First it was the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and now the Reverend Michael Pfleger. What's with Obama's crackpot preacher pals?
One is white and one is black. And there are probably more of them that the Obama campaign is trying to muzzle as we speak. But does Obama seem peculiarly unfortunate in his choice of mentors and allies, or is there an ideological basis to what these preachers are saying?
Chicago, where Obama is from, is the capital of what may be called the Black Liberation Theology movement in the United States. This movement is a legacy of the 1960s, and has more to do with Malcolm X than Martin Luther King.
Malcolm X, you may recall, denounced Christianity as a racist religion which had created what he called a "blond, blue-eyed Jesus." Malcolm X called on blacks to repudiate this bigoted religion. He himself embraced the Nation of Islam with its own peculiar theology.
Some black activists, notably a theologian named James Cone, agreed with Malcolm X. But their solution was not to abandon Christianity. Rather, they countered what they saw as the white man's Christianity with a kind of black equivalent. In this view, Christ was not blond and blue eyed but rather black and Afrocentric. Picture Christ with an Afro and dashiki leading a revolutionary liberation movement against the white Pharoahs and you'll get the picture.
Cone and others spearheaded a new interpretation of the Bible which is now read as a story of emancipation from white racist oppression. Unfortunately what black liberation theology does is to take all the old racial stereotypes and simply invert them. Consequently the new theology was no less race-conscious and prejudiced than the one it sought to replace.
The Reverend Jeremiah Wright explicitly associates himself with black liberation theology. I don't know about Pfleger, but his rhetoric also reflects the same themes. Ironically there are some whites like Pfleger who are attracted to the doctrine of white oppressors and black martyrs. Presumably these whites hope that by allying themselves with black virtue they can escape the moral stigma of being white.
Obama and his campaign managers have been trying to promote the lie that this bizarre cult of black liberation theology is actually mainstream teaching in the black church. And again there is a strain of condescending white liberalism that is quick to agree. "Yes, of course they say crazy things in the black church, Mildred, but you have to understand the terrible things those people have been through."
In reality you only have to sample black churches across the country to see that this is a calumny against black Christians, who are mostly traditional in their understanding of the Bible and who don't spend their Sundays chanting "God damn America!"
I'm relieved that Obama has finally summoned the good sense to quit the Reverend Wright's Trinity Church. Ultimately what Obama needs to repudiate is not only the odd Reverend who happens to embarrass his campaign but the racist ideology that calls itself black liberation theology.
Reader Comments ( Page 6 of 44)
76. It was Abraham that was commanded to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. It was a test of faith. God wanted to see if he would withhold anything from him.
janesophie1 at 9:29AM on Jun 2nd 2008
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And if god was really all-knowing and omniscient and all that, he wouldn't need to test anybody, would he? He'd just KNOW.
Godless Heathen Brian at 1:22PM on Jun 2nd 2008
77. And finally, this-
Jane. Jesus needs a spokesperson?
Strados. You are in exceptional form today- rock on!
Alas, busy work day...
Aloha!
Robert at 1:26PM on Jun 2nd 2008
78. GHB-
They almost make it too easy, don't they?
Gotta go!
Have fun, y'all!
Robert at 1:27PM on Jun 2nd 2008
79. "Do you believe just because you understand something that automatically makes what you understand true??
Jerry Brown,
I believe in God. I believe that Jesus was the son of God. He was crucified and resurrected from the dead for my salvation. I accept the validity of sacred scripture and sacred tradition. I have had a personal conversion. It is true to me. I can't speak for everyone else. I feel no need to question my faith. Faith is something you either have or don’t. Faith comes with humility and acceptance. God does not have to be logical for me to believe in him. He does not have to conform to my standards of morality. I accept God on his terms. Human reason and logic is nice to study, but like St. Thomas Aquinas said compared to God all is straw; "All my works seem like straw after what I have seen".
janesophie1 at 1:28PM on Jun 2nd 2008
80. "why does God demand blood be spilled for sins committed"?-AndrewV
Life is in the blood according to the Old Testament(Torah); "For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life (Leviticus 17:14)".-janesophie1
jane: That didn't answer my question at all. You read into that WAAY too literally. The question is why does God demand sacrifice? And in addition, how can he be all good and still demand suffering as payment for sin?
AndrewV at 1:35PM on Jun 2nd 2008
81. "Why is there such a thing as a 'black church' anyway?" fanman.
fanman, good post. There is a black church of course because for a long time our nation subscribed to an idealogy of 'whiteness.' That idealogy trumped just about everything else, including religious belief. Anyone who did not fit into the definition of 'whiteness' was excluded and marginalized from the overall community including the churches.
It would have been a wonderful witness for the cause of Christ, if down through the years blacks and whites would have been able to resist the idealogy of race and its segregating patterns in American life.
randy at 1:38PM on Jun 2nd 2008
82. (Sigh) dear jane,
Is that your equivalent to putting fingers in your ears and chanting "lalalalalalalalalalalala!"?
Robert at 1:40PM on Jun 2nd 2008
83. 9. "Do you believe just because you understand something that automatically makes what you understand true??
Jerry Brown,
I believe in God. I believe that Jesus was the son of God. He was crucified and resurrected from the dead for my salvation. I accept the validity of sacred scripture and sacred tradition. I have had a personal conversion. It is true to me. I can't speak for everyone else. I feel no need to question my faith. Faith is something you either have or don’t. Faith comes with humility and acceptance. God does not have to be logical for me to believe in him. He does not have to conform to my standards of morality. I accept God on his terms. Human reason and logic is nice to study, but like St. Thomas Aquinas said compared to God all is straw; "All my works seem like straw after what I have seen".
janesophie1
I have had a personal conversion myself, and it did not in any way then or now ask me to buy into anything that was not or is not logical or reasonable.
Is there a difference between people like you, and people like Bin Laden in that he understands the Koran as you understand the bible. I think both of you are full of hot air, and I do not see any reason to change my mind. It seems to me a common weakness of our human minds to believe what we understand as though it were true when it is often not. What safe guards do you use to check your own ideas? What safe guards do you use to validate this supposed sacred scripture? Ever body has faith, the question is what do we put our faith in. I truly believe you have bought into an antiquated way of thinking instead of using your mind to find out the truth and facts of life. I personally see you as being mentally lazy unwilling to use you excellent mind to go into the future instead of buying into the thoughts that were used as scaffolding for minds less advanced than the minds of today. To bad all you seem to be able to do is quote others instead of validating your ideas in your personal experience, and what is happening in the now moment.
Jerry Brown at 1:49PM on Jun 2nd 2008
84. Black liberation theology is a varient of classical liberation theology as formulated by the peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutirrez. Its' main interpretive principle is that God has a special concern for the oppressed and the poor. Contrast this with the brand of Christianity that DD and the religious right peddles which places God on the side of the rich.
randy at 1:51PM on Jun 2nd 2008
85. Randy, you could also add Martin Luther's Treatise of 95 points in that mix of liberation theology.
JefFlyingV at 1:59PM on Jun 2nd 2008
86. IRONBLUEEYES ,
"Malcolm X spent World War 2 hiding under his bed, while 16 MILLION American men and women served."
I see they're giving you internet over there in Afghaniraqistan where you must be fighting the good fight.
Mokele Mbembe at 2:02PM on Jun 2nd 2008
87. Iron, I'm pretty sure they were being fairly picky about the "coloreds" they were allowing into the military. Had to keep them seperate, too.
Strados at 2:13PM on Jun 2nd 2008
88. "Randy, you could also add Martin Luther's Treatise of 95 points in that mix of liberation theology." JefFlyingV
Yes, perhaps. It's interesting to note however, that Luther condemned the German peasant revolts in 1525 which had been inspired in part by the Reformation.
randy at 2:13PM on Jun 2nd 2008
89. "Why is there such a thing as a 'black church' anyway?" fanman.
Cause I always thought Jesus was a splitting image of Bob Marley.
Dennis at 2:42PM on Jun 2nd 2008
90. Strados,did I mention race? The 16 million included black amd white and I think it is despicable that the services were segregated. The point I was making was that Malcolm would not serve and he made a point of letting every one know that in his Autobiography. I don't think very highly of him for that.
IRONBLUEEYES at 2:26PM on Jun 2nd 2008