Sheldon
Senior Member
- Apr 2, 2010
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I've seen several posts say that it's not a legitimate sect of Christianity, or that it's not "completely" Christian.
I have my own thoughts about that assertion, but I'm open to see what others think and why you think that. Heads up, I don't know much about this sect of religion.
A quick rundown from what I understand: It's focused on, in the words of it's founder Rev James Cone, "mainly a theology that sees God as concerned with the poor and the weak", and also that it's an attempt "to teach people how to be both unapologetically black and Christian at the same time".
There's an emphasis on exploring and defining the relationship between the Judeo-Christian God and the state of being black in modern America. Biblical Egypt is used as an analogy for the current US government, and in this analogy blacks are one of the oppressed people, like how the Pharisees treated the Jews.
It's because of Obama's twenty-something years of attendance at a BL church (the same one that Common attends, if you know who that is) that he has drawn suspicions of being a Marxist sympathizer. This is the part of the sect that I have to do some research about when I come back. I don't know to what extent Marxism is preached within the church, if at all.
And, just to lob a grenade at my own OP, the broader example is that the GOP identifies more with modern-American Christianity than the Democrats (Christians are the overwhelming majority in the Dems, though, just not as much as the GOP). That statistic could play a role in why Obama's faith to BLT is challenged as somehow less Christian than, say, someone who attended a nice and quiet Evangelical church with a white-picket fence for twenty years; because BLT is not like the mainstream modern-American Christianity. It's different, and, for some, that means lesser.
thank you for reading all that. Thoughts and/or answers?
I have my own thoughts about that assertion, but I'm open to see what others think and why you think that. Heads up, I don't know much about this sect of religion.
A quick rundown from what I understand: It's focused on, in the words of it's founder Rev James Cone, "mainly a theology that sees God as concerned with the poor and the weak", and also that it's an attempt "to teach people how to be both unapologetically black and Christian at the same time".
There's an emphasis on exploring and defining the relationship between the Judeo-Christian God and the state of being black in modern America. Biblical Egypt is used as an analogy for the current US government, and in this analogy blacks are one of the oppressed people, like how the Pharisees treated the Jews.
It's because of Obama's twenty-something years of attendance at a BL church (the same one that Common attends, if you know who that is) that he has drawn suspicions of being a Marxist sympathizer. This is the part of the sect that I have to do some research about when I come back. I don't know to what extent Marxism is preached within the church, if at all.
So I got some questions:
Does the Marxist dialogue within the church, to whatever extent, lessen its credibility to Christianity?
Does the preaching about collective salvation, to whatever extent, lessen its credibility to Christianity?
Does a belief in lower taxes, smaller government, and laissez-faire economics make someone a stronger Christian?
The reason I ask that is because I'm seeing Obama's faith being questioned--it's a pointless thing to question imo, but there's some interesting socio-political topics on the side--and in these same posts challenging his faith I also see Marxism or communism being mentioned, so the implication to me is that somehow your socio-political and economic beliefs give or take away from you credibility of being a Christian.Does the Marxist dialogue within the church, to whatever extent, lessen its credibility to Christianity?
Does the preaching about collective salvation, to whatever extent, lessen its credibility to Christianity?
Does a belief in lower taxes, smaller government, and laissez-faire economics make someone a stronger Christian?
And, just to lob a grenade at my own OP, the broader example is that the GOP identifies more with modern-American Christianity than the Democrats (Christians are the overwhelming majority in the Dems, though, just not as much as the GOP). That statistic could play a role in why Obama's faith to BLT is challenged as somehow less Christian than, say, someone who attended a nice and quiet Evangelical church with a white-picket fence for twenty years; because BLT is not like the mainstream modern-American Christianity. It's different, and, for some, that means lesser.
thank you for reading all that. Thoughts and/or answers?