Front PageThe Lesson of Jeremiah Wright
Submitted by bill on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 15:16. Culture & Society jeremiah wright liberation theology religion salvation victimhood
The exposure of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Victim Gospel is merely an opening window peeking into the seedy works of victimhood preaching in particular, and to the church's widespread and divisive, sheep-versus-goat teachings in general. Both of these philosophies indulge parishioners' want to be comforted in their perceived afflictions, rather than encouraged to grow spiritually through adversity. This is not a true reflection of the teachings of Jesus. It's just the message that best sells.
Whether the preaching is about victimhood, or holiness, it often pits one group of us against another group of them, in a way that resonates with our human want to be pandered and promoted. Jeremiah Wright, with his Black Liberation Theology, is in constant need of persecutors. The potential election of America's first black president is actually a threat to his message of anti-hope—regardless of whether Barak Obama truly harmonizes with it's disparaging ring. Singing similar tunes, sermonizers and demigods of other theologies and ideologies sooth their congregation's need for superiority over others with messages of doom and damnation to outsiders who dare to denounce their merciless tribal god.1 An attack on them is an attack on their church, which is an attack on their god. All call upon holy scripture for example and verse, while the faithful flock in approving accord.
The Christian Left sees Jesus as a revolutionary who not only served the sick and oppressed, but who declared the Favorable Year of the Lord—or Jubilee. Their interpretation of Jubilee is justice through social activism. Therefore, Jesus is seen as the leader—or at least prophet—of the oppressed and lower classes. Not just as liberator, but as defender of the oppressed against their oppressors.
On the opposite side of the religio-political range are those who find in the same scripture, a Jesus who is not a liberator of the oppressed, but a denouncer of sin and a converter to holiness of libertines, drunkards, and the like. From this perspective, sinners are not oppressed by governments and religious establishments, but by their sinfulness instead. Liberation is then a moral salvation, not a political or physical one. These students of the very same writings, find in Jesus a miracle worker who soothes the suffering of repentant sinners, and celebrates the return of penitent, once prodigal sons, back into the moral fold. This view imagines Truth, Righteousness, and its moralistic God, as the victims of the sinners, who are thus the perpetrators.
What these perspectives have in common is that they see the world as black and white, and made up of perpetrators and victims. Doctrine and legislation are sure solutions lacking only in their need of full implementation. What they want is a strong government or a powerful church to set things right. Spirituality is defined as the measure of doctrinal implementation. And it is the perpetrators who must repent, while victims merely wait for salvation via conversion of the perpetrators. Victims (whether the oppressed people or doctrinal righteousness) have no ability nor responsibility to help themselves. Perpetrators (whether oppressors or sinners) are completely and directly responsible for the oppression they inflict, and capable of changing course (converting) with only a sincere decision. Central power and individual devotion to it, is what the institution seeks.
Neither of these approaches work. In spite of the institutions, Christianity has brought increasing levels of civilization and societal harmony over the past two millennia. However, history and personal experience tells us that institutional religion is on balance no more righteous, and no less an oppressor, than the targets of its prophetic lambasting. So how is it that civilization has continued to advance? Because individuals took the teachings to heart, and changed themselves, despite the interference and confusion wrought by institutional religion and government mandated morality. But, this paradox should not surprise us because the same scripture tells us that we cannot, and should not, change others. We must focus instead on changing ourselves.
And so we uncover the big lie of both religion and social engineering: people change from inside out, and never from outside in. Outside influences are essential and abundant. But we choose—and must choose—how we will react to them. These influences then become opportunities for spiritual growth, instead of perpetrators to be judged. Consciousness, which is closely related to spirituality, stands in the gap between stimulus and response. No outside force can choose our response to a stimulus. At best, an outside authority can attempt to influence our response only by its reaction to our chosen response. It can reward or punish our response, but it cannot mandate what it will be. Organizations do not change people. Individuals change themselves.
Contrary to popular theologies, Jesus of Nazareth did not teach affirmative action for the oppressed and punishment to oppressors. Instead, he taught that each of us is responsible to be both merciful and just, and that we change the world from the inside out. He also predicted the ultimate collapse of the corrupt system. Parables about yeast and mustard seed, salt and pearls of great price, were told to people who were oppressed by both an occupying empire and a corrupt theocracy. Some of these people were zealous about forfeiting their lives to restore the Davidic kingdom by force. Others strove to apply purity laws, originally intended for practicing priests, to themselves and everyone else, in hopes that imposed righteousness would tempt God to restore the former glory to Israel. Their misunderstanding imagined a Messiah coming to implement their plan for salvation. Yet Jesus taught that the real kingdom was not only within reach, but within them. He refused to take sides in the denominational battles of doctrine because they miss the true issue and empowers organizations which are ultimately powerless to change hearts and minds.
Creativity, mercy, justice, and even shrewdness are divine characteristics that show up again and again throughout the Judeo-Christian scriptures. But they are out of reach without awe and humility. The least wins over the great in story after story: from Cain and Able, to Jacob and Esau, to David and Goliath, to Jesus and the unholy alliance between the ruling priesthood and the Roman governor. So the religious institution ultimately asphyxiates creativity, lives to judge and punish, and turns shrewdness on its head by using it to divide and subdue the very people who support it with their hard earned money and talent. Institutions promote complacency in creative individuals, while concentrating power in the hands of politicos. They encourage judgmentalism, and the exchange of thoughtful discourse for hairsplitting debate. They build walls to keep some people in, and others out, separating souls with arbitrary doctrinal barriers.
The final lesson from the Jeremiah Wright debacle is that man-made religion is the problem and not the solution. Wright is no better or worse than the system that produced him. Skin color neither exempts nor imputes. Each of us is guilty, and each of us is responsible. Blaming others is like cursing at the mirror—it points at our own flaws in reverse image. Institutions don't solve problems—they merely organize them. Sometimes they amplify them. Only people can solve problems.
1 From the most ancient times, tribes, cities and empires had a dedicated god or gods. Monotheism is an advance that has rarely succeeded over tribal gods. Historically, operative Monotheism is most often merely a corruption of the tribal god.
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Things to get bummed out over & I forgot to mention faith & soil
Submitted by John D on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 23:17.
Things to get bummed out over:
- There is no good god.
- There is no life after death
- God doesn't listen or help
- The future is completely out of my control
- etc.
Faith must fix these things. "The disciples said to Jesus, 'Tell us what Heaven's kingdom is like.' He said to them, 'It's like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky.'"
FC is good soil. I think faith requires the initial action. Prepare the soil, plant the seed, then wait, then do what's next. We're planting our first ever garden this year, and since I didn't grow up on a farm, or have a garden at my parent's home, I'm finally seeing something most people have seen work for millions of years. Its very cool to say the least.
Sorry if I went too off topic...
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Other negative things needed to be made positive
Submitted by John D on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 09:51.
One thing with me, is I feel I've gone through a rollarcoaster of faith. I was at an area of no prayer all, convinced that since there was no god, why pray. Then to a time of constant prayer, and I mean the long daily meditations (I was unemployed at the time - one time praying for over 24 hours solid), outwardly not-convinced there was a god, but innerly sure there was a god (it was truly conflicting I know). But God I thought was too far away or too weak for significant change to occur in my lifetime or anyones for that matter. I hadn't enough faith. Now I'm slowly trying to increase my faith. Its hard to do in negative places. Negative words, negative ideas put pressure on your faith, so you have to be stronger to sustain the hits. By yourself in the morning or night, is good time for prayer... I'm no expert, I don't know why I I'm writing all these comments, other than to say the words of FC have helped me spiritually, so maybe my testimonies can help people at FC.
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I hear ya
Submitted by bill on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 10:55.
Negativity comes with analysis and reason. I'm even negative about Rationalism. Maybe because I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Rationalist and I feel the spartan coolness of it. My wife is also vary rational, but she works in a field that requires both reason and nurture. She's more balanced that I am, methinks.
Since Reason is male, it could be that women who use it much are more balanced then men who spend their days in analysis. And so, in that line of thought, men who spend their days in reason are lost from their feminine sides. Since I've been “retired” these past few years, and spending most of my time tutoring two kids, I've been forced to use parts of me that were previously dormant. Can't say how much I've swung toward balance, but I can at least now see how extremely left-brained I had been.
Wisdom is female. Don't know why, but it might have to do with the more balanced view that women tend to have. They even have more connections between brain hemispheres. We men lack not only the machinery for launching a new life, but we're missing a whole chromosome leg. Just the aesthetics is more balance in XX versus XY.
Still, the fact that the ancients knew about the importance of balance in the human psyche, brings into question our modern hyper focus on intellect over intuition. We think that we're smarter because we have all of this technical stuff, but the truth is that few people could survive without the technology of the modern world. And very few people even know how it works. They assume that they carry all of this modern knowledge around in their heads because they know how to use email, drive an automobile, change out the ringtones in their personal communicator, and take digital photographs. But few of us would survive if our modern civilization were to stop running for a month or two. We're just not as smart as we think ourselves to be.
Reason is a very good tool, but it is negative by nature, and needs balancing with nurture. And analysis needs completion with synthesis.
bill
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Negativity by dissent and Negativity by opposition to the Good
Submitted by John D on Sun, 05/18/2008 - 19:09.
I was talking about Negativity by opposition to the Good, Bad really, even though that's not a concrete concept necessarily. However I think of Good as anything helpful to growth towards life. And then after that a positive life, a moral life. So Bad is an opposition of good moral life.
I understand that's a bold then to define but perhaps it is possible if you stick with some good fundamentals from the beginning.
Thinking of god as a force, like a magnet really, you could define her as the parts that make growth possible. In particular, if your talking about the good god, the Moral one, you're talking about good growth - the thing that sustains good life.
Then Death or Bad could be concrete. If I kill my neighbor I did something immoral to humankind. If I help my neighbor I did something good, I helped with growth or at least didn't end it. But for this to work we have to look at each other as all one body. It extends further to the planet, the plants, the atmosphere, etc. And ultimately beyond to anything else that sustains our life, eventually the star that gives us so much help, the sun of course. Its no wonder that our ancestors had rituals around the sun. And no wonder that Hindus give such attention to the river that has given them life for ages. And no wonder Christians give thanks to god for their food and water...
I know the next argument however, what about bad forces attacking our life? How do you make them stop? Kill them, use negative power? And that's where I'll stop right now anyway, mainly because my position is more set to applying Faith and Praying strongly... Forgive me for not reading the whole blog (I'm trying to btw... just a lot of content!) But is there a moral / immoral thread anywhere? Maybe this talk could go there...
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To Reason for sure, with nurturing, with analysis and synthesis
Submitted by John D on Sun, 05/18/2008 - 18:51.
I like that!
To Reason for sure, with nurturing, with analysis and synthesis, and even intuition. I've heard about many scientists starting out with intuition, then going to reason to prove or disprove. I think intuition is just subconscious reasoning. Your brain is always seeing little bits of data and is automatically analyzing, synthesizing it with other information, until one day you scratch your head and say, "Maybe this is this... I've got a hunch". In fact, I would go on to say, that that is god at work. A natural phenomenon for creativity automatically... Well after all that subconscious work you consciously put the rest of the puzzle together.
Then you nurture because you need to be helpful for good growth....
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To clarify for my sake, so I know what I was talking about
Submitted by John D on Sun, 05/18/2008 - 19:07.
"There is no good god." is false if we say god is a force. We know there is good growth possible.
"There is no life after death" is false and unknown. Its false because we know our species has at least so far continued through our children in the places where it can. Its unknown because no one has sent proof back from the afterlife for current individuals dieing. However there are lots of religions/faiths out there for ways that its atleast possible.
"God doesn't listen or help" How do you know? God as a force, can work through millions of people, helping you to your destination by faith and action.
"The future is completely out of my control." Same as above.
How can the opposition be immoral? Perhaps it is only to those who have made those things necessary for good life.
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To Reason or not to Reason
Submitted by bill on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 09:15.
Jonathan,
I love the way you just wade right in. It feels like giving a “perfectly” orchestrated lecture on “Dress for Success,” only to have someone say: “That's great but your fly is open.” I was laughing at myself so much that I struggled to write a reply.
But the “light unto the world” business is more serious. It's difficult to do when you haven't lit your candle yet. Which is where I find myself. Notwithstanding a lot of talking and writing about lit candles. In my lifetime, I've found most of them either dark or wet. Which brings me to the ultimate human condition.
Getting “Bummed out” is the part that many people share, I think. Do we take the Rationalist path and assume that we're all on our way to the lowest energy level on entropy sleds, and that nothing else matters? Or do we assume that we're special above all other life, and destine for Glory? I think you have outlined the ultimate tragedy of human existence. There is a lot of eloquence waxing on both sides, but I have trouble accepting either one.
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Jesus Prayer book
Submitted by John D on Sun, 05/18/2008 - 19:18.
I read this book about a man's spiritual journey at a time I really needed it. I thank God for that and my good friend for helping me to it.
I should mention, I suggest this book to anyone who wants to see an awesome example of devotion. This book is inspiring; I now keep it by my bedside.
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Pilgrim-Walter-J-Ciszek/dp/0385468148
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Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Transformer, Jesus the Conduit
Jesus lives in the hearts of all these people you mentioned, including those looking for Peace in all the areas it lay. God to me in other words is the lily in the valley.
A spiritual man of whom I greatly respect told me about the Jesus Prayer. Jesus Christ have mercy on me, a sinner. Jesus Christ ( God as he is ) have mercy on me ( let the negative forces pass me ) , a sinner ( me as I am. ) That’s how I see the prayer…. I’ve also begun to modify it to pray for others…. It makes me feel good; helps relieve me of my worries, and provides calm and inner peace. Actually saying it in the alternate phrase version is good too I think. God as you are, let the negative forces pass this world, the world as it is. Or simpler yet, Jesus Christ have mercy on us….
“Only people can solve problems.” I agree. And we should pray (be as mentally focused as possible) to do so in the most moral way possible. There we should pray to keep the sense of devotion to god. And once we make our pledge to God, we make our agreement with god to serve god, then everything has the potential of changing for the best…
What if the Third Millennia Church, The Church Without Walls, is no new religion but a modification of what we already have, a piece we’ve forgotten… a connecting piece to Allah, to Nirvana, to Heaven, to Krishna, to The Holy Ganges River, to the Lily in the Valley… And but what if there is no way to disconnect it from the political-socio-dynamic? What if that God that lives within us does automatically transform like the Black Liberation Theology, does automatically help to improve like the personal Confessions and Devotions of the Sinner Theology, but does so without the hurt, without the walls, with the hand of Love – to be “Merciful and Just” “from the inside out”?
“…scripture tells us that we cannot, and should not, change others. We must focus instead on changing ourselves.” I agree. And to be a light unto the world.