Posted on 03/21/2008 11:12:16 AM PDT by Josh Painter
BLT is not your grandmother's sandwich anymore. I'm not talking about the famous bacon, lettuce and tomato taste treat here, but Black Liberation Theology. Thanks to pastor emeritus Jeremiah Wright of Barrick Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ, a new light has been focused on BLT, pushing it from the shadows into the forefront of political and religious discussion in America. So what is BLT, and where did it come from?
Black Liberation Theology is a fairly recent phenomenum, as far as religions go. It is, in fact, more radical politics than religion. BLT orginated in the 1960s when James Cone and other black liberation advocates began teaching that Christ was a black man:
Christ is black therefore not because of some cultural or psychological need of black people, but because and only because Christ really enters into our world where the poor were despised and the black are, disclosing that he is with them enduring humiliation and pain and transforming oppressed slaves into liberating servants.Cone and the others essentially borrowed Jesus from Christian theology and mixed the Savior and Karl Marx together into not a sandwich, but a new tossed salad of religion and politics. For Cone, traditional Christianity was nothing more than just another "opiate of the masses." And Marxism had in its early days been the exclusive realm of "racist whites." But Cone discovered Liberation Theology in Latin America and realized that black theology and Marxist politics could be presented as being fully compatible. The oil that blends the two is the culture of victimism. According to Cone:
All proponents of liberation theology contend that the masses are not poor by accident. They are made and kept poor by the rich and powerful few... No one can be a follower of Jesus Christ without a political commitment that expresses one's solidarity with victims.Cone's curious mix of Christianity and Marxism had a tremendous impact on Obama's friend, mentor and pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. And Wright has influenced Obama, although the Illinois Senator and Democrat presidential candidate will not admit to what degree and is short on specifics. His public denunciation of certain of Wright's more inflammatory rants hasn't really cleared the air. Actions speak louder than words, and Obama's 20-year membership in the Trinity congregation has created doubts in the minds of many voters.
As for BLT, as brewed up by Cone, preached by Wright and not publically rejected by Obama until quite recently (and in less than clear and specific terms) - it's a fraud and a failure. Marie Jon quotes Dr. Robert Morey, a scholar in the fields of theology and apologetics and author of no less than forty-five books, on the most excellent blog Conservative Voice:
The goals of BT are to turn religion into sociology, Christianity into a political agenda, Jesus into a black Marxist rebel, and the gospel into violent revolution. They are more interested in politics than preaching the gospel... Black liberal theology is not of God but of the devil. It is nothing more than 'white liberal religion' and is used by white theologians and politicians to keep blacks down in order to use them as cannon fodder for a Marxist revolution. Black liberal theologians slave for their white Marxist masters to bring about a violent revolution that would guarantee that all men, blacks included, would always be poor and oppressed. The only answer to liberal theology, regardless of the color of those who teach it, is personal salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Once you have experienced the love of God in Christ, you do not have any room in you heart for the self-hate and racist rage upon which BT feeds. The black community needs a revival — not a revolution; Jesus — not Marx; Christianity — not liberalism. Jesus is the only One who can change the hearts of all men and set them free from their bondage to sin."So what's the big deal about a fringe theology advanced by Black militants and imbedded in the mission of a black church in Chicago? It didn't much matter until it got thrust into the 2008 presidential campaign. Most American voters, when they think of presidents and church, see images of George Washington serving on the vestry of Truro Anglican church in Fairfax Virgina or Theodore Roosevelt laying the foundation for the National Cathedral in 1907. They like politics and religion somewhat separated, at least to the point where one worships the Lord instead of imagining Him as Che Guevara on the famous poster which once adorned the wall of Obama's Houston campaign headquarters.
The understanding of the Bible that most of us have is that Jesus did indeed associate with the downtrodden and the oppressed, but He was interested in their souls, not in their politics. The zealots of Christ's day were looking for a militant Messiah, and Jesus did not fit the bill, nor did He ally Himself with them or their cause. Politics are of this world, and Jesus often had to remind His disciples that He was not of this world. He is not Che, and He is not a Karl Marx of any color.
Even as a salad, most Americans find this BLT has a nasty taste and cannot be digested.
- JP
Whatabout GBLT???
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
This is what Huckabee defends. Anybody who defends Jeremiah Wright in ANY way is contributing to victimization theology.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I love Fred.
Behold what collectivism hath brought forth!
(A belief in individual liberties and rights would be a good place to curtail the destructive forces. Equal opportunities do not mean equal outcomes. We are all unique!)
I read somewhere that Obama wrote in one of his books that he supported BLT. Has anyone seen that? Would anyone be able to provide a quote on it?
Socialism, in all its forms, is based on
GREED FOR THE UNEARNED.
It’s not a church, it’s a MADRASA.
Hateful, vicious, UNAMERICAN.
Disgraceful & disgusting.
Barack Obama supporter, Reverend Jeremiah Wright: White people are the problem (especially "rich" white people). VIDEO
The common denominator between the two 'RAT supporting Reverends: "The problem is white people". ~ Rush Limbaugh Wednesday 3/19/2008
Their solution? Bigger government ([headed up only by the good people, ie: "real" blacks - (not "fake" ones like Condi Rice, Clarence Thomas or Thomas Sowell). ]).
[...]
"..Let us recall the fact that atheism and the denial of the human person, his liberty and rights, are at the core of the Marxist theory. This theory, then, contains errors which directly threaten the truths of the faith regarding the eternal destiny of individual persons. Moreover, to attempt to integrate into theology an analysis whose criterion of interpretation depends on this atheistic conception is to involve oneself in terrible contradictions. What is more, this misunderstanding of the spiritual nature of the person leads to a total subordination of the person to the collectivity, and thus to the denial of the principles of a social and political life which is in keeping with human dignity. ...
[...]
"..We are facing, therefore, a real system, even if some hesitate to follow the logic to its conclusion. As such, this system is a perversion of the Christian message as God entrusted it to His Church. This message in its entirety finds itself then called into question by the "theologies of liberation."
[...]
"...As a result, participation in the class struggle is presented as a requirement of charity itself. The desire to love everyone here and now, despite his class, and to go out to meet him with the non-violent means of dialogue and persuasion, is denounced as counterproductive and opposed to love.
If one holds that a person should not be the object of hate, it is claimed nevertheless that, if he belongs to the objective class of the rich, he is primarily a class enemy to be fought. Thus the universality of love of neighbor and brotherhood become an eschatological principle, which will only have meaning for the "new man", who arises out of the victorious revolution. ...
[...]
"..But the "theologies of liberation", which reserve credit for restoring to a place of honor the great texts of the prophets and of the Gospel in defense of the poor, go on to a disastrous confusion between the poor of the Scripture and the proletariat of Marx.
In this way they pervert the Christian meaning of the poor, and they transform the fight for the rights of the poor into a class fight within the ideological perspective of the class struggle. For them the Church of the poor signifies the Church of the class which has become aware of the requirements of the revolutionary struggle as a step toward liberation and which celebrates this liberation in its liturgy. ...
[...]
"..The new hermeneutic inherent in the "theologies of liberation" leads to an essentially political re-reading of the Scriptures. Thus, a major importance is given to the Exodus event inasmuch as it is a liberation from political servitude. Likewise, a political reading of the "Magnificat" is proposed. The mistake here is not in bringing attention to a political dimension of the readings of Scripture, but in making of this one dimension the principal or exclusive component. This leads to a reductionist reading of the Bible.
Likewise, one places oneself within the perspective of a temporal messianism, which is one of the most radical of the expressions of secularization of the Kingdom of God and of its absorption into the immanence of human history.
In giving such priority to the political dimension, one is led to deny the radical newness of the New Testament and above all to misunderstand the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, and thus the specific character of the salvation he gave us, that is above all liberation from sin, which is the source of all evils. ..
[...]
"...Faith in the Incarnate Word, dead and risen for all men, and whom "God made Lord and Christ" is denied. In its place is substituted a figure of Jesus who is a kind of symbol who sums up in Himself the requirements of the struggle of the oppressed.
An exclusively political interpretation is thus given to the death of Christ. In this way, its value for salvation and the whole economy of redemption is denied. ...
[...]
"..For them, the struggle of the classes is the way to unity.
The Eucharist thus becomes the Eucharist of the class. At the same time, they deny the triumphant force of the love of God which has been given to us.
[...]
"...the source of injustice is in the hearts of men. Therefore it is only by making an appeal to the moral potential of the person and to the constant need for interior conversion, that social change will be brought about which will be truly in the service of man.
For it will only be in the measure that they collaborate freely in these necessary changes through their own initiative and in solidarity, that people, awakened to a sense of their responsibility, will grow in humanity.
The inversion of morality and structures is steeped in a materialist anthropology which is incompatible with the dignity of mankind.
[...]
".. the overthrow by means of revolutionary violence of structures which generate violence is not ipso facto the beginning of a just regime. A major fact of our time ought to evoke the reflection of all those who would sincerely work for the true liberation of their brothers: millions of our own contemporaries legitimately yearn to recover those basic freedoms of which they were deprived by totalitarian and atheistic regimes which came to power by violent and revolutionary means, precisely in the name of the liberation of the people.
This shame of our time cannot be ignored: while claiming to bring them freedom, these regimes keep whole nations in conditions of servitude which are unworthy of mankind. Those who, perhaps inadvertently, make themselves accomplices of similar enslavements betray the very poor they mean to help.
The class struggle as a road toward a classless society is a myth which slows reform and aggravates poverty and injustice.
Those who allow themselves to be caught up in fascination with this myth should reflect on the bitter examples history has to offer about where it leads.
They would then understand that we are not talking here about abandoning an effective means of struggle on behalf of the poor for an ideal which has no practical effects. On the contrary, we are talking about freeing oneself from a delusion in order to base oneself squarely on the Gospel and its power of realization. ...
[...]
~ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (nka Pope Benedict XVI) August 6, 1984
“Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes, not divine, but demonic.” ~ Pope Benedict XVI
“...After all, every normal person wants to help the poor and needy, but helping them at the end of a gun, as the left always want us to do, renders any spiritual benefit inoperative for both parties. .... What we hear from Obama is the eternal mantra of the socialists; America is broken, millions have no health care, families cannot afford necessities, the rich are evil, we are selfish, we are unhappy, unfulfilled, without hope, desperate, poverty stricken, morally desolate, corrupt and racist. This nihilism is the lifeblood of all the democrat candidates, even ‘hope you can believe in’ performers like Obama. When Michelle Obama claims she is only newly proud of her country, she does not exaggerate. In her world as in Obama’s, they believe we are a mess, a land filled with the ignorant and unenlightened, filled with despair” ..." (Fairchok).
“I read somewhere that Obama wrote in one of his books that he supported BLT. Has anyone seen that? Would anyone be able to provide a quote on it?” ~ 9YearLurker
Sweetness & Light has been doing yoemens’ work regarding background on Barack Obama. You will find most everything you might be looking for in one place, both in their archives and in on-going events and situations, here: http://sweetness-light.com/archive/barack-obama-on-meeting-mister-wright
Another resource: Discover the Networks http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/
At Discover the Networks, you can search for individual names or organizations and get a profile on them. For instance:
Individual profile - Clinton, Hillary Rodham http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=18
You may want to save these links in your archives for future research needs, and pass them on far and wide, also.:) bttt
BLT sounds like Islam
There is a whole cesspool of turgid “liberation” writings springing out of the decayed Marxist and “3rd World” rantings of various leftist posturings. It would take a very strong stomach to review all of the neo-Marxist and pseudo-Marxist rants by various cultish leftists. The whole “green” movement of watermelon ideology (green on outside, red or pink on inside) is also part of the same cultural miasma.
As the political left was forced to give up on the more explicit forms of socialist thought they turned desperately to various ‘cover’ groups to allow the appearance of siding with everything good and just while continuing to peddle a lot of the same socialist nonsense.
Don’t blame Huck too much. This is thorny, especially for Americans. We really do believe in freedom of religion, maybe at great expense. What do we do, condemn his church & build an amusement park? We can’t even refuse to recognize witch theology! Back in the days when education meant something and we weren’t learning that everyone’s cultural values were equally valid, the ability of folks to discern which religions made sense and which didn’t, the market took care of the kooks. Now, obviously, anything goes; and we’re going to pay a price for it.
this is interesting....
INTREP
The secret is revealed. The hate is overwhelming. No wonder the radical left does everything it can to make blacks hate whites, and to treat whites unfairly so that they will make unkind remarks and be branded racist.
Karma at work.
Obama threw his grandmother under his “We Are the Ones” bus and the bus was killed.
In his first book he wrote that he sought to take college cources from the professors who were Marxists.
On a 1984 trip to meet with the Libyan dictator (and America’s arch enemy) Muammar Qadhafi, Farrakhan was accompanied by none other than Jeremiah A. Wright.
On its website, Wright’s church describes itself in distinctly racial terms, as being an “Unashamedly Black” congregation of “African people” who are “true to our native land, the mother continent, the cradle of civilization,” and who participate in TUCC’s “Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.”
But Wright casually dismisses this charge, stating: “I get tickled every time I hear a ‘Negro’ call me a racist. They don’t even understand how to define the word. Racism means controlling the means.
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