"The abnegation of reason is not the evidence of faith, but the confession of despair."
- J.B. Lightfoot
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
I don't know how many of you saw the original soundbites of Jeremiah Wright's controversial statements from the pulpit. In doing research on Black Liberation Theology, for a presentation for my church, I looked up the clips on youtube to see them for myself. I found some that Wright's church wanted me to see.
Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago has posted a little more context as a way of response. Here are much bigger clips from which the controversial sound bites came. They want us to see the context. I think it's worth watching. If you want to understand this sort of thinking, I'd encourage you to take the time.
I don't do this to disparage, but if we want to understand, then we should listen and pay attention. This is how Black Liberation Theology responds to the world and reads the Bible. What flows out of the pulpit, is the natural product of the theology.
America's Chickens - This is the sermon preached the Sunday after 9-11-01
It makes sense if you understand that Liberation Theology views history and social wrongs as the primary emphasis of Scripture. Liberation theology teaches that salvation history is the story of the oppressed vs. the oppressor. And God is on the side of the oppressed. Liberation theology teaches that capitalist countries such as the U.S. do what they do militarily to keep poor people poor, and the rich people rich.
And like the prophet Amos, Liberation Theologians believe they must pronounce judgement on the nations that perpetuate social injustice and violence against the oppressed.
God CURSE America - because the Gov't wages war on the oppressed
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Comments on "Black Liberation Theology Illustrated":
2. Annie
- 04/12/2008 10:44 pm CDT
I don't think MLK is as relevant a touchstone here as the old testament prophet Jeremiah. Wright is calling America to account for its foreign policies as much as for its domestic actions. The oppressed here may be people of color in a global sense but it's about much more than the civil liberties of the black community. The message is that oppressing the poor, at home and abroad, is an evil that will have consequences.
Jeremiah 6:13-14 - For from the least to the greatest of them, every one is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, every one deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, `Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
3. Bill
- 04/13/2008 2:59 pm CDT
I don't understand.
How are we oppressing the poor?
America is not called "the land of opportunity" for nothing - there's a reason millions of people are trying to get in here. Our own poor have a higher standard of living than most people in the world.
Our own much maligned and mocked president Bush has done more to battle the problem of AIDS in Africa than any of his predecessors.
Even the classic example of "sweatshops" in other countries is not as simple as it sounds. For some of those people, what we call a "sweatshop" is what they call a "job". Well meaning (and often well-heeled) liberals work to shut them down and now, hey, no job for you.
The war - very contentious issue. But it wasn't one when Wright did the "Chickens coming home to roost" sermon. And one person's evil invasion and occupation is another person's liberating of 50 million people from tyranny.
America's not perfect. Far from it. But I'll start believing the firey sermons a bit more when they start calling out what Kim Jong Il has done to the poor of North Korea (well, everyone's poor there, pretty much) or what Castro has done to what should be the island paradise of Cuba, or calling out some of the tinpot dictators in Africa who have reduced their citizens to eating dirt.
In this case, what we need is MLK. Jeremiah had a real, God-calling to preach against very real oppression. Many of the guys of reverend Wright's ilk are pure race-hustlers, getting rich off pumping up the victim-status and grievances of their people, rather than doing any real good for them.
Leave a Comment:
well......God is on the side of the oppressed....but I researched/wrote a paper in college on Liberation Theology in South America - it's academic origins are in the Latino Cathlic church......it's a faulty/heretic view, but understandable that it would rise from the academia of the self-declared oppressed cultures and races.....how would you contrast Lib Theology from MLK's views?....Rev Wright would have them inextricably linked.......are they?