The Dance of Redemption

Dr. Mary Hess presents and makes reference Dr. Katie Cannon's "The Dance of Redemption" in her sixth chapter of Engaging Technology in Theological Education:  All that we can't leave behind (Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefiled Publishers, Inc., 2005). 

Dr. Cannon's model can be found on page 108.  She "has developed a process called 'the dance of redemption,' that provides a way to approach a specific problem while yet engaging diverse resources and ensuring connections to cmmunity(iesa).  This process has seven steps, envisoned as cyclical and ongoing.  There is no way to 'finish' this process; one can only move through it with various questions and from various standpoints.  Yet it is explicitly designed to provide ways to assess and celebrate progress, thus nourishing one's continued journey in the 'dance'" (108-109).

I am going to walk you through the model below and offer my thoughts on what this might look like.  My thoughts will be in italics after the different portions of the model in bold. Now, imagine a model that is a circle with arrows going in a clockwise fashion.  These arrows are connecting the following:

Conscientization:  When reality does not fit into what is normative; cognitive dissonance
This might be when one makes a discovery, or observation that is unknown, previously unrealized, or challenges one's assumptions, world view, or faith convictions (among other possibilities).  Such as, recognizing oppressive structures in one's every day life.

Emancipatory Historiography:  What are the systems/logic which hold the structures of oppression in place?
What are the socio-economic realities?  What are the assumptions in the institutions, organizations, or structures?  What might the church or one's faith have to say?

Theological Resources:  How do the theological disciplines as well as your spiritual community uphold and/or hinder the structures of oppression?
What does your church or faith community have to say?  Does the way we worship or shape our worship practices reinforce a sense of oppression or "othering?"  Is there a sense of insider-outsider, or "insider knowledge?" 

This theological reflection might be well served by using Dr. Patrica O'Connell Killen's The Art of Theological Reflection, (New York, NY:  Crossroad Press, 1996).  We alluded to this framework in class last week while disecting the SuperBowl commercial about the child in the DarthVader costume.  I was ecstatic to use the framework because Dr. Killen was my religion advisor at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU).  She is a fantastic scholar in religion and theology, who has recently taken on a calling towards academic leadership.  She served as provost at PLU, and last year left PLU after over 20 years on the faculty to become Academic Dean at Gonzaga University. 

Norm Clarification:  How are your values clearer?  To whom are you accountable?  Where do you come down?
Has the act of theological reflection, and the use of your resources help clarify who you are and more importantly what you believe?  Are you responsible to anyone?  If in a church as a leader, to a church council?  We are all accountable to God of course.  But beyond God, are we only answerable to ourselves?  Or, do we allow others: individuals, groups, communities, etc., to hold a sort of responsibility over us?

Strategic Options:  Brainstorming:  How can I use my conscientization, what have I learned, what are the possible consequences of the options to consider?
As Peter Drucker would ask as one of his "Five Questions," "what are my results?"  Where are we going?  What sort of trajectory will this decision or idea possibly take?  Do I know what I need to know, or do I need to know more still and be better informed? 

Annunciation and Celebration:  I can't do this...by myself.  Together remember, name, and celebrate the presence and power that sustains struggle.
This is a place for further reflection, but this reflection requires communal conversation and discernment.  For example, this is where the new student group at Luther Seminary, "Transformers:  Theologians in Disguise" is in, as it grows and reflects on why it feels it needs to exist.  The group feels a desire to engage in weekly conversation regarding critical theology- such as feminist. liberation, economic, ecological theology, etc.  It is a student group which has grown each week it meets, and its always open for new participants. Faculty and staff are welcome too, and we have been joined by the likes of Dr. Martinson, Dr. Malcolm, and Dr. Marga already.  The group's origins were in response to the "Transformative Lutheran Theologies" book alluded to in my previous post.  

Re-reflection/Strategic Action
Okay, this is where you are able to look back and see how things have changed, but also to see what kind of work still needs to be done.

Conscientization
The process repeats from the beginning.

Overall, this model seems very helpful, especially for thinking and reflecting critically on any topic from oppression, to other wondering about injustice, inequality, etc.