Jesus exhorted all of us to love God with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor with ALL our beings as well. Or we are to love both God and neighbor with every fiber of our whole being.
Loving God and neighbor lavishly requires doing justice extravagantly. Only extravagant Jubilee justice releases the oppressed---ends systems of brutal oppression. The combination, and only this combination, is really good news to the battered poor of our world.
Amos 5:24: "I want justice---oceans of it."
Luke 4:18: "release the oppressed."
Romans 14:17: "The kingdom of God is justice, shalom and joy in the Holy Spirit."
From the pen of Ta-Nehisi Coates, "Letters to My Son," The Atlantic:
"But all our phrasing---race relations, racial chasm, racial justice, racial profiling, white privilege, even white supremacy---serves to obscure that racism is a [lived] visceral experience, that it dislodges brains, blocks airways, rips muscles, extracts organs, cracks bones, breaks teeth." And Coates could have added "creates individual, family and community PTSD."
Biblically, according to Hebrew roots, oppression crushes, humiliates, animalizes, impoverishes, enslaves and kills persons/peoples created in the image of God.
A true story from the medical doctor of Haiti fame, Dr. Paul Farmer; Farmer describes giving a painful spinal tap to a Haitian girl with meningitis: "Wild cries erupt from the child. She's crying, 'It hurts, I'm hungry.' Can you believe it? Only in Haiti would a child cry out that's she hungry during a spinal tap."
In order to rebuild a poor community that has been oppressed for 500 years, a Christian ministry must stay in one location for a whole generation using the principles and methods of Christian Community Development. It will take love and justice to release the oppressed. Warm feelings of love, generous charity and isolated, well-meaning projects will not get the job done.
Haitian Jean Thomas has been doing CCD in rural, poverty-stricken Haiti, Fond-des-Blancs, for over 30 years. HCDF has accomplished a lot, but Fond-des-Blancs needs another 30 years to complete the process. Transforming a socioeconomic hell takes incredible commitment, biblical wisdom, and an extended time period.
Haitian Pierre Thomas, Jean's brother, who, of course, knew the language and culture, tried a different approach---starting a number of projects in different communities. Years later, what were the results; all the projects failed. Why? The isolated projects were not embedded within a comprehensive community development plan.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Merry Christmas and a Bad New Year
Did you have another sentimental, repentless Christmas as most white American Christians did? No rejection of, repentance from, restitution for endless white ethnocentrism, white oppression. If so, this means another very bad year for the millions of America's poor and oppressed.
Here is how Jesus described repentless religion---the religion of the Pharisees, supposed experts on the OT Law which was built upon the principles of love and justice; "The Pharisees, who were lovers of money (Luke 16:11), neglected justice and the love of God (Luke 11:42)."
Here is how John Perkins, who was born and raised a poor black in segregated Mississippi, describes repentless religion in Mississippi (the bigoted Baptists): "The white church institutions of Mississippi have been the last bastion of racism and discrimination. So if somehow all the church and church institutions had been wiped out in Mississippi, we would be much further along in terms of progress than we are at the present time."
James Cone adds: "It is as if whites have been socially conditioned to be racist and thus dehumanizing for so long that they do not even recognize it any longer. . . . White church people seemed not to know the [biblically] obvious, that justice was God's will."
This is just the beginning of bad news for the coming new year. Some very bad news from Willian Nordhaus, Yale University expert on climate change and its economic impact. Nordhaus essentially says that all we have done so far on reducing climate change are bandaids when surgery is needed.
"The paper's findings "pertain primarily to a world without climate policies, which is reasonably accurate for virtually the entire globe today." "The results show rapidly rising accumulation of carbon dioxide, temperature changes, and damages." "there is virtually no chance" that nations will prevent the world from warming more than 3.6 degrees, the upper boundary for avoiding cascading catastrophes."
My interpretation: It is already too late to avoid catastrophe; drastic, quick action might slow things down somewhat, but even this seems highly unlikely. Batten down the hatches; prepare for the worst.
Can you handle even more bad news? The "American Dream is collapsing" asserts Jim Tankersley in a Washington Post article: "Trump's tax-cut plan will do little to improve economic mobility for struggling blue-collar families, even if they help accelerate growth because analysts predict the cuts would benefit high earners disproportionately. . . . . The surge in inequality over the past half-century is well documented. . . . the bottom 50 percent only gained 1 percent in earnings from 1962 to 2014. . . . From 1980 to 2014, nearly 70 percent of income gains went to the top 10 percent."
Are you up for some more bad news about our economic system? Read [Five] "Books that shaped our economic thinking," by Noah Smith, Bloomberg News. Concrete Economics, The China Shock, Rising Morbidity and Mortality, The Economics of Manipulation and Deception.
Now I shall end with some good news about what our economic system could be from a review of Viking Economics in the Jan issue of Sojourners magazine by Richard K. Taylor:
"A century ago, an economic elite ran each Nordic country. There was extensive poverty, lack of work, an enormous gap between rich and poor, even famines. To escape these conditions, Scandinavians emigrated to the U.S. in massive numbers: 1 million Swedes (1868-1914), 800,000 Norwegians (1825-1925,"
Today, things are radically different: free education through college, universal health care, social security, etc. A vibrant business sector. Very little military spending leaving monies available for social needs. In America we have gone part way: free education through high school, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. But we have enormous economic inequality and enormous military spending draining billions from meeting social needs.
In addition to government spending on social needs, Scandinavians have thousand of co-ops at the local level. In American we could and should do much better in terms of socioeconomic justice.
Here is how Jesus described repentless religion---the religion of the Pharisees, supposed experts on the OT Law which was built upon the principles of love and justice; "The Pharisees, who were lovers of money (Luke 16:11), neglected justice and the love of God (Luke 11:42)."
Here is how John Perkins, who was born and raised a poor black in segregated Mississippi, describes repentless religion in Mississippi (the bigoted Baptists): "The white church institutions of Mississippi have been the last bastion of racism and discrimination. So if somehow all the church and church institutions had been wiped out in Mississippi, we would be much further along in terms of progress than we are at the present time."
James Cone adds: "It is as if whites have been socially conditioned to be racist and thus dehumanizing for so long that they do not even recognize it any longer. . . . White church people seemed not to know the [biblically] obvious, that justice was God's will."
This is just the beginning of bad news for the coming new year. Some very bad news from Willian Nordhaus, Yale University expert on climate change and its economic impact. Nordhaus essentially says that all we have done so far on reducing climate change are bandaids when surgery is needed.
"The paper's findings "pertain primarily to a world without climate policies, which is reasonably accurate for virtually the entire globe today." "The results show rapidly rising accumulation of carbon dioxide, temperature changes, and damages." "there is virtually no chance" that nations will prevent the world from warming more than 3.6 degrees, the upper boundary for avoiding cascading catastrophes."
My interpretation: It is already too late to avoid catastrophe; drastic, quick action might slow things down somewhat, but even this seems highly unlikely. Batten down the hatches; prepare for the worst.
Can you handle even more bad news? The "American Dream is collapsing" asserts Jim Tankersley in a Washington Post article: "Trump's tax-cut plan will do little to improve economic mobility for struggling blue-collar families, even if they help accelerate growth because analysts predict the cuts would benefit high earners disproportionately. . . . . The surge in inequality over the past half-century is well documented. . . . the bottom 50 percent only gained 1 percent in earnings from 1962 to 2014. . . . From 1980 to 2014, nearly 70 percent of income gains went to the top 10 percent."
Are you up for some more bad news about our economic system? Read [Five] "Books that shaped our economic thinking," by Noah Smith, Bloomberg News. Concrete Economics, The China Shock, Rising Morbidity and Mortality, The Economics of Manipulation and Deception.
Now I shall end with some good news about what our economic system could be from a review of Viking Economics in the Jan issue of Sojourners magazine by Richard K. Taylor:
"A century ago, an economic elite ran each Nordic country. There was extensive poverty, lack of work, an enormous gap between rich and poor, even famines. To escape these conditions, Scandinavians emigrated to the U.S. in massive numbers: 1 million Swedes (1868-1914), 800,000 Norwegians (1825-1925,"
Today, things are radically different: free education through college, universal health care, social security, etc. A vibrant business sector. Very little military spending leaving monies available for social needs. In America we have gone part way: free education through high school, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. But we have enormous economic inequality and enormous military spending draining billions from meeting social needs.
In addition to government spending on social needs, Scandinavians have thousand of co-ops at the local level. In American we could and should do much better in terms of socioeconomic justice.
Solutions to America's Ongoing Social Catastrophe
White American evangelicals have never had a strong and comprehensive biblically based social ethic; even today with our numerous Christian colleges, universities and seminaries, we still do not have a kingdom of God social ethic. This means on ongoing social catastrophe among our poor, among our oppressed ethnic groups; a catastrophe demands a crisis response immediately. I suggest that each college, university and seminary take the following steps:
1. Next semester, each school designate two professors, preferably a male and a female with one from an ethnic group, to devote full time to creating a robust, comprehensive kingdom of God social ethic with the focus of applying Jubilee justice in poor and oppressed communities. These two professors should probably devote the rest of their careers to this task.
2. Next summer, these two profs would devote their summer to working with 10-12 other teachers in their institution; together, they would hammer out the foundations of an evangelical social ethic. If enough progress has been made, assign topics for a number of articles to be published such as "Rejusticizing the NT" or "A Biblical Theology of Oppression" or "The Present and Social Dimensions of the Kingdom of God" or "An American History of Systems of Oppression."
3. Indepth study of the following Scriptures:
Messianic passages from Isaiah: 9:7; 11-1-4; 16:5; 28:16-17; 42:1-4; 61:1-4 (translate verse one as 'oppressed poor'. The purpose of the combination of the Spirit and the kingdom is to implement Jubilee justice in order to release the oppressed poor.
Isaiah 58: 1-5---a spirituality without justice leads to oppression; 6-12---a spirituality with justice releases the oppressed.
James 2: 1-9---faith without justice results in the rich oppressing the poor unchecked and unchallenged by the church; 14-26---faith with works of justice ministers to the oppressed identified in 1:27.
Luke 4:18-30: 18-19---The purpose of the combination of the Spirit and the kingdom is to empower the church to implement Jubilee justice to release the oppressed poor. This would be exceedingly good news for the poor and would create a measure of shalom; 25-30---grace ends ethnocentrism and open the door for reconciliation.
Acts 1:1-8: Combines the Spirit, kingdom and the church to end ethnocentrism and create reconciliation.
Acts 4:32-35: This passage describes a socioeconomic miracle; it is extremely rare for the rich to voluntarily give up prized houses and lands. Grace is manifested in extreme generosity; result a degree of economic equality. An experience of personal grace should quickly lead to social grace/generosity.
Ephesians 2: 1-10---personal reconciliation with God is based on the cross; 11-22---social reconciliation between Jew and Gentile is based on the cross.
Acts 8:12; 28:23 & 31---the full gospel is described; both Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God; both justification and justice.
4. Highly recommended books to study:
God So Loved the Third World
The Wars of America: Christian Views
The New Jim Crow
The Upside-Down Kingdom
A Quiet Revolution
At Home With The Poor
The Debt
Viking Economics
"Biblical Faith and the Reality of Social Evil," Christian Scholar's Review, by Stephen Mott.
"A Theology of the Kingdom," Transformation, by Graham Cray.
1. Next semester, each school designate two professors, preferably a male and a female with one from an ethnic group, to devote full time to creating a robust, comprehensive kingdom of God social ethic with the focus of applying Jubilee justice in poor and oppressed communities. These two professors should probably devote the rest of their careers to this task.
2. Next summer, these two profs would devote their summer to working with 10-12 other teachers in their institution; together, they would hammer out the foundations of an evangelical social ethic. If enough progress has been made, assign topics for a number of articles to be published such as "Rejusticizing the NT" or "A Biblical Theology of Oppression" or "The Present and Social Dimensions of the Kingdom of God" or "An American History of Systems of Oppression."
3. Indepth study of the following Scriptures:
Messianic passages from Isaiah: 9:7; 11-1-4; 16:5; 28:16-17; 42:1-4; 61:1-4 (translate verse one as 'oppressed poor'. The purpose of the combination of the Spirit and the kingdom is to implement Jubilee justice in order to release the oppressed poor.
Isaiah 58: 1-5---a spirituality without justice leads to oppression; 6-12---a spirituality with justice releases the oppressed.
James 2: 1-9---faith without justice results in the rich oppressing the poor unchecked and unchallenged by the church; 14-26---faith with works of justice ministers to the oppressed identified in 1:27.
Luke 4:18-30: 18-19---The purpose of the combination of the Spirit and the kingdom is to empower the church to implement Jubilee justice to release the oppressed poor. This would be exceedingly good news for the poor and would create a measure of shalom; 25-30---grace ends ethnocentrism and open the door for reconciliation.
Acts 1:1-8: Combines the Spirit, kingdom and the church to end ethnocentrism and create reconciliation.
Acts 4:32-35: This passage describes a socioeconomic miracle; it is extremely rare for the rich to voluntarily give up prized houses and lands. Grace is manifested in extreme generosity; result a degree of economic equality. An experience of personal grace should quickly lead to social grace/generosity.
Ephesians 2: 1-10---personal reconciliation with God is based on the cross; 11-22---social reconciliation between Jew and Gentile is based on the cross.
Acts 8:12; 28:23 & 31---the full gospel is described; both Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God; both justification and justice.
4. Highly recommended books to study:
God So Loved the Third World
The Wars of America: Christian Views
The New Jim Crow
The Upside-Down Kingdom
A Quiet Revolution
At Home With The Poor
The Debt
Viking Economics
"Biblical Faith and the Reality of Social Evil," Christian Scholar's Review, by Stephen Mott.
"A Theology of the Kingdom," Transformation, by Graham Cray.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Evangelicals: More American Than Biblical
In terms of a social ethic, white American evangelicals are today more American than biblical. The election of D.T. is a disaster, but a much greater disaster are the Christians who elected him---white evangelicals and Catholics, according to the editors of the January 2017 Sojourners magazine. 81 percent of white evangelicals voted for T.
"One thing is clear. With white evangelicals and Catholics voting in such large numbers for a candidate who, as historian Heath Carter describes in this issue, 'articulated a virulently racist, misogynistic, ethnocentric brand of nationalism,' SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH OUR CHRISTIAN CONFESSION. We'll say it plainly: THE PRINCIPLES, METHODS, AND POLICIES OF WHITE NATIONALISM ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST."
Jim Wallis adds:
"During the 2016 presidential election cycle, the vast majority of white evangelicals acted more white than biblical, putting their white identities ahead of their Christian identities. . . . White evangelicals have been exposed as hypocrites for sacrificing their morals on the altar of power."
The Law and the Prophets were built upon the high principles of love and justice. The Pharisees were theological experts on the sacred Jewish Law. But Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they did not live according to the Law. Specifically, Jesus accused the Pharisees of being lovers of money and neglecters of justice and the love of God. See Luke 16:16 and 12:42.
I was educated in Christian liberal arts colleges and later taught in two of them. In one of these colleges, a religion prof taught that the strong justice of the OT disappeared in the NT and it was replaced with a personal salvation message. Wolterstorff declares that the English NT has been dejusticized.
In one of these colleges, I, a sociologist, taught a social problems class. Previously, many of my students had taken a course in the Bible called Gospels and Acts. They received good teaching on the spiritual message of Luke, but nothing on the strong strong social justice message of Luke. So I had to take two weeks and teach the oppression/justice message of Luke. When my students understood that social problems were taken seriously by Luke, they took the teaching by secular sociologists more seriously.
After my retirement in 1994, I spent the next 15 years volunteering at the Perkins Center in West Jackson, MS. We had numerous Christian colleges send student missions teams for a week. I vividly remember one spring we had a total of 40 students from three different colleges. All evangelical colleges require several Bible courses to graduate. I asked them if any of their Bible profs had taken just one class period to teach about the 555 references to oppression in the OT. Not a single student raised their hand.
The book Dear White Christians declares that the strong reconciliation movement in American churches has failed to deliver. Why? Reconciliation without white repentance, restitution. Cheap reconciliation, reconciliation without justice.
I think much the same is happening with the growing justice movement among evangelicals. Cheap grace, cheap justice; no prior repentance and restitution is required by whites who benefited from their position of supposed superiority, white privilege. There is not a strong emphasis on the need to end systems of oppression as required by the Sabbath/Jubilee laws.
Most of my white evangelical friends are not Klan-like bigots so they think they are not racist. But most of them still believe that whites are superior and blacks are inferior; it is in the cultural air they breathe, they are slowly, unknowingly poisoned.
And they are unbelievably ignorant about the biblical teaching on oppression and justice---biblically, historically and sociologically. For several years, each June I met with sociologists teaching at Christian liberal arts colleges. Most were ignorant about oppression, biblically, historically and sociologically. Most sociologists study black culture, black dysfunction much more than they do white ethnocentrism/oppression.
For the past 50 years, I have been studying oppression/justice biblically, historically and sociologically. I lived in the black community for 35 years. Yet, in 2010, I learned a great deal from reading The New Jim Crow, and shortly thereafter from Dear White Christians. Even Michelle Alexander, a brilliant, black civil rights lawyer, said that she herself learned a lot of new things as she researched and wrote her book on racial profiling and mass incarceration. In the year 2000, she knew there was racism in the criminal justice system. But by 2010, she understood that things were much worse than that---that the criminal justice system, as far as poor blacks were concerned, had itself become a new system of oppression, a new racial caste system.
As far as ethnocentrism/oppression are concerned, most white evangelicals believe half-truths, myths or outright lies, but they talk like they are experts.
For hundreds of years, white evangelicals have been weak on social ethics; the recent election only dramatically highlighted this crisis. It is more than a crisis; it is a catastrophe, a disaster; but to most white evangelicals this social disaster is normal so it is not a catastrophe.
In my next blog, I will outline steps to make American evangelicalism much more comprehensively biblical. Watch for "Solutions for our American Social Catastrophe"
"One thing is clear. With white evangelicals and Catholics voting in such large numbers for a candidate who, as historian Heath Carter describes in this issue, 'articulated a virulently racist, misogynistic, ethnocentric brand of nationalism,' SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH OUR CHRISTIAN CONFESSION. We'll say it plainly: THE PRINCIPLES, METHODS, AND POLICIES OF WHITE NATIONALISM ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST."
Jim Wallis adds:
"During the 2016 presidential election cycle, the vast majority of white evangelicals acted more white than biblical, putting their white identities ahead of their Christian identities. . . . White evangelicals have been exposed as hypocrites for sacrificing their morals on the altar of power."
The Law and the Prophets were built upon the high principles of love and justice. The Pharisees were theological experts on the sacred Jewish Law. But Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they did not live according to the Law. Specifically, Jesus accused the Pharisees of being lovers of money and neglecters of justice and the love of God. See Luke 16:16 and 12:42.
I was educated in Christian liberal arts colleges and later taught in two of them. In one of these colleges, a religion prof taught that the strong justice of the OT disappeared in the NT and it was replaced with a personal salvation message. Wolterstorff declares that the English NT has been dejusticized.
In one of these colleges, I, a sociologist, taught a social problems class. Previously, many of my students had taken a course in the Bible called Gospels and Acts. They received good teaching on the spiritual message of Luke, but nothing on the strong strong social justice message of Luke. So I had to take two weeks and teach the oppression/justice message of Luke. When my students understood that social problems were taken seriously by Luke, they took the teaching by secular sociologists more seriously.
After my retirement in 1994, I spent the next 15 years volunteering at the Perkins Center in West Jackson, MS. We had numerous Christian colleges send student missions teams for a week. I vividly remember one spring we had a total of 40 students from three different colleges. All evangelical colleges require several Bible courses to graduate. I asked them if any of their Bible profs had taken just one class period to teach about the 555 references to oppression in the OT. Not a single student raised their hand.
The book Dear White Christians declares that the strong reconciliation movement in American churches has failed to deliver. Why? Reconciliation without white repentance, restitution. Cheap reconciliation, reconciliation without justice.
I think much the same is happening with the growing justice movement among evangelicals. Cheap grace, cheap justice; no prior repentance and restitution is required by whites who benefited from their position of supposed superiority, white privilege. There is not a strong emphasis on the need to end systems of oppression as required by the Sabbath/Jubilee laws.
Most of my white evangelical friends are not Klan-like bigots so they think they are not racist. But most of them still believe that whites are superior and blacks are inferior; it is in the cultural air they breathe, they are slowly, unknowingly poisoned.
And they are unbelievably ignorant about the biblical teaching on oppression and justice---biblically, historically and sociologically. For several years, each June I met with sociologists teaching at Christian liberal arts colleges. Most were ignorant about oppression, biblically, historically and sociologically. Most sociologists study black culture, black dysfunction much more than they do white ethnocentrism/oppression.
For the past 50 years, I have been studying oppression/justice biblically, historically and sociologically. I lived in the black community for 35 years. Yet, in 2010, I learned a great deal from reading The New Jim Crow, and shortly thereafter from Dear White Christians. Even Michelle Alexander, a brilliant, black civil rights lawyer, said that she herself learned a lot of new things as she researched and wrote her book on racial profiling and mass incarceration. In the year 2000, she knew there was racism in the criminal justice system. But by 2010, she understood that things were much worse than that---that the criminal justice system, as far as poor blacks were concerned, had itself become a new system of oppression, a new racial caste system.
As far as ethnocentrism/oppression are concerned, most white evangelicals believe half-truths, myths or outright lies, but they talk like they are experts.
For hundreds of years, white evangelicals have been weak on social ethics; the recent election only dramatically highlighted this crisis. It is more than a crisis; it is a catastrophe, a disaster; but to most white evangelicals this social disaster is normal so it is not a catastrophe.
In my next blog, I will outline steps to make American evangelicalism much more comprehensively biblical. Watch for "Solutions for our American Social Catastrophe"
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Is Donald Trump a Socioeconomic Reincarnation of George Washington?
Both George Washington and Donald Trump are/were rich, white males; so both are arrogant, bigoted billionaires. George and Martha Washington owned around 300 slaves; they were among the wealthiest persons in the 13 colonies. In today's terms, probably billionaires. Though mythology has it that George was a humble person who put his country first, I am skeptical that any bigoted billionaire could be anything other than arrogant.
Thomas Jefferson, another slaveowner who, had he managed his financial affairs better, might have been another billionaire. As it was, he was a millionaire; and an arrogant, bigoted one; likely also a rapiost.
So much for high standards for the prestigious job of president.
This article is stimulated by 90 years of living in America, 35 years living in poor, black communities. Plus Trump's recent election, and three recent articles in The Atlantic. First two quotations are from "The Accidental Patriot," by Caitlin Fritz, Dec. 2016:
"Among the Iroquois, George Washington earned the name 'Town Destroyer'; the father of one country had ordered the devastation of another [country]."
"Thomas Jefferson presidency, which helped transform the tempestuous [Indian] West into a national blessing, a source of revenue and votes and geographical power." In other words, westward expansion---conquering, killing and stealing Indian land---ethnocentrism/oppression now proudly symbolized by the St. Louis Arch.
The revered founding fathers really were a bunch of evil, rich, white males; Trump's cabinet will also be loaded with rich, white males. The founding fathers treated women, the poor, Native Americans and African Americans as second class citizens. I predict much the same from a Trump administration; or a repeat of the Reagan administration where racial profiling and the wealth gap exploded.
In the January 2017 issue of The Atlantic, two of my favorite writers, Peter Beinart and Ta-Nehisi Coates, have written two fine articles. Coates: "My President Was Black," Beinart: "Glenn Beck's Regrets."
From Beinart: "Many Americans revere the Constitution. Mormons like Beck consider it sacred."
The truth: The Constitution is flawed; for one thing. it legitimated black inferiority, slavery. It was written by rich, white males who seldom practiced what they preached. Contrary to Lincoln's eloquent words, a government truly of the people, by the people, and for the people never has existed. It has been a government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite.
Beinart writes: "Beck, in fact, invented some of Trump's most disturbing themes. . . . 'I played a role, unfortunately, in helping tear the country apart.' He told me that now that America has 'hit the iceberg', he wants to help heal it. . . . it may be too late."
Coates writes: "I still want Obama to be right. I still would like to fold myself into the dream. [Since Trump's election], this will not be possible."
The election, the inauguration, of President Obama "defied despair, despised [American] history." But in November 2016, the despair was back.
American has two broad themes running through its history: ethnocentric/oppression and freedom/justice. The optimists highlight freedom/justice; the pessimists, ethnocentrism/oppression. In spite of pervasive ethnocentric/oppression, Obama remains an optimist. So does my black mentor, John Perkins who was born and raised in segregated Mississippi. But I see ethnocentrism/oppression more dominant, past and present.
A recent Smithsonian magazine issue was devoted to the new African American Museum. It had a picture of the Museum with the Washington Monument looming in the background. This picture says it all. The Museum---symbolizing the unending struggle of American blacks, their survival, their successes. The Monument---symbolizing rich, white males, their slavery, who always have the last word, who are skilled at redesigning systems of oppression. Don't forget that the White House and the Capitol Building were built with slave labor.
The exploitation, the ethnocentrism/oppression is unending.
The American church could and should be the answer; the biblical kingdom of God as justice for the oppressed. But most of the American church has largely failed, especially the white evangelicals. Far too often we have sided with ethnocentrism/oppression and neglected justice and the love of God.
See my blog "Lowell Noble's Writings" for more on the biblical answer.
Thomas Jefferson, another slaveowner who, had he managed his financial affairs better, might have been another billionaire. As it was, he was a millionaire; and an arrogant, bigoted one; likely also a rapiost.
So much for high standards for the prestigious job of president.
This article is stimulated by 90 years of living in America, 35 years living in poor, black communities. Plus Trump's recent election, and three recent articles in The Atlantic. First two quotations are from "The Accidental Patriot," by Caitlin Fritz, Dec. 2016:
"Among the Iroquois, George Washington earned the name 'Town Destroyer'; the father of one country had ordered the devastation of another [country]."
"Thomas Jefferson presidency, which helped transform the tempestuous [Indian] West into a national blessing, a source of revenue and votes and geographical power." In other words, westward expansion---conquering, killing and stealing Indian land---ethnocentrism/oppression now proudly symbolized by the St. Louis Arch.
The revered founding fathers really were a bunch of evil, rich, white males; Trump's cabinet will also be loaded with rich, white males. The founding fathers treated women, the poor, Native Americans and African Americans as second class citizens. I predict much the same from a Trump administration; or a repeat of the Reagan administration where racial profiling and the wealth gap exploded.
In the January 2017 issue of The Atlantic, two of my favorite writers, Peter Beinart and Ta-Nehisi Coates, have written two fine articles. Coates: "My President Was Black," Beinart: "Glenn Beck's Regrets."
From Beinart: "Many Americans revere the Constitution. Mormons like Beck consider it sacred."
The truth: The Constitution is flawed; for one thing. it legitimated black inferiority, slavery. It was written by rich, white males who seldom practiced what they preached. Contrary to Lincoln's eloquent words, a government truly of the people, by the people, and for the people never has existed. It has been a government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite.
Beinart writes: "Beck, in fact, invented some of Trump's most disturbing themes. . . . 'I played a role, unfortunately, in helping tear the country apart.' He told me that now that America has 'hit the iceberg', he wants to help heal it. . . . it may be too late."
Coates writes: "I still want Obama to be right. I still would like to fold myself into the dream. [Since Trump's election], this will not be possible."
The election, the inauguration, of President Obama "defied despair, despised [American] history." But in November 2016, the despair was back.
American has two broad themes running through its history: ethnocentric/oppression and freedom/justice. The optimists highlight freedom/justice; the pessimists, ethnocentrism/oppression. In spite of pervasive ethnocentric/oppression, Obama remains an optimist. So does my black mentor, John Perkins who was born and raised in segregated Mississippi. But I see ethnocentrism/oppression more dominant, past and present.
A recent Smithsonian magazine issue was devoted to the new African American Museum. It had a picture of the Museum with the Washington Monument looming in the background. This picture says it all. The Museum---symbolizing the unending struggle of American blacks, their survival, their successes. The Monument---symbolizing rich, white males, their slavery, who always have the last word, who are skilled at redesigning systems of oppression. Don't forget that the White House and the Capitol Building were built with slave labor.
The exploitation, the ethnocentrism/oppression is unending.
The American church could and should be the answer; the biblical kingdom of God as justice for the oppressed. But most of the American church has largely failed, especially the white evangelicals. Far too often we have sided with ethnocentrism/oppression and neglected justice and the love of God.
See my blog "Lowell Noble's Writings" for more on the biblical answer.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Haiti and Cuba
The U.S., Haiti and Cuba. Information from The Debt by Randall Robinson:
"From Columbus to Castro: Cuba, which was in every sense of the term an American colony. . . . America dominated the scene. . . . no one could become President of Cuba without the endorsement of the United States."
Robinson on Cuba:
"Washington had heartily supported a parade of corrupt, cruel and dictatorial governments up until 1959. It had virtually run them."
America treated Haiti in much the same way, dominating and exploiting, even overthrowing governments from time to time.
"From Columbus to Castro: Cuba, which was in every sense of the term an American colony. . . . America dominated the scene. . . . no one could become President of Cuba without the endorsement of the United States."
Robinson on Cuba:
"Washington had heartily supported a parade of corrupt, cruel and dictatorial governments up until 1959. It had virtually run them."
America treated Haiti in much the same way, dominating and exploiting, even overthrowing governments from time to time.
Visitors to Haiti
When visitors go to Haiti, you will find/see/hear about:
1. Widespread corruption, but don't put corruption at the top of your list of problems.
2. Pervasive poverty, but don't put poverty at the top of your list of problems.
3. Hurricane damage, but don't put this damage at the top of your list.
Instead, put 500 years of socioeconomic oppression at the top of your list of Haitian problems; past and present oppression makes poverty worse, hurricane damage worse, and opens the door wide for corruption. Generations of oppression cause individual, family, community and cultural PTSD.
Exodus 6:9: "But when Moses delivered this message [of coming deliverance from slavery], they didn't even hear him---they were that beaten down in spirit by the harsh slave conditions." In modern language, were the Hebrew slaves suffering from mass PTSD?
How does the church heal broken communities? Stay in one location, for a generation, doing CCD.
1. Widespread corruption, but don't put corruption at the top of your list of problems.
2. Pervasive poverty, but don't put poverty at the top of your list of problems.
3. Hurricane damage, but don't put this damage at the top of your list.
Instead, put 500 years of socioeconomic oppression at the top of your list of Haitian problems; past and present oppression makes poverty worse, hurricane damage worse, and opens the door wide for corruption. Generations of oppression cause individual, family, community and cultural PTSD.
Exodus 6:9: "But when Moses delivered this message [of coming deliverance from slavery], they didn't even hear him---they were that beaten down in spirit by the harsh slave conditions." In modern language, were the Hebrew slaves suffering from mass PTSD?
How does the church heal broken communities? Stay in one location, for a generation, doing CCD.
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