Black Liberation Theology
Very interesting ...
The Rev. James Cone is the founder of black liberation theology. In an interview with Terry Gross, Cone explains the movement, which has roots in 1960s civil-rights activism and draws inspiration from both the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, as "mainly a theology that sees God as concerned with the poor and the weak."Cone also comments on controversial remarks made by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's former minister and a black liberation theology
proponent.In a now-famous 2003 sermon,Wright charged that an ingrained, abiding racism in American society is at fault for many of the troubles African-Americans face, and he thundered, "No, no, no, not God bless America! God damn America — that's in the Bible — for killing innocent people."
Cone explains that at the core of black liberation theology is an effort — in a white-dominated society, in which black has been defined as evil — to make the gospel relevant to the life and struggles of American blacks, and to help black people learn to love themselves. It's an attempt, he says "to teach people how to be both unapologetically black and Christian at the same time."
my state @ 3:54 PM :: Permalink
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2 Comments:
Black Liberation Theology? Where what's White is wrong and Black reigns Supreme? Let's re-examine this theology, pull the poisons of bitterness and resentment and see what we come up with.
I remember being in school in the Nation of Islam's "University of Islam" in Washington, D.C. learning this theology through drills. I've published two memoirs about the experience, "Little X: Growing Up in the Nation of Islam" and "Do Me Twice: My Life After Islam." It's time we re-examine this theology as we move forward.
Black liberation theology is not "what's white is wrong and black reigns supreme." You should Dwight Hopkins' Introducing Black Theology of Liberation or Wilmore & Cone's 2 volume set on Black Theology. What you experienced was not black theology of liberation and what you experienced is not what Rev. Wright preaches. Anyone who has really listened to more than 30 seconds of Rev. Wright's sermons, attended Rev. Wright's lectures, and/or read Rev. Wright's books understands that "different does not mean deficient" and "everyone who is black is not your friend and everyone who is white is not your enemy." While all theology is certainly subject to critical reflection and evaluation, your basis for such an examination is not founded.
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