Wright and Black Liberation Theology

For the third time in three months, Republicans lost a special congressional election in a safe GOP district. The Mississippi loss came 10 days after the GOP lost a traditional seat in Louisiana.

In Mississippi and Louisiana, Republicans used Barack Obama's past ties to Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. to try to scare up white votes. Instead, their strategy boosted black voter turnout. Now Congressional Republicans are scared the three straight losses foretell disaster in November.

While Wright didn't work any magic for the GOP in Mississippi, 52 percent of voters in West Virginia said Obama shares the views of Wright. The question is open-ended so it is not clear to which views they are referring. Obama has, after all, denounced and repudiated Wright.

I am skeptical of organized religion so I try to steer clear of matters of faith. Earlier this week, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture held a forum on the origins and practice of Black Liberation Theology, "Understanding Black Theology: A 40-Year Retrospective."

The participants included Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes Jr., Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church, Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, and Dr. James H. Cone of the Union Theological Seminary.

I checked out the discussion to get some understanding of what makes Wright tick. Indeed, the moderator, Rev. Dr. M. William Howard Jr., acknowledged that "if it hadn't been for Jeremiah Wright, we wouldn't be here."

Black Liberation Theology was conceived in 1968 during a conference at Howard University. It was a response to Stokely Carmichael's "black power." Dr. Cone's groundbreaking book, "Black Theology and Black Power," provides the intellectual framework.

Dr. Cone said:

Black Liberation Theology asks what it means to love God with your mind. Theology is the critical side of faith. It is faith questioning itself, faith challenging itself. Theology reminds faith not to be too sure of itself. It reminds faith about the contradictions in life. And nothing challenges faith like suffering.

The civil rights movement was an embodiment of faith and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was its "great interpreter." Still, some black clergy questioned Dr. King's philosophy of non-violence. The Christian faith was also being challenged as a white man's religion, most notably by Malcolm X.

Dr. Cone added:

When I heard Malcolm and when I heard black power advocates, I asked myself how I can bring Martin and Malcolm together. Malcolm taught me how to be black and I was black before I was anything else. So I couldn't give that up. I was determined not to give up my faith but I could not ignore the blackness of my existence.

To place Black Liberation Theology in context, one must understand the dialectical tension between Dr. King and Malcolm X. If there had been no Malcolm X and no consciousness movement, there would be no Black Liberation Theology.

More elections coverage
+ W. Virginia Loss Highlights Obama's Weakness

+ If Only Obama Went To This Church

+ Stir Over Obama "curious George" T-shirt

+ Finally! Edwards Endorses Obama