Resolution 9 & Academic Jim Crowism (Part 2)
“Hey Pastors, leave those Kids Alone.”
Winning the war in the classroom is the key tour liberation. The classroom has been ground zero for activism of all types and it for this reason that the government has gone through great lengths to restrict what students are taught. The classroom produces thinkers who use their knowledge to change their circumstances. Often times it is not a lecture or required reading that makes the spark in a young revolutionary’s mind. Instead, it is the experience of injustice and the failure of the institution to provide information that causes the protest. The assumption is the same today that if we don’t teach black people about socialism, then they will not know about; which is a false assumption. Socialism is a western idea not an African one and those more likening to it are white not black. To target the classroom when restricting free debate and discourse on academic issues is a primitive and unintelligible move. When did the faculty at these seminaries decide that these doctrines were unfit to be taught? Is not Nietzsche, Darwin, Marx and Derrida taught in the classes regarding biblical criticism? However, when used in a social construct, these same philosophers are muted from the discussion and dismissed as anti-Christian? How contemptuous and dishonest; to think that we cannot discern this trickery of a ruling elite at our degree granting institutions. I was recently referred to a book that is used in most classes on biblical criticism. In the book entitled Is There Meaning in This Text, Vanhoozer sites as authority Derrida, Darwin, Nietzsche and Marx and many more of whom were not Christian. In the case of Derrida, we ask the question: is there a difference between negative theology and negative sociology? Classes involving biblical criticism test the scripture to see if it passes a human test or criteria for accuracy and it is the practice of biblical criticism that we can blame for the multitude of biblical versions; most of which are conflicting. While man has seen fit to change God’s word, they dare not touch the U.S Constitution and it is the later which we invoke when bringing our petition to the secular state. I know there were bibles made for slave holders but the same constitution remains unchanged yet uninvoked. In fact, in the subject matter index of Vanhoozer’s book, there is no reference made to Jesus Christ at all although the book is about critiquing the bible. This is telling to a street preacher like me whose tent making job is in academia; that the issue with the Southern Baptist is not merely academic dishonesty but the fragility of the premise upon which the entire Southern Baptist pathos stands which holds the bible open for criticism but not theories about society. Their misassumption will be their undoing; that simply not teaching a subject makes it go away. History shows that banded subjects proliferate among the students first and then the faculty who refuse to be pushed around. The same thing happened with black studies which proliferated on college campuses around the country after college administrators black and white took heavy stands against it. It was the students who did sit-ins, demonstrations and marches to receive classes in black studies. The very rise of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense can be traced back to the unwillingness and resistance of college administrators at Merritt College in Oakland, California who refused to offer classes to black students on black history. Why are the Southern Baptist power elite who seem so strong in faith afraid of a doctrine no body practices unless these elite are paranoid by the inconsistencies of their own arguments which have no basis in scripture or objectivity? This paranoia is the by-product of white supremacy which makes a logical and reasonable person act barbaric, anti-objective and anti-rationale in the enforcement of aims which are anti-Christian in nature. When comparing the agenda of BLM with that of the Southern Baptist who pushed Resolution 9, I am more prepared to stand in solidarity with the LBGTQ community than with the remanence of the KKK and their Jim Crow type politics. I know of no instance where a black man lynched by a member of the LGBTQ community but we all know about the popularity of “pic nics” after Sunday service.
Its ok to tear the word of God to shreds with the methods created by existentialists and atheists like Nietzsche and Derrida but when it comes to defining social power structures these similar theories are restricted? It has been the compromising political agenda of the Southern Baptist Convention’s hierarchical elite since its inception to hide racist and demonic agendas while posing to be against racism and it is against this that we stand. It is hard to believe that the presidents of the nation’s top seminaries by themselves recognized the need to make academic mandates without being prompted by the political sector working within but independent of the local church (hegemony). Yet no calls for reform in the nation’s local police departments. We are also aware of the possibility that Resolution 9 might be coming from areas higher up than just the Southern Baptist Convention. Our reasoning is simply based on the track record of avoidance that the Southern Baptist have had in the past regarding the priority of addressing oppressive and corrupt government. We are also aware that many members of Southern Baptist Churches are part of the very cabal that keeps oppressive regimes in power at the local level and exercise unchecked influence and control over their pastors who have no choice but to follow their bidding.
Martin Luther King in his letter from a Birmingham Jail, used the Aristotilian rhetorical technique in exposing the cowardice of pastors both black and white in their failure to characterize the injustice done to black people as being evil. He stated that he was concerned that his children would suffer long lasting psychological effects from the failure of the church to act in a so-called Christian nation. I feel that many Southern Baptist members are following in the same defeated and cowardice path that their forefathers did because they failed miserably in living up to the tenants of freedom, equality and justice all while claiming to be followers of Christ in the process. Intersectionality, Systematic Racism, Critical Race Theory are academic subjects that relate to the social sciences. These social science models which live and die by their own merits have as about as much weight as do other theories that are far more reaching into the American society than these. Yet when it is time to discuss evolution, atheism, biblical criticism and Marx in a non-confrontational way, there is no challenge although these doctrines pose a far greater threat to the Christian church. Why is their academic restrictions placed on theories involving race when they can be studied objectively like everything else, unless the study of these doctrines conflicts some type of way with a political agenda promoted by the Southern Baptist Convention in some way? There are no marches, rallying, protests, boycotts and rallies until black men are killed and nothing is done about it. Objectivity is what the people want and the current rank of so-called political leaders are indifferent to this. Sadly, what is equally troubling is that things don’t even begin to change until violence is eminent. Objectivity prevents statutes and flags from taking precedence over the lives of citizens yet the push for justice at the local level continues. The reluctance of the local governments to be objective teaches young people what the anarchists have believed all along; that in order to get justice, you have to set fire to a building or pose some type of threat; otherwise there is no civil recourse for justice through conventional means. The terms that have been censured are a part of a vocabulary associated with the study of political science but are not part of the lexicon of freedom enumerated in the U.S Constitution or the speeches of those who have spoken for black people historically. Instead of responding to the complaints of black people in America, the Southern Baptist choose to invoke European concepts, apply them to today’s situation and devote time debating terms that were never a part of the issue. The failure to administer justice on the local level is leading to chaos in the street and this has nothing to do with a looming socialist agenda unless “good men” , like their parents and grandparents are too afraid to stand up for the truth. Preachers and seminary presidents have no business telling teachers what to teach when the subject matter is academic in nature. But a referendum or moratorium on teaching certain disciplines will only heighten the discussion, debates and divisions along the lines of academic honesty and integrity. Thomas Jefferson wished to be remembered for three things and being President of the United States was not one of them. He wanted to be remembered for establishing the University of Virginia, and the writing the Declaration of Independence and the Freedom of Religion Clause of the Virginia Constitution. While some have taught that he did not want the government interfering with the free exercise of religion but in fact, Jefferson who was not a Christina by Southern Baptist Standards of doctrine understood full well the crisis that could be caused by a government full of crazy and fanatical church folks! Using Jefferson as a model, we can conclude what the atheist Ayn Rand did, that in our republic, a man’s mind is his primary means of survival and oppressive religion serves as one of the biggest hindrances to the free exercise of thought. Telling free thinking, intellectual, academics and students what to teach or study is as primitive, anti-logical and anti-rationale as white supremacy itself and should be totally discredited.
In his book entitled Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, the history between certain black intellectuals and the socialist party is well defined. However, the socialist, like the Southern Baptist failed at capturing the black masses; although the socialist were far more devoted and dedicated to the task. When using Cruise’s words in our times, it makes since that the “Russians” interfered with the past election and continue to manipulate our society because they have spent billions of dollars studying black behavior since the Cold War. The socialists used white supremacy to promote its cause and many black scholars adopted the socialist cause after being violently and ruthlessly rejected by Christians in the streets of America. Socialism was appealing to black thinkers because of its emphasis on the intellectual aspects of human life; in particular, the global circumstances created by colonialism; issues that the Southern Baptist are unprepared to address even after years have passed when such issues could be hashed out. They remain in denial. Socialism only proliferates from the rot of decaying churches; when the apostacy spoken if by the Apostle Paul makes the church drunk with the political wine of the world. What attracted black thinkers to socialism was its willingness to include the black struggle in the human struggle; even if the intentions were not sincere. Socialist came to the aid of the inner city, funded black organizations and offered them asylum in their countries. During the civil rights movement, when blacks like Paul Robeson travelled abroad, they were treated like royalty. Specifically, Malcom X stated that he was treated far better in Muslim Countries on his pilgrimage to Mecca than in America. It is true that some black faces have emerged as community organizers but these personalities are not legitimate in that they are funded by outside organizations. However, they have very little influence in the grassroots efforts but use police brutality as a pretext to spread a globalist message. However, their influence is minimal in comparison to the role the church can play in addressing this issue.
The issue as I see it is that the Southern Baptist Churches need to do some soul searching and decide whether it wants to keep following in the footsteps of its founders or depart from them and push to reconcile and resolve the issue of race within its own ranks. It is inappropriate to ask black Christians to break ranks and disassociate with their black brothers of other beliefs when white Christian remain loyal to the notion of white supremacy and academic Jim Crowism. Just like the so-called left wing globalist agenda has black faces, so do the Jim Crowists of the Southern Baptist. Yet these black faces do not emerge from a democratic process established by black Southern Baptist but are simply handpicked personalities that rubber stamp whatever the dominate agenda is in hopes of some scraps that might fall from the table. I think real change begins with the classroom and with the study of history because the church has lost its credibility as a knowledge source. As a career educator and pastor, I created a curriculum on teaching the black experience and stand ready to share my experience with the group should need arise. God Bless.
Dr. Robert O. White, II