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Who Do They Say I Am?: The Future(s) of the Black Church and Black Liberation Theology
The current debate about the impact on Rev. Wright's words on the nomination of Senator Obama has missed a critical set of concerns. Rev. Wright has posited in the marketplace of ideas that the dominant theology being preached in the black church is a liberation theology. While I appreciate and affirm this claim as my own theological orientation - which I believe holds true message of the gospel of Jesus - in reality, it is not true.
Secondly, the reification of the black liberation theological project as posited by Rev. Wright proves that the project is stalled. While Womanist critiques have offered some critical insight to the project, it remains, by James Cone's own admission, unimaginative in its development over the last generation. Hence, two questions emerge:
- What is the identity of the black church in 21st century?
- How will black liberation theology mature in face of a trans-racial politic, a raising prison industrial complex and post-Katrina America?
The identities of the Black church and Black Liberation Theology have not been wrestled with in the public discourse for over a generation. Are the church and theology relevant, effective and efficacious in the 21st century? Only heaven and history know. . .
Unfair
I find it especially ironic that Sen. Obama is suddenly being charged with being a member of a church that is somehow overly political. When you look at the rise of the religious right over the last decade it has been through advocacy this explicit (and much moreso) from the pulpits of conservative white churches across the U.S. As usual, African Americans are held to an impossible double standard.
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