Prueba

Given the fact that this dissertation is a practical theological endeavour - with its focus being a pastoral assessment of images of men and masculinities in different cultural contexts – it is necessary to first outline what practical theology entails. In broad terms practical theology (with pastoral care as subfield)³⁹ can be defined as a place where religious belief, tradition and practice meets contemporary experiences, questions and actions, and conducts a dialogue that is mutually enriching, intellectually critical, and practically transforming.

Louw (2007: 46) relates spiritual healing in pastoral care to the field of practical theology and makes the following principle assertions to illuminate this relation:

37 Some theorists like Waters (1995) contends that we are entering a stage of post-globalization. The challenge is to consider whether there is any social possibility and human dignity beyond globalization, other than a recessive social disintegration and an anthropological confusion regarding identity and dignity. Within post-globalization human beings are exposed more and more to the imagination of virtual reality. Computers already simulate a virtual space out of information. With the click of a mouse an existence in cyberspace is simulated, that is, to simulate a body and a space that can be varied by design and thus by choice. “This cyberspace” bears no relationship to physical space and is limited only by the power of the computer(s) one uses (Waters 1995: 164). According to Louw (2003) anthropology is now challenged by “cyberpunks” ― people living in the virtual reality of cyberspace. Cyberpunks live out their entire lives in and on the internet. Albeit one can be liberated from spatial constraints entirely, it is still the case that neither cultural economies nor virtual reality can fill the gap regarding our human quest for meaning, identity and dignity. Cyberpunks are the vagabonds of “trans-postmodernity” and “trans-globalization.” They represent a variant anthropological stance based on the pleasure principle, on the magic of entertainment and the imperialism of profit-makers.

38 In this context the focus on globalisation is primarily directed in terms of its cultural and social influences, and not in terms of the economic forces that shape the phenomenon.

39 Woodward and Pattison (2000) suggest that there is no one view about which of these terms (“pastoral” versus

“practical” theology) should predominate over the other. Practical and pastoral theology can thus both be seen as genuinely practical/pastoral and authentically theological. The researcher would however simultaneously like to maintain the distinction which Graham (2000) makes, i.e. between ‘practical’ denoting the generic activities of Christian ministry and ‘pastoral’ the more interpersonal levels of care. She favours ‘practical theology’ given her emphasis on the discipline as the study of Christian practice, and locates pastoral theology as one of a number of practical theologies (but distinguished by its focus on the theory and practice of the human life cycle).

“The presupposition and basic assertion is that Practical Theology is that field within theology that deals with the praxis of God, i.e. the implications of the God-human encounter for life and the human quest for meaning. Practical Theology includes both ethics and aesthetics. It is interested in the intention, motivation and telos of human actions within the field of ministry, communities of faith and social contexts. In this regard it tries to link appropriate understandings of God with the pastoral and hermeneutical endeavour of understanding the salvific actions of God and his presence in life events (intellectum). Furthermore, it is about the communication and proclamation of the gospel (verbum); the transformation and liberation of social contexts (actum); the fostering of a vivid hope within the realm of suffering (spem); the symbolic and methaphorical expression of the Christian faith through imagination, creativity and ritual (imaginem); and the portrayal of Christian spirituality through visual images, audio sounds and narratives that contain meaning and represent the “seeing of the unseen” within virtual reality (visum).”

These above-mentioned basic presuppositions implicitly form an integral part of the core matrix within which this study operates.

Woodward and Pattison (2000: 13-17) explicates various essential characteristics of the scope or field of practical theology. Two of these main traits are also critically important to highlight at the start of this dissertation, namely its (1) interdisciplinary and (2) dialectical nature:

(1) Practical theology is interdisciplinary. Therefore it utilizes the methods and insights of academic and other disciplines - such as economics, sociology, psychology, and other disciplinary findings and perspectives - that are not overtly theological as part if its theological method. These types of interdisciplinary methods and insights will also be utilized in this dissertation.

(2) Practical theology is also dialectical and disciplined. Proceeding by way of a kind of critical conversation, many contemporary practical theologies hold in creative tension a number of polarities such as: theory and practice; the religious tradition emanating from the past and contemporary religious experience; particular situational realities and general theoretical principles; what is [reality] and what might be [ideal]; description [what is] and prescription [what ought to be]; theology and other disciplines; the religious community and society outside

the religious community. These creative tensions and its critical conversations will also form an integral part of the core outline of this study.

It must furthermore be noted that the above-mentioned perspectives require a fundamental reorientation of the core functions of pastoral care. In conjunction with Bonnie Miller-McLemore’s view on pastoral care (1996; 2000), the object of study in this pastoral theological undertaking is the “living human web”. Within this framework pastoral care still entails practical religious, spiritual, and congregational care for the suffering, involving the rich resources of religious traditions and communities, contemporary understandings of the human person in the social sciences, and ultimately the movement of God’s love and hope in the lives of individuals and communities.

However, pastoral care will also be viewed from a liberation perspective where the focus falls on

“breaking silences, urging prophetic action, and liberating the oppressed” (Miller-McLemore 2000: 242). In addition to the conventional modes with which pastoral care has been routinely equated, i.e. healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling (formulated by Seward Hiltner and others) four pastoral practices will receive particular importance: resisting, empowering, nurturing, and liberating. For indeed, “Pastoral theology and care oriented to the cry for gender justice disrupts and disturbs as much as it comforts and consoles.” (Miller-McLemore 2000:

242).

In the light of the above-mentioned pastoral hermeneutics struggles with the question if the value of human life can solely be evaluated in terms of unqualified competition within the framework of an achievement ethos - which is presented as the so-called key to success. The answer is “no”, and strategies must be found through which the global economy can make a contribution to a more humane society and the protection of human dignity. Pastoral hermeneutics, which works with the deconstruction of schemata of interpretation, is therefore responsible for the exposure of inapt God concepts which for instance undergird an unjust and patriarchal economic system of abuse. The field of economics is unaware of the way in which domination is supported by inapt God concepts. Therefore a pastoral theology of care must be extremely sensitive to and take cognisance of the significant role of God concepts in the economy.

The following conceptual schemata are often present with the postmodernist person: the ideological obsession with happiness (in the American “pursuit” thereof); inapplicable anxiety and the fear of loneliness; the tendency towards progress and prosperity and the pathological avoidance of suffering; the unrealistic disqualification of pain as a medium for growth; the demand for development and progress without the acknowledgement of boundaries. These schemes can often be related to an achievement ethos and the idea of wealth and status, as propagated by the mass media. The outcome is a life based on materialism and opportunism.

Within a Christian spirituality these schemes and ideas are then projected onto a God who is presented as the solution to all life problems. Thus:

“God becomes a public idol, while his kingdom functions as an assurance company. Through prayers God is hijacked for selfish materialistic needs. Religion is then viewed as an investment to bypass tragedy; God becomes the brilliant Stockbroker, Director or Manager which safeguards the aspirations of an affluent society and imperialistic Christendom.” (Louw 2002: 348)

A pastoral hermeneutics which wants to be relevant within the question of globalisation, is therefore in its core bound to the relevance/irrelevance of the current economic system, evaluated in terms of local issues and needs. But then pastoral care needs to find a deeper understanding and assessment of the philosophy and schemata of interpretation, which serves as motivators of the processes which daily affects the cognitions and expectancies of people. In this dissertation it is focused, out of a pastoral perspective, on the problem of gender and masculinity - with specific reference in later chapters to the relation between masculinity, embodiment and power, as well as the reciprocity between masculinity and Christian spirituality.