Sefarst
16th March 2008, 09:19 PM
The issue surrounding Barack Obama's preacher, Mr. Wright, has brought to light interesting questions for me. Is black liberation theology inherently racist? Should Mr. Wright's church lose tax exempt status? Should all churches that comment on political campaigns, host politicians, or comment on political issues lose their tax exempt status?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JEMZHQsQJ6Y for a few clips.
I'd like for the discussion to be focused more on the religious aspect of the Church and Mr. Wright and less on the political implications. We can argue all day over whether or not America's foreign policy is responsible for 9/11 (an argument many of us have all ready had and one I'm willing to have again if you want to make a thread on the politics forum to stop from derailing this thread) or if this will hurt Obama's campaign.
Religiously, though, Black Liberation Theology is something I've encountered several times in the past, including one month ago when I attended an all black church to receive a scholarship they were offering. I found the church to be bizarre, focusing almost entirely on being black rather than being Christians. It began with a "Black Family Pledge" which the entire congregation recited (which I later found out was originally written by Maya Angelou). It goes as follows, and I quote:
"Leader: Because we have forgotten Our ancestors,
All: Our children no longer give us honor.
Leader: Because we have lost the path Our ancestors cleared, kneeling in perilous undergrowth,
All: Our children cannot find their way.
Leader: Because we have banished the God of Our ancestors,
All: Our children cannot pray.
Leader: Because the long wails of Our ancestors have faded beyond Our hearing,
All: Our children cannot hear us crying.
Leader: Because we have abandoned Our wisdom of mothering and fathering,
All: Our befuddled children give birth to children they neither want nor understand.
Leader: Because we have forgotten how to love,
All: The adversary is within Our gates, and holds us up to the mirror of the world, shouting, "Regard the loveless".
Therefore, we pledge to bind Ourselves again to one another,
To embrace Our lowliest,
To keep company with Our Loneliest,
To educate Our illiterate,
To feed Our starving,
To clothe Our ragged,
To do ALL good things, knowing that we are more than keepers of Our brothers and sisters.
We are Our brothers and sisters.
In honor of those who toiled and implored God with golden tongues,
and in gratitude to the same God who brought us out of hopeless desolation,
We make this pledge."
The service continued by talking about the oppression they felt, racism, slavery, black poets, and so on. There was mention of Jesus and Christianity and various shouts of "AMEN!" but I felt like this was only in passing.
I have also watched other black preachers on TV and seen them in person, sometimes preaching from street corners. The emphasis is very often about race, one individual going so far as to say that any picture or depiction of Jesus in which he is not shown to be a black man is blasphemous.
Does Black Liberation Theology help, hurt, or have no effect on race relations in both the United States and around the world? Is there anything wrong with linking race and religion in mainstream, modern theology?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JEMZHQsQJ6Y for a few clips.
I'd like for the discussion to be focused more on the religious aspect of the Church and Mr. Wright and less on the political implications. We can argue all day over whether or not America's foreign policy is responsible for 9/11 (an argument many of us have all ready had and one I'm willing to have again if you want to make a thread on the politics forum to stop from derailing this thread) or if this will hurt Obama's campaign.
Religiously, though, Black Liberation Theology is something I've encountered several times in the past, including one month ago when I attended an all black church to receive a scholarship they were offering. I found the church to be bizarre, focusing almost entirely on being black rather than being Christians. It began with a "Black Family Pledge" which the entire congregation recited (which I later found out was originally written by Maya Angelou). It goes as follows, and I quote:
"Leader: Because we have forgotten Our ancestors,
All: Our children no longer give us honor.
Leader: Because we have lost the path Our ancestors cleared, kneeling in perilous undergrowth,
All: Our children cannot find their way.
Leader: Because we have banished the God of Our ancestors,
All: Our children cannot pray.
Leader: Because the long wails of Our ancestors have faded beyond Our hearing,
All: Our children cannot hear us crying.
Leader: Because we have abandoned Our wisdom of mothering and fathering,
All: Our befuddled children give birth to children they neither want nor understand.
Leader: Because we have forgotten how to love,
All: The adversary is within Our gates, and holds us up to the mirror of the world, shouting, "Regard the loveless".
Therefore, we pledge to bind Ourselves again to one another,
To embrace Our lowliest,
To keep company with Our Loneliest,
To educate Our illiterate,
To feed Our starving,
To clothe Our ragged,
To do ALL good things, knowing that we are more than keepers of Our brothers and sisters.
We are Our brothers and sisters.
In honor of those who toiled and implored God with golden tongues,
and in gratitude to the same God who brought us out of hopeless desolation,
We make this pledge."
The service continued by talking about the oppression they felt, racism, slavery, black poets, and so on. There was mention of Jesus and Christianity and various shouts of "AMEN!" but I felt like this was only in passing.
I have also watched other black preachers on TV and seen them in person, sometimes preaching from street corners. The emphasis is very often about race, one individual going so far as to say that any picture or depiction of Jesus in which he is not shown to be a black man is blasphemous.
Does Black Liberation Theology help, hurt, or have no effect on race relations in both the United States and around the world? Is there anything wrong with linking race and religion in mainstream, modern theology?