The Quest for the Cuban Christ

A Historical Search

"A sweeping and stunning interpretation of Cuban religion and culture, from the religious fervor that surrounded the recent Elian Gonzalez saga in Miami to a religious view from the underside of Cuban history."

"A fascinating [and] controversial interpretation of Cuban history and religions that should be read by anyone interested in understanding North American Latino religions and culture."

In The Quest for the Cuban Christ, Miguel A. De La Torre examines symbols enriching the Cuban experience through a highly creative historical and cultural framework. he argues that for all Cubans, Christ must be understood through the historical analysis of the Cuban culture and that God saves Cubans in a quintessentially Cuban way.

De La Torre juxtaposes two disciplines long considered mutually exclusive--liberation theology and postmodernity--to test the relationship between the faith of marginalized Cuban groups and the overall Cuban identity. His approach challenges the Latino academic religious community to consider seriously and acknowledge how vastly the Cuban religious experience differs from that of other traditions. he also confronts the proposition that Christ can be understood through a general Latino social location.

De la Torre analyzes key figures, groups, and periods in Cuban history as well as the ways Christ is being depicted in Cuban art today. His focus centers on the art created by marginalized segments of Cuban society, both in Cuba and and the United States, to illuminate points of view from those previously silenced throughout Cuban history. His argument moves beyond a purely spiritual reading to explore how Christ is created by those who were and are oppressed by the Cuban culture, a theme that he uses to debunk the Christ of the powerful and privileged who until recently have been the sole arbiters of the Cuban identity.

The Quest for the Historical Cuban Christ  (an abstract) -- Miguel De La Torre

Anyone who reads the Bible does so from a particular social location. We are all born into an ongoing society that shapes us. When we turn our attention to the biblical text as the source for understanding whom Christ was, we participate in a dialogue between the written word and the meanings the dominant community taught us to give to these words. Cubans, specially those living in the diaspora, have been taught to read the Bible through the eyes of white, middle-class Anglo males. Yet, can the text speak to us through our own culture? To do so, it must be read with Cuban eyes.

This book argues that Christ can be understood through the historical development of Cuban culture. Clement of Alexandria once said, "God saved the Jews in a Jewish way, the barbarians in a barbarian way." The Brazilian Liberation Theologian Carlos Mesters says, "God saves Brazilians in a Brazilian way, blacks in a black way, Indians in an Indian way, Nicaraguans in a Nicaraguan way, and so on." I would add, God saves Cubans in a Cuban way. 

As I shall argue, God’s movement in Cuban history translates both Christian principles and an understanding of Christ into cultural symbols understood by all Cubans, Resident and Exilic. The Christ of the conquistadores, the apotheosis of Martí as the ideal Cuban Christ, the Black Christ of the African slaves, the understanding of Christ through Marianism and Cuban feminism, and the Biblical Christ of both Catholics and Protestants are all a part of, if not central, to Cuban identity. 

As such, Cubans must come to terms with these socio-historical dimensions formulated within the depths of our culture. By seriously reevaluating these cultural symbols, we can find rich resources for understanding ourselves and provide a Christian response to the present estrangement existing between Resident and Exilic Cubans.

The book will begin with a brief overview of the Euro-centric project concerning the "quest for the historical Jesus." Upon concluding that a Euro-centric Christ is impotent for Cubans, the book will begin a historical analysis of Cuban culture to discover a Christ, who like us, is Cuban. The book will begin with an understanding of the Christ brought to the Island by the conquistadores and its evolution to the Spanish Christ of Unamuno. 

With independence from Spain, the Cuban understanding of Christ further developed through the influence of Cuban slaves, the early twentieth century Cuban feminist movement, and Martí. More recently, Liberation Theology and Revolution Theology contributed to our understanding of Christ.

The final chapter of this work will tie together all of these diverse trends by turning our attention to how Christ is presently being depicted through Cuban art, both on the Island, and in the States. Paintings, being revelatory, provide the observer with insight about, and an entry into reality. Several works by Cuban artists will be reviewed for the purpose of depicting the mysteries of God, the construction of a Cuban Christ, and the search for a common intra-Cuban identity.

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Dr. De la Torre is a Cuban, a professor of religion at Hope college, with specialization in Christian Social Ethics, Theologies of Liberation and Postmodern/Postcolonial Studies. He is the author of a seminal article on the denial of racism in Cuba entitled, "Masking Hispanic Racism: A Cuban Case Study": "I am a recovering racist, a product of two race-constructed societies. Exilic Cubans see themselves as white and the Island's inhabitants as mostly black."

"A major issue which will arise in a post-Castro Cuba is intra-Cuban race relations, an issue mostly ignored because of the myth proclaiming Cubans as non-racists. I propose to debunk this myth. Any serious discourse on intra-Cuban reconciliation must unmask the hidden tension existing between seemingly white Exilic Cuba and black Resident Cuba." 

For the rest of this fascinating article, see http://www.hope.edu/delatorre/articles/jhlt.html

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Philosophy of Pedagogy

My educational development has been significantly influenced by Paulo Freire's work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which, doubting the existence of an objective, neutral educational system, finds its students lead toward either domestication or liberation. All too often, the educational system serves to normalize existing power structures contributing to maintaining a "culture of silence." Our advance consumer-society rapidly dehumanizes individuals into Objects who concur with the rationality of the present system. The role of the educator, as I see it, is to facilitate the student's consummation of their ontological vocation in becoming a Subject. My task as a professor is to cultivate the student's ability to find their own voice by creating an environment in where individual and collective consciousness-raising can occur.

In order to construct a response to injustice and oppression, I have taught classes combining liberationist perspectives with postmodern analysis. Upon the tension created by these diverse narratives, I have constructed an approach to religious studies from the periphery providing a unique outlook to the normative discourse, a view I believe enhances traditional curricula. Because individuals enter the educational system with a lifetime of experiences and knowledge, courses can be designed to bring their suppositions into conversation with postmodern and liberationist paradigms. Students partake in forming a learning environment by leading segments of the discourse and participating in projects to encourage the interweaving of scholastic rigor with their personal backgrounds.

As both my curriculum vitae and corporate résumé indicate, I posses practical and academic knowledge in public policy and economics, specializing in how the socio-political culture normalizes the oppression of the Other. My controversial approach to marginalized theologies (specifically Latino/a) moves beyond what Edward Said terms "the rhetoric of blame" by concentrating upon intra-ethnic structures of oppressions. A review of the articles I have published, the papers I have presented and the courses I have taught demonstrate and are consistent with my focus in analyzing race, class, and gender oppression.

Publications:

Handbook of U.S. Theologies of Liberation. Chalice Press, forthcoming in 2004.

Santería: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., forthcoming in 2003.

La Lucha for Cuba: Religion and Politics on the Streets of Miami. University of California Press, forthcoming in 2003.

The Quest for the Cultural Cuban Christ: A Historical Search. University Press of Florida, forthcoming, in Fall 2002.

Reading the Bible from the Margins. Orbis Press, forthcoming in May, 2002.

Introduction to Hispanic Theology: Latino/a Perspectives, co-authored with Edwin Aponte, Orbis Press, 2001.

Ajiaco Christianity: Toward an Exilic Cuban Ethic of Reconciliation, Ph.D. diss., Temple University, 1999.