This is just fantastic. I think James Cone hits the mark with laser precision here, particularly the differing philosophical epistemologies. Thoughts?
The difference in the form of black and white religious thought is on the one hand sociological. Since blacks were slaves and had to work from sun-up to nightfall, they did not have time for the art of philosophical and theological discourse. They, therefore, did not know about the systems of Augustine, Calvin, or Edwards. And if Ernst Bloch is correct in his contention that “need is the mother of thought,”1 then it can be said that black slaves did not need to know about Anselm’s ontological argument, Descartes Cogito, ergo sum, and Kant’s Ding an sich. Such were not their philosophical and theological problems as defined by their social reality. Read more…
Soong-Chan Rah: Another Angry Asian Man?
Reading “Prof Rah’s” The Next Evangelicalism is like gargling with salt. It stings in the throat but at the same time clears the sinuses of the stuffiness and congestion of poorly thought-out racial dialogue. Sure, we like to talk about color-blindness, and melting pots, and model minorities, but do we know what we’re really saying when we talk about these things? Surely the Church – that glorious multicultural reality – is exempt from these faux-pas assumptions… Or is she? Perhaps a little deconstruction is in order – and maybe that aint such a bad thing.
Read more…
OK, so this made me really upset today.
How far do we still have to go? Is it still necessary to work through some of our deep racial issues that surface in our political cartoons? Apparently so. So tell me; in your view, is cartoonist Sean Delonas a racist for depicting this image of our pres. or is he just making light of a recent monkey slaying incident? And shame on you New York Post for letting this get past your editors.
The small town of Tulia, Texas will unfortunately be back in the spotlights soon in infamy – what with the upcoming 10-yr anniversary and the pending movie directed by John Singleton and starring Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry, scheduled for release this year. It’s a convergence point – where politics, nationalism, and drugs combine to rear the ugly head of racism – in an incident where a community unfairly indicted 46 blacks for alleged cocaine distribution – w/ very little due process and with the very spotty testimony of one unrealiable witness – a corrupt bounty hunter of sorts. It’s upsetting to say the least, all the more so as some of these townsfolk claim to be religious, but it’s not my role to re-tell the story.
Any of my friends from TX got the (real) scoop on Tulia?
As per a past post I re-raise this issue where angels fear to tread; well, thank goodness no one reads my blog anyway. Professor of New Testament, Rikk Watts, here @ Regent College has given a chapel lecture titled: “Up Zion’s Hill: Imagining a New Jerusalem” – and I walk away feeling like I missed the punchline – kinda half-full / half-empty – but here’s the synopsis: Read more…
Atif Irfan and his wife, Sobia Ijaz, were among nine passengers removed from a flight Thursday after commenting on the safest place to sit. (By Phelan M. Ebenhack For The Washington Post)
I’m all for deconstructing prejudices but there’s an oft-missed dimension of prejudice that is not adequately addressed, namely, fear.
As much as we can wax progressive in cross-cultural ideals let’s face it; we’re really terrified of the ‘other’ are we not? For example, what happens when this xenophobia is mixed with, say, fear of flying? All of our progressive ideals get tossed out the window. In light of 9 Muslims getting booted off a plane – sure it’s discrimination – but it reflects a national sentiment and deeply-rooted fear since 9/11. What we need is dialogue – more voices from the Muslim community – and more talking to address this issue of fear. I’ll be the first to admit; ever since 9/11 I’ve hated flying more than ever. Anybody else echo that sentiment?
My prediction – and I hope I’m wrong – is this latest round is going to be the longest, most acute, persistent case of xenophobia ever.
This from a friend, pastor Jonita (Jay) Johnson: Read more…
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