The belief that
the current system (in our example, the
neo-liberal model of
capitalist democracy) can be repaired by small incremental changes, rather than a radical overhaul that would
restructure existing hierarchies at
their very foundations.
Reformism is often mocked by veterans, even theologians, in Latin America's political movements as timid, cowardly, and even intentionally misleading. The following is an excerpt from the Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Uppsala, Sweden, 1968, on God, the future of the planet and its people, and a forecast of sorts of today's growing network of activism at all levels of society:
Our hope is in him who makes all things new. He judges our structures of thought and action and renders them obsolete. If our false security in the old and our fear of revolutionary change tempt us to defend the status quo or to patch it up with half-hearted measures, we may all perish. The death of the old may cause pain to some, but failure to bring up a new world community may bring death to all. In their faith in the coming Kingdom of God and in their search for his righteousness, Christians are urged to participate in the struggle of millions of people for greater social justice and for world development.
the radical bible, adapted by John Eagleson and Philip Scharper from bibel provokativ, edited by Hellmut Haug and Jurgen Rump, translated by Erika J. Papp, 1972, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York.