Peter Slade's Open Friendship In A Closed Society

Lawlessness was what ruled the lands until order was settled in, through the system. As a way to control, officials began utilizing criminal law to their advantage, by forcing freed slaves back to captivity, under the state’s control. With no actual prison, politicians, businessmen, and sheriffs took it upon themselves to use the prisoners for what they thought better. Injustice and violence against the African American population was popular in many states, especially in the South, where groups not only used political influence to downgrade the rights of African Americans but also, arson, intimidation and lynching. This might have been one of the “better” moments that characterized Mississippi’s racial injustice.

In The Last Segregated Hour Stephen Haynes records the plight of white churches claiming a defense of religious liberty to ensure they remain segregated in the midst of the 1960s Civil Rights struggle. Haynes’s account reveals that in the midst of the abominable treatment of African Americans by many southern government systems, many white Southern Christian churches were practicing equally heinous, racist behaviors while prohibiting black worshippers from entering worship services. Through recording this continuing ledger of racist, sinful offences committed by many white churches, Haynes reveals the often hidden racial tension of white Christianity that was perpetrated in the post-slavery era and which implicitly (or in some cases explicitly)

(Baylor University). This quote sheds light to how the increase of politics in churches can poorly affect the connotation of the who believe in the same God and religious practices as another. Through the withholding of civil rights and liberties there is division amongst many churches all over the world. Evangelicals whether they be white or black often change their name because of the racist and evil ideologies that are associated with

Social activist, Martin Luther King Jr, in his letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail, addresses the exigency of changing segregation laws. King’s purpose is to emphasize the damage the segregation laws have brought upon black people. He adopts an urgent tone in order to establish that he is tired of waiting for change to occur in his clergymen readers. King appeals to emotion in his letter to the clergymen from Birmingham by declaring that he is tired of hearing the world “wait” by the people who have never felt the effects of the segregation laws.

The informative material approached in this book mirrors an expanding intrigue of African-American history; particularly in the religious expression. Defends the African American’s religious life within their community as an important realm of the overall religious history in the South and the equally important aspect of today’s religious expressions. Insists that if one wanted to know the south, then they must know it 's religious life; generally speaking, students of Southern studies should recognize this Idea. Adds that in the South religious expression was a topic of curiosity or even ridicule, with attention focused on the more extreme aspects of folk religion among those who were illiterate and somewhat cordoned off from major communities.

In the 1800s, the Jacksonian Democrats were a major political group in the United States. This party had great social, economic, and political effects. Jacksonian politics and the biblical belief of honoring God deserve to be explored and compared in order to better understand both views. Once this exploration is complete, it can be concluded that Jacksonian politics, as a whole, cannot be compatible with the biblical view of honoring God because it undermined the value of community and equality, supported manipulative rule, and contradicted its own doctrines through questionable and even sinful actions. It is important to establish what Christianity says about honoring God in order to compare these two views.

Imagine that you see your friend shoving fish guts into an African- American 's mouth. The main character in the book Mississippi Trial: 1955, Hiram, had to go through this torment, even though his worldviews “say” that everyone is created equal. Hirams social norms are contrasting from mine because, he has to act like a white supremacist, and it is illegal for me to. Hiram and I have similar relationships and worldviews, but I have distant social norms.

This gospel exposes information on how faith has been proven to be a captivating strength for topics such as labor activism, for example during the deafening times of the 1960s and 1970s. “We need to remember that there was something which made that union, for unions are not pieces of merchandise to be bought at a corner store. Our union was born out of our common suffering, our common hopes for our children, and our common love for each other. Brothers and sisters, that love is still strong in our hearts. ”(Mario 115).

Dailey stages the allegation of miscegenation being the root religious civil rights issues with the theology of Segregation, the effects of the Brown decision, and the Ministers march. As a whole, Dailey emphasizes the importance of the testimonies that segregation was “the commandment and law of God”. Also, that most historians tend to “pass” over this topic, condemning “the most lasting triumph of the civil rights movement: its successful appropriation of Christian Dogma” (Dailey 122). “…why

In paragraphs 33 to 44 of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s response to “A Call for Unity,” a declaration by eight clergymen, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963), he expresses that despite his love for the church, he is disappointed with its lack of action regarding the Civil Rights Movement. Through powerful, emotionally-loaded diction, syntax, and figurative language, King adopts a disheartened tone later shifts into a determined tone in order to express and reflect on his disappointment with the church’s inaction and his goals for the future. King begins this section by bluntly stating that he is “greatly disappointed” (33) with the church, though he “will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen” (33). By appealing to ethos and informing the audience of his history with the church, he indicates that he is not criticizing the church for his own sake, but for the good of the church.

In this analysis of religion in the Civil war south, Paul Harvey uses race and culture in describing southern religion in both priestly and prophetic. Paul Harvey argues the profound faith of believers in the civil war south. Harvey bases his analysis on three major points. First, theological racism, second racial interchange and third, Christian interracialism. Harvey concludes that even though theological racism dominated in the beginning, interracial exchanges and Christian interracial encounters fueled the civil rights movement and reversed racism in the post civil war south.

This week’s assignment is to answer questions, in essay format, on “The Religious Dimension and Black Baptists.” In order to explore the topic and try to answer the assigned questions, reading chapters one and two of the textbook, “The Black Church in the African American Experience,” by C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, provided answers. Below are responses to the five questions. 1. What is the "Black Sacred Cosmos" (Chapter 1)?

Cone’s theological project was similar to the work of liberation theologians in Latin America as they all viewed the Gospels through the lens of the crucified Christ and the bruised, battered, and crushed people that the Messiah identified with. Black theology contends that it is only by taking on the perspective of the black church – and the marginalized in general – that Christians can gain a proper understanding of the character and purposes of God and the work of Jesus Christ. Plantinga notes that Cone wanted “to stress the connection between black oppression and Christian faith in an unmistakable way,” which led Cone to make the provocative “claim that ‘God is black,’” and not literally black in terms of skin color or ethnicity but black in the sense of standing in solidarity with the oppressed. The unpleasant truth is that many of the white standard bearers for the Christian faith have been sending the message, either implicitly or explicitly, that God is white, I mean just look at stained glass windows in cathedrals or religious artwork of the past 500 years that has reinforced God’s unbearable whiteness of being. Cone forcefully argues that this idolatrous image of God needed to be broken to pieces in a similar manner to the iconoclasts who smashed to bits what they deemed to be idolatrous depictions of God in the Middle Ages

Righteous Religion James Baldwin, a writer from Harlem, New York, is particularly studied because of how he addresses race in the United States. Though he saw himself as a “witness to the truth,” Baldwin becomes a leader in black freedom particularly in his collection of essays, The Fire Next Time (The Chicago Tribune). In the essays explored in class, “My Dungeon Shook” and “ Letter from a Region in My Mind,” religion is a reoccurring theme that played an integral part in Baldwin’s life. Although the streets would usually be seen as a more dangerous and deteriorating lifestyle than the church; chapters from The Fire Next Time demonstrate that the institution of the black church created an equally negative and lasting impression that mirrored the impact of street life. Though “My Dungeon Shook” focuses less on religion and more on identity, the first paragraph introduces religion with a negative implication attached.

For centuries, Christianity has been used by white supremacists as a tool of oppression against people of color. More recently, Christianity has been used to justify the subjugation of black people through their enslavement and later segregation. Despite this, the black community has often been attracted to Christianity, “the religion of their oppressors,” for numerous reasons, including the hope for liberation (Brown Douglas xii). Black people raised in the Christian tradition have also rejected the religion in recognition of its unjust qualities. The challenge facing black Christians and those who deny white supremacy is whether to have faith in the liberating and positive aspects of Christianity, or to doubt the religious institution in light of its history of oppression.