Black Liberation Theology and How it Encourages Racism

We have all been watching on the news, the internet and blogs like this as Rev Jeremiah Wright decries the evils of white rich people, white America and even America itself. As an active citizen of America I am deeply offended and even more disturbed by the teachings of this man and by the vehement defense that he has received from many members of the black community. Black callers to radio programs have been defending Rev Wright’s teaching as something that white people in America can’t understand because we are part of the white oppression.

The teaching or rather perspective from which Rev Wright is teaching is called Black Liberation Theology. The premise of the theology is that your view of God and Christ is affected by your status in life. The idea is that blacks see Christ differently because they are or perceive themselves to be, oppressed. A rich white person may see God as a loving God who bestows love, mercy and blessings upon his followers, who must use those gifts to help others. A black person who lives in a poorer black neighborhood would look around and see the world from a perspective of being oppressed. They are not living in the blessings of God, but rather living under the oppression of Satan revealing himself through the perceived racism of white America. Jesus is their savior from Satan and from white oppression, because Jesus himself was a poor black man, living under the oppression of white people.

I won’t begin to approach this from a theological or biblical perspective because truly any rational and legitimate student of the word would be able to point out the cavernous holes in the philosophy. Surely Jesus went to the poor and the downtrodden, as well as to the sinners, the prostitutes, the rich tax collectors, the farmers, the tradesmen and even the well educated doctors. The beauty and the incredible grace of Christ is that he is for all people of all races, all walks of life, for all time.

The real problem with Black Liberation Theology is the victim mentality behind it and the crippling, rather than enabling effect that it has on its followers. By blaming rich white people for the ills and deterioration they see in their own lives and their own communities they deny themselves the power to change it. Someone who lives their life blaming others for their position will never be able to change it because it is something that is beyond their control. It truly becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. By blaming someone else, you give that person power over you. Whether or not it is a power that they accept, or perceive or even weald is completely irrelevant. The victim becomes a slave to the person that they perceive as their master. This whole situation is bizarre because it is a slavery created, maintained and reinforced by the victim themselves! It is a dream killer, a motivation crusher, an ambition stopper, and the mentality itself saps the strength, energy and will of the person to do anything but complain about their own victimhood.

Those who would think differently are outcasts. Their ambition, drive and motivation to do more and achieve is perceived as a denial of the oppression. They are perceived as giving in or becoming a part of the system that is dominating their people. By following their dreams and proving that the victim status into which they were born is actually reversible and that people have the power to change their condition, they are in some way a traitor to their own people. They become “more white” or “aren’t black enough”. As Michele Obama revealed in her own senior thesis at Princeton, it actually can create a sense of guilt in those who have improved their condition because they feel that they have somehow abandoned their own people.

More than forty years ago Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. taught that the world would only be free of racism when there was equal opportunity for all people. His dream was that people wouldn’t be judged by their race, but by their character. Under his vision those who chose to excel would be celebrated and held up as roll models, not cast aside as turn coats. Blacks who have achieved great positions through hard work and tremendous discipline, like Colin Powell and Condi Rice would be congratulated, not denigrated.

The effects of this dangerous and self deprecating philosophy are obvious. 70 percent of black children are born out of wedlock. There are more black men in prison than in college. Victimhood strips away responsibility, accountability and even self respect. Mistakes are blamed on the system, on their oppressors, on anyone but themselves. There has a disastrous effect on young black people to engage in dangerous and irresponsible behavior because after all, they were put into this situation by their oppressors.

Black Liberation Theology is dangerous. Not to the “rich white oppressors” but to those who see themselves through the prism of victimhood. This actually makes them vulnerable to the teachings of men like Saul Alinski who taught that power could be obtained by convincing people that they are miserable (or victims), give them an object of their misery (rich white people) and then present yourself as their savior (socialist politicians who want to perpetuate the victimhood because it preserves their constituency).

The salvation is through ownership. Look around you and realize that you have opportunities and then take them. America is the land of opportunity for those who would see them. It is the land of the free for those who are willing to take responsibility for it. Stop living as a victim and enjoy the salvation that Christ has already delivered.