> ----------
> From: Doug Henwood[SMTP:dhenwood at panix.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 1998 11:08 AM
> To: LBO-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: race & religion
>
> Hey, here's something that could liven things up - bringing together
> our
> recent race & religion threads. When American lefties talk about
> Christians, the (typically) unspoken assumption is white Christians,
> espeically of the conservative born again/evangelical sort. But what
> about
> black Christians? Aside from racial issues, the social attitudes of
> most
> black Christians are indistinguishable from socially conservative
> white
> Christians. And what about the role of the church in black political
> development? There are some who say that a tool intended as one of
> colonization was turned into a tool of rebellion - e.g. the Christian
> rhetoric of ML King, etc. But has that been true on balance? Has
> Christianity been, on balance, a conservatizing force, both
> ideogologically
> and sociologically (by helping to create a comprador class of
> ministers and
> other worthies)? Adolph Reed has been one of the few to ask these
> sorts of
> questions in public - but is this one of those sore spots that should
> be
> probed, not avoided?
>
> Doug
>
>