at its best is a worldly theology - a theology that not only opens our eyes to the social misery of the world, but also teaches us better to understand and transform it. Academic theology in the First World, true to its priestly role, remains preoccupied with doctrinal precision and epistemological pretension. It either refuses to get its hands dirty with the ugly and messy affairs of contemporary politics or pontificates at a comfortable distance about the shortcomings of theoretical formulations and practical proposals of liberation theologians. Yet, for those Christians deeply enmeshed in and united with poor people's struggles, theology is first and foremost concerned with urgent issues of life and death, especially the circumstances that dictate who lives and who dies.
-Cornel West, "On Liberation Theology: Segundo and Hinkelammert" in
The Cornel West Reader
, pg. 398
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