle Andrea Martinez, and many more--Gonna Trouble the Water de-centers the concept of water as a commodity in order to center the dignity of water and its life-giving character.

In this revised edition of an established classroom text, De La Torre furthers his argument that the pain and suffering of people who have been marginalized continues to inform a perspective that holds a greater grasp of reality than those who are more privileged by power and profit. He continues the method of theory and case studies from earlier editions, updating the cases for the 3rd edition. In Part IV, the chapter entitled Private Property that appeared in the 2nd edition has been removed in the 3rd edition. Also in that part, the chapters on affirmative action and sexism have been re-ordered so that the chapter entitled Affirmative Action is the last chapter before the conclusion. In the 3rd edition, there is a fuller conclusion than the 2nd edition's epilogue.

In this helpful addition to the Armchair Theologians series, Miguel A. De La Torre provides a concise overview of the global religious movement known as liberation theology that focuses on defining the major themes of this movement, as well as dispelling some common misconceptions. Liberation theology attempts to reflect upon the divine as understood from the poor, the marginalized, and the disenfranchised. The key figures, historical developments, and interfaith manifestations are all explored in this thorough introduction. Expertly written by De La Torre and accompanied by Ron Hill's illustrations, this book will serve as a primary text for those who may have little knowledge of or have never heard of liberation theology.

Marginalized by Colonialism, Forced Out by Climate Change

As climate change reshapes the Earth's habitability, millions are forced to migrate . . . while millions more are constrained from escaping environmental hardship. Shifting Climates, Shifting People grapples with the disparate impacts of climate change on nations impoverished by colonialism:

• What happens when people have no choice but to leave their homes due to environmental devastation? What happens when they cannot leave or are prevented from leaving?
• Whose stories are shared and whose imaginations are empowered--and whose are erased from public knowledge--as communities are endangered or uprooted?
• How has White colonialism undermined the indigenous protectors of ecosystems? How is White capitalism usurping green industries?

Shifting Climates, Shifting People centers the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and non-white communities for perspective on environmental destruction and the wellbeing of humanity.

Contributing writers are scholars and pastors, preachers and organizers; they come to this work from Fiji and from the Osage Nation, from Ghana and from Canada, from the United States and from Indonesia, and many places in between.

This volume in the Belief series provides a new and interesting theological interpretation of Genesis through the themes of liberation and the concerns of the poor and marginalized. De La Torre remembers Jacob's wrestling at Peniel (Gen. 32:24-32), and finds that there are consequences when we truly wrestle with the biblical text, struggling to see the face of God. This commentary provides theological and ethical insights that enables the book of Genesis to speak powerfully today.

The volumes in Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible from Westminster John Knox Press offer a fresh and invigorating approach to all the books of the Bible. Building on a wide range of sources from biblical studies, the history of theology, the church's liturgical and musical traditions, contemporary culture, and the Christian tradition, noted scholars focus less on traditional historical and literary angles in favor of a theologically focused commentary that considers the contemporary relevance of the texts. This series is an invaluable resource for those who want to probe beyond the backgrounds and words of biblical texts to their deep theological and ethical meanings for the church today.

Short. Timely. Poignant. Pointed. Burying White Privilege is all of these and more. This is the book that everybody who cares about contemporary American Christianity will want to read.

Many people wonder how white Christians could not only support Donald Trump for president but also rush to defend an accused child molester running for the US Senate. In a 2017 essay that went viral, Miguel A. De La Torre boldly proclaimed the death of Christianity at the hands of white evangelical nationalists. He continues sounding the death knell in this book.

De La Torre argues that centuries of oppression and greed have effectively ruined evangelical Christianity in the United States. Believers and clerical leaders have killed it, choosing profits over prophets. The silence concerning--if not the doctrinal justification of--racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia has made white Christianity satanic. Prophetically calling Christian nationalists to repentance, De La Torre rescues the biblical Christ from the distorted Christ of white Christian imagination.

How curiously different is this white God from the one preached by Jesus who understood faithfulness by how we treat the hungry and thirsty, the naked and alien, the incarcerated and infirm. This white God of empire may be appropriate for global conquerors who benefit from all that has been stolen and through the labor of all those defined as inferior; but such a deity can never be the God of the conquered.

Echoing James Cone's 1970 assertion that white Christianity is a satanic heresy, Miguel De La Torre argues that whiteness has desecrated the message of Jesus. In a scathing indictment, he describes how white American Christians have aligned themselves with the oppressors who subjugate the least of these--those who have been systemically marginalized because of their race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status--and, in overwhelming numbers, elected and supported an antichrist as president who has brought the bigotry ingrained in American society out into the open.

With this follow-up to his earlier Burying White Privilege, De La Torre prophetically outlines how we need to decolonize Christianity and reclaim its revolutionary, badass message. Timid white liberalism is not the answer for De La Torre--only another form of complicity. Working from the parable of the sheep and the goats in the Gospel of Matthew, he calls for unapologetic solidarity with the sheep and an unequivocal rejection of the false, idolatrous Christianity of whiteness.

This book will attempt to explore faith-based responses to unending injustices by embracing the reality of hopelessness. It rejects the pontifications of some salvation history that move the faithful toward an eschatological promise that, when looking back at history, makes sense of all Christian-led brutalities, mayhem, and carnage.

Hope, as an illusion, is responsible for maintaining oppressive structures. This book struggles with a God who at times seems mute, demanding solidarity in the midst of perdition and a blessing in the midst of adversity. How can the Creator be so invisible during the troubling times in which we live-times filled with unbearable life-denying trials and tribulations? The book concludes with a term De La Torre has coined in other books: an ethics para joder-an ethics that f*cks with. When all is hopeless, when neoliberalism has won, when there exists no chance of establishing justice, the only choice left for the oppressed is to screw with the structure, literally turning over the bankers' tables at the temple. By upsetting the norm, an opportunity might arise that can lead us to a more just situation, although such acts of defiance usually lead to crucifixion. Hopelessness is what leads to radical liberative praxis.

While Jesus is an admirable figure for Christians, The Politics of Jesús highlights the way the Jesus of dominant culture is oppressive and describes a Jesús from the barrio who chose poverty and disrupted the status quo. Saying no to oppression and its symbols, even when one of those symbols is Jesus, is the first step to saying yes to the self, to liberation, and symbols of that liberation. For Jesus to connect with the Hispanic quest for liberation, Jesús must be unapologetically Hispanic and compel people to action. The Politics of Jesús provocatively moves the study of Jesús into the global present.

This book explores the different types of compromises Indian people were forced to make and must continue to do so in order to be included in the colonizer's religion and culture. The contributors in this collection are in conversation with the contributions made by Tink Tinker, an American Indian scholar who is known for his work on Native American liberation theology. The contributors engage with the following questions in this book: How much of one's identity must be sacrificed in order to belong in the world of the colonizer? How much of one's culture requires silencing? And more importantly, how can the colonized survive when constantly asked and forced to compromise? Specifically, what is uniquely Indian and gets completely lost in this interaction? Scholars of religious studies, American studies, American Indian studies, theology, sociology, and anthropology will find this book particularly useful.

Qué se legitima y normaliza con la discriminación y la violencia institucionalizada a la que se ve obligada a enfrentar la familia de la Cruz? Miguelito podría sobrevivir en su nuevo país adoptivo, pero a qué precio?

La novela se abre con la muerte de Manuel de la Cruz, que se está consumiendo a causa de la demencia. Una vez fue un secuaz de la brutal dictadura cubana de Fulgencio Batista. Mientras agoniza, se vuelve lo suficientemente lúcido durante los últimos minutos de vida para ser perseguido no solo por los espíritus de sus víctimas, sino también por la deidad orisha Oggúm de la religión afrocubana conocida como santería. Aunque la historia se enfoca sobre su hijo Miguelito, también se explora la trayectoria de vida de Manuel, específicamente, su complicidad con la tortura antes de la revolución castrista de 1959, sus actividades terroristas contrarrevolucionarias después del cambio de gobierno, su huida de la isla, sus actos de asesinato y su intentos abusivos de convertir a su sensible hijo Miguelito en un macho. La historia de Miguelito comienza siendo un inmigrante ilegal, viviendo en las sombras de la blancura. Exploramos su vida creciendo en los barrios marginales de la ciudad de Nueva York, el costo que la pobreza cobra a los inmigrantes niños, la violencia que encontró por ser latino, las lecciones que aprende de un vecino gay sobre cómo ser un caballero durante su primera cita con Silvia, la yuxtaposición de ir a una escuela católica durante el día y wo rshipping dioses africanos por la noche, y su último éxito dentro de la academia como profesor, a pesar de que nunca fue aceptado como un igual por sus colegas blancos.