A shift in a people's conception of

A shift in a people's conception of what is morally right, however, can perhaps most easily be brought about if the message is communicated by recognizable moral authorities. The upsurge in revolutionary movements in parts of Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s came about precisely because of the role religious leaders played in changing the conceptions of millions of poor farmers and workers about the moral acceptability of existing social conditions. Many young men and women of the clergy and religious orders began to embrace the idea of an expanded role for the Church in the lives of the poor. Rather than simply to cater to spiritual needs through administering the sacraments and saying Mass, they came to feel it was their religious duty to work for social justice and a redistribution of wealth. This application of Christian values has been called "liberation the ology." As these ideas were widely communicated, more and more of the poor came to see the poverty and misery they endured as being not God's will but rather the will of some individuals and the result of the systems these people defended. The extreme inequalities that characterized their societies were now considered wrong, even sinful. Peasants and workers began to desire, demand, and expect change. A situation of mass frustration had been created.