Faultline USA: Just Warfare. Liberation Theology

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Introduction:

This is a descriptive review of Black Theology & Black Power by James H. Cone, (New York: [Harper & Row, 1969]. It is not an attempt to politicize Cone’s arguments, but to simply explain what the book attempts to put forth. Keep in mind that according to Cone’s ideas in 1969, Black theology demands “blackness as the sole criterion for dialogue (p. 148)”. Additionally, as much as Cone would have liked his works to become the definitive explanation of Black Theology, many Black theologians dispute the fact and point out that Cone’s Black Theology is actually Black Liberation Theology.

Rev. Eugene Rivers of Azusa Christian Community in Boston described Black Liberation Theology when interviewed on Hannity & Colmes May 2, 2008.

“Black Liberation Theology is left-wing social science masquerading as theology . . . it’s warmed over defunct Marxist structuralism.”

Review

The primary question that the book intends to answer is, “What is the theology of Black Power, and why is a theology of Black Power necessary if blacks are to regain their identity?” Two preliminary questions are: “Is it possible for men to be really black and still feel any identity with the biblical tradition “that has been interpreted by whiteness (p.33)?”, and, “Must black people be forced to deny their identity in order to embrace the Christian faith (p. 33)?”

To answer these questions, Cone first addresses the nature of the Gospel of Jesus. Because the teaching about Jesus Christ is the center of Christian theology, Cone argues that “Jesus’ work is essentially one of liberation,” because in Christ, “God enters human affairs and takes sides with the oppressed (p. 35-36).”

Christ’s defeat of Satan means the defeat of white racism in America (p. 40-41). Freedom in Christ’s liberating work means that “liberation is directed for and by the oppressed (p. 42).”

God’s righteousness is tied to God’s justice, which means that God will protect those in bondage from the ungodly (pp. 44-45). Cone explains that “those who wish to share in this divine righteousness must become poor without any possibility of procuring right for themselves (pp. 45-46).”

If love is to exist “between men,” it must exist between equals, and it cannot be spoken of apart from justice and power (p. 53-54). It is the work of love to destroy what is against love, and “violence may be the black man’s expression . . . of Christian love to the white oppressor (pp. 54-55).”

“The Holy Spirit is the power of God at work in the world,” and, “living according to the Spirit means that one’s will becomes God’s will, one’s actions become God’s action (pp. 57-59).”

“Black Power, then, is God’s new way of acting in America (p. 61).” The White church has “enshrined” racism, which “is a denial of the Incarnation and thus of Christianity (pp. 72-73).”

Therefore, the white denominational churches are unchristian, and not of God, so renewal “seems out of the question (pp. 72-73, 115).”

The Black churches in America should proclaim the revolutionary gospel of “the black Christ (p. 114).”

Cone argues that eschatology is not centered in future expectations of a “reward” in heaven, because it is related to what “God has done, is doing, and will do for his people (p.1 26).”

White values “must be revolutionized or eliminated (p. 131).”

Cone subordinates questions of good, evil, violence and revolution, as relative to real human decisions between less and greater evil (pp. 142-143). Reconciliation cannot come about until “white people are prepared to deny themselves (whiteness), take up the cross (blackness) and follow Christ (black ghetto) (p. 150).”

Cone offers a systematic presentation of Black Theology, which expands the social gospel as a religion of protest through the works of various theologians such as that of Jòrgen Moltmann’s, “political hermeneutics of the gospel (p. 37).”

Cone’s theology is Christological in that his theology is centered in the Gospel of Jesus. Cone dialectically seeks to uncover the true nature of Christ. His conclusion is that Christ is united with the oppressed, and “God has chosen black people. (p. 151).”

Cone’s primary concern, and thesis, “is to show that the goal and message of Black Power. . . is consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ (p. 48).”

The task and purpose of Black Theology is “to criticize and revise the language of the church,” and “to analyze the black man’s condition in the light of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ with the purpose of creating a new understanding of black dignity among black people, and providing the necessary soul in that people, to destroy white racism. (pp. 31, 84, 89, 117).”

Conclusion:

It is difficult to evaluate this book from its unwanted white perspective. The hyperbole of Cone’s language is indicative of the initial stages of the development of a militant Black Christian identity. Now that a generation has passed since its writing, and because Cone’s Black Liberation theology demands “blackness as the sole criterion for dialogue” (p. 148), the issue of reconciliation between the races can never be honestly addressed through the lens of Black Liberation Theology.

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Disclaimer: This article does not discount the faith of those true pacifists who have plumbed the depths of their Christian conscience and ardently believe that there is no such thing as a just war, or that no person should ever be turned away regardless of individual circumstances.

The growth of leftist Christianity within Catholicism, Mainline Protestantism, and even among Evangelical Christians, is a frightening phenomena that has received scant attention. Last week’s news of the arrest and deportation of the Sanctuary movement’s spokesperson, Elvira Arellano, highlights not only the strength of the left within urban churches, but Marxist Christianity (or Liberation Theology) is a fast-growing evolution of heretical Christianity effecting every little congregation is the U.S.

Elvira Arellano became the face behind the nation's immigration debate when she sought refuge from immigration authorities in a Chicago church a year ago.
U.S. immigration officials had ordered her deportation for working at O'Hare International Airport using a false Social Security number.
But Arellano holed up for a year in the Chicago sanctuary so she wouldn't be separated from her 8-year-old U.S. citizen son.

Many traditional American’s have failed to realize the actual links between today’s political movements and our churches. Many of these links come through denominational sponsored charitable networks and coalitions such as the National Council of Churches.

The National Council of Churches Supports the U.N. . . .It's not as simple as the NCC agreeing with your philosophy...it's the matter of a percentage of the funds you give to your church being sent to the headquarters of your denomination and from there, likely, a donation made to the NCC. These figures are difficult to confirm, but the National Council of Churches must be funded in some manner. On the positive side, family.org reports that donations from mainstream churches have significantly declined, but have been replaced with funds from political-action groups - and numerous qualify as "far-left" activism.

Some political movements have made genuine progress for humanity in this country. One example comes from the Black church in America. There is no doubt that the civil rights movement would have gone nowhere if it were not for the political activism within the Black churches in America. The strength of the Black churches in America is evidenced by the fact that until recently almost every Black politician who managed to gain national recognition had a Rev. next to his/her name.

It would be a grave mistake to discount the growing political activism and influence the leftist church is exerting on the questions of warfare and of immigration. The New Sanctuary movement is already becoming entrenched within many Christian denominations. This is an excerpt from their web page:

The New Sanctuary Movement is a coalition of interfaith religious leaders and participating congregations, called by our faith to respond actively and publicly to the suffering of our immigrant brothers and sisters residing in the United States. . . .

Called by faith to respond . . .

Unfortunately, there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing who masquerade as Christians within denominational leadership, and these Marxists have found the key to manipulating the church faithful into funding those groups that foster attacks on the sovereignty of these United States.

The left is gaining converts daily by an appeal to a false Christian guilt that would equate law-breakers who leave their country to improve their economic condition with slavery or with political refugees who are facing torture, death, or genocide within their home nations. Here’s an example of the sweetly twisted rhetoric:

"The Gospel message calls us to welcome the stranger and to stand in solidarity with the least of these," said Chett Pritchett, Wesley Theological Seminary student. "It's not a political issue, it is a Christian issue." . . .

Make no mistake. This IS a political issue!!!

Nowhere do any of these open border Marxist activists mention our Christian duty to protect, to defend, or to preserve our nation against an invasion of people that come here illegally flaunting our laws with no intention of assimilation and who would destroy the very fabric of our nation. No where do these open border activists mention that it is every Christian’s duty to protect the future of their country for their children. Nowhere do these leftists mention the long-standing traditional Christian understanding of just warfare as they sabotage the war in Iraq.

How do the leftist Christians manage to out trump years of Christian tradition? The first step (begun many years ago) is to promote the “social gospel” which emphasizes social justice and at the same time denigrates individualism. Christians are urged to think with a group mind in terms of “community” rather than individual moral choice or even individual salvation. Jesus is portrayed as a revolutionary freedom-fighter. Aggression against the enemy is only fostered if it is the undefined “oppressed people” seeking justice against any form of established government anywhere. It is a revolutionary gospel that hides its true objectives from the church faithful and couches its opposition to Christian tradition in the gentlest religious imagery. Popular in Latin America, Liberation Theology foments world-wide revolutions with the final objective – world-wide Marxist Christianity.

Independent congregations are not as at risk of succumbing to the New Sanctuary Movement as are the denominations. If you are a member of an old venerable Christian denomination the odds are about 99.9% that the movement for sanctuary is well under the control of the growing number of leftist leaders within your denomination’s headquarters and, of course, within the hallowed halls of university seminaries.

Here is a partial list of participating denominations from the New Sanctuary Movement’s web page:

Denominational/Interdenominational National Leadership Present: Unitarian Universalist, United Church of Christ, Episcopal, United Methodist, Union of Reform Judaism, Interfaith Worker Justice. Additional religious traditions: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, American Friends Service Committee, Evangelical Christian, Muslim, Sikh

For those who would like to explore the traditional perspective on just warfare obtain this book.

The Virtue of War: Reclaiming the Classic Christian Traditions East & West

Here’s an excerpt from a review:

The preeminence of pacifism within the Church as the proper reaction to military conflict is so established within contemporary Christianity that it is sometimes forgotten that this has not been the historic Christian position. Orthodox theologians Alexander F. C. Webster and Darrell Cole remind us of this fact in The Virtue of War, an important apologia for the Christian tradition of the just war. . . The most renowned figures in both Catholicism (St. Ambrose, St. Augustine of Hippo, St Thomas Aquinas) and Protestantism (Martin Luther, John Calvin) all supported the idea of the just war although their presentations and arguments may have varied in approach. . .

Here’s an excerpt from another review of the above book by James V. Schall, S.J. , a professor in the government department at Georgetown University. His latest book is "Roman Catholic Political Philosophy" (Lexington).

The occasion of this book is, no doubt, the aftermath of September 11 and the need to see the proportions of a new kind of war in our time, a new kind that is a very old kind. With the paradox that "war is a virtue" or a "positive good," the authors force us to look again at actions designed to face evils that few are willing to meet because they cannot understand how doing anything effective can be just. This book is another way of looking at the problem, an ancient way, as it turns out.

It should be noted that defending our country against those who would destroy it (from within or without) falls within the theology of Just Warfare!

Some short excerpts from related articles worth reading:

The Battle for American Unity: . . In the last century, many Christian churches began to focus on inclusiveness and Christian unity became the primary core value. Divisive moral issues were ignored or downplayed. Individual behaviors were never judged. Emphasis was always placed on God’s forgiving love rather than on individual accountability to God.

Your Mainline Christmas Sermon: . . . Just as few Americans are very much aware of the growing influence of Islamofascism on American politics, even fewer Americans are aware of the Marxist trends (born of Liberation Theology) that are fast overcoming mainline denominations and informing new ministers in mainline Protestantism! Catholics and Evangelicals are not immune to this growing trend either.

United Nations Entrenched Within Most Christian Denominations: . . There are over 100,000 local congregations and 45 million Christians supporting the above goals – and most of these Christians don’t even know what they are supporting or that much of their money is going to tax-exempt leftist foundations!!!

Obama’s Liberation Theology Church “. . .The black Christ is he who threatens the structure of evil as seen in white society, rebelling against it, thereby becoming the embodiment of what the black community knows that it must become. . .”

What other’s are saying:

The New Sanctuary Movement is a religious and political network of radical left congregations who claim America’s immigration laws are immoral and — like slavery and Jim Crow laws — should be repealed. . .

Read Whom would Jesus bomb? By Roger W. Gardner

Although I love this very accurate quote from the Vanishing American, I completely disagree with the conclusion .

Certainly the liberalized caricature of Christianity, which is only a shadow of the real Christianity in actual fact, is a religion which would command the West to sacrifice itself for the sake of the 'wretched of the earth.' This version of Christianity preaches guilt for our success and material prosperity, and guilt-trips us into giving away what we have to the victims, and sharing all our possessions with them, including our country. Unfortunately this version of Christianity is growing in numbers of adherents; many formerly conservative denominations and churches are being pulled into the vortex of leftist Christianity by liberal clerics and preachers masquerading as traditional Christians, and many formerly conservative Christians are being led by these pied pipers where they would not formerly have gone, into the globalist, universalist system.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email stiknstein-at-gmail-dot-com and let us know at what level you would like to participate.