(a subset of the Revolutionary Christian Left, as oppossed to the Social-Liberal Christian mileux. the difference is that the former emphasises utilisation of cathegories of analysis derived from Karl Marx in the process of defining the nature of the crisis as a precursor to establishing concrete praxis; and the latter is the province of individualist-type liberals who see everything in symbolic terms as an excuse to never challenge the ''limits of the possible'' imposed by capitalism and the oligarchies that govern it.)
Black-Power Theology maintains that the afro-american diasphora in the United States must be liberated from multiple forms of interlocked modes of social, political, economic and religious oppression. christian theology in this context is viewed as a ''theology of liberation and transformation'', implying orthopraxis (unity of theory and action premised on an spiritual ethics). it advocates a rational study of the meaning of the deity as a symbol for beatidic ethics in the world, in light of the existential situation of oppressed communities existing in context of a pre-defined exploitative mode of production (in our case late capitalism/imperialism). its proponents advocate the development of an ''afro-centric historical critical exegesis of biblical texts'', the development of an economic materialist analysis of the implications of racism in late capitalist society, and conducting historical materialist analysis of african american history.
in seeking to combine methods of materialist analysis developed by Karl Marx with historical critical exegesis of biblical texts Black Power Liberation Theology develops an orthopraxis premised upon the understanding that liberation is a process that takes place primarily in the material rehalm but that has spiritual implications. black power theologians argue that jesus (who in this narrative of liberation theology could be either a symbolic or historical person), identifies with those undergoing exploitation, social marginalisation or who are relegated to the status of outcasts by ecclesiastical elites or oppressive political-ecomomic systems. jesus is presented as an african person (in some iconography as a woman, but in most as a male) whose primary mission is to disrupt and dismantle systems of economic and racist opression. he she is described as the son/daughter of a deity (androgenous) that values justice and freedom for all, and that desires all her creation to be liberated. her struggle, that of jesus and of their followers against the false deity of racism and capitalism takes place in the here and now and takes the specific form of class and social struggle. this perspective rejects deism (the ideology that while humans have free will, god and nature remain indifferent to it), and affirms the intervention of god and jesus on the side of those who struggle for liberation from oppression. a theological version of affirmative action, so to speak.
(source of image: Lucha de Clases – Voz marxista de los trabajadores y la juventud.)
on the issue of Afro-Caribbean Syncretisms and resistance; below is something i wrote back when i was imprisoned in an ivory tower somewhere in northwestern eurasia, then i was conducting reseach on the history of heretical movements in Judeo-Christianity. i apologise for the heavy syntax but that is how the professorial bureaucracy i slaved under required that i express myself in writing. i add it for information pertinent to the above.
[Abstract Excerpt ] on the Origins of Wicca and Afro-Caribbean Syncretism:
That both wiccanism * and afro-caribbean ** Yoruba-Orisha syncretism - as understood to be today - originated as forms of religiously expressed and organisationally localised forms of resistance by the lowest classes -in their respective social stratification system- against pre-colonialist and early-colonialist trans-regional systems of economic and social oppression characteristic of late feudalism and early mercantilist capitalism ( circa 1300 – 1800 AD ).
Theory on the Origins of Wiccanism as a form of popular resistance against feudalism:
The dominion of the Catholic Church (of Rome) in ‘’medieval’’ feudal West Europe was based on the divine concordat between the Church and The Holy Roman Emperor (de facto appointed by the Pope of Rome). The constitutio of the ‘’Divine Chain of Being’’ dictated that the temporal and the spiritual where by divine commission consubstantialem in terra *** The Feudal Aristrocracy and the Roman Catholic clerical hierarchy exercised control over a mass of peasant serfs who performed the necessary labor to produce a surplus for the upkeep of Lords and Clergy - who according to canon law had a ‘’divine right’’ to exercise political and economic domination. Peasant Serf revolts where common and often punished in the harshest of ways. Those who revolted against the ‘’Divine Chain of Being’’ where regarded by the authorities as criminals AND heretics (the origins of the term “villain” and “pagan” derive from this stigma). If captured, those who had attempted but failed to escape, where savagely tortured in public as penitence. Fugitive Serfs would often migrate to other areas and in the process of migrating would encounter other fugitive Serfs from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. They would mingle with Christian hermits and pagani (‘’truth keepers’’ of the old religionswho lived in the countryside); the development of what is understood to be ‘’Wiccanism’’ in the contemporary West lie with the anarchic spiritual expression those fugitive Serfs who defied and resisted systematic abuse and exploitation under feudalism.
Hypothesis on the Origins of Afro-Caribbean Syncretisms as a form of identity counciousness:
Afro-Caribbean syncretisms (Vodoum in Haiti, Palo Mayombe in Trinidad, elements of Rastafarianism in Jamaica, Santeria in Cuba, Puerto Rico and East Hispaniola, Macumba in Brazil and Dutch Guyana) originated with renegade colonies of fugitive slaves who mingled and mixed with remnants of Native American tribes, as well as the import of European Gnostic and other esoteric traditions. The Afro-Caribbean syncretism originates as a modified and disguised expression of African Tribal religions surviving among the fugitive slaves and indentured Native Americans. The African Slave Trade was a pillar of the mercantilist-colonialist age of capitalism – an era of capital accumulation in the metropolis by means of controlled trade with colonies. One way to make colonies ‘’economic’’ from a perspective of mercantilism (other than the indentured servitude of poor European colonists and surviving natives), was to institutionalise a steady supply of free labor. That supply of Free Labor was found among the primitive tribes of sub-saharan Africa. Afro-Caribbean syncretism developed as an expression of the collective effort by Africans and some Native Americans to save their religious and cultural heritage under conditions of colonial occupation and slavery. They transformed the symbols of the hated religion of the negreros **** into a code of transmission of cultural identity. Each African tribal deity or Native American anima has an equivalent in the various Catholic Saints.
***
Interesting syncretic parallels:
The worship of Christ as Thoth-Hermes in late Roman Egypt. Some argue the Christian iconography was there to disguise an underground expression of the latter.
The Gnostic doctrine of the Seven Powers (originally a tenet of Jewish Essene communities Palestine), and the Afrocaribbean concept of the Seven African powers
The survival strategy of the Montanist and Donatist Christian movements under the time of Roman State and latter Christian Orthodox persecution; they worshipped the Sun deities in public and Christ in secret in the first instance, in the second instance they would attend official services while holding parallel underground services in secret.
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[Appendix November 2, 2010]
COMMENT 1:
(posted by Miguel Angel Torres at RevLeft Forum in context of debate with Atheist Marxist about the subject of Liberation Theology)
i see liberation theology as rooted in the concept that prudence is the understanding of situations of radical crisis. historical materialist analysis reveals to us the nature of the crisis as a product of political-economic dynamcs and modalities derived from the workings of the late capitalist/imperialist mode of production. the challenge for the christian then is to define what it means (in context of a concrete analysis of the concrete social reality), to affirm a preferential option for the poor and oppressed in praxis, as commanded by an ethics rooted in the beatidic teachings of jesus (who - like marx - was a jewish social revolutionary heretic and a worker). liberation theology is not about ''evangelisation'' in any sense, it is about reconciling beatidic ethics with existing social struggles; as explained by materialist analysis utilising cathegories developed by marx. in your comment you emphasise the class struggle (rightly so). recently I watched a program from venezuelan television broadcast over Cuba and Latin America via the Telesur Network...
...about the fosa guerrillera shrine in bolivia (where the bones of che guevara where exhumated in 1997) . the shrine is staffed by a former franciscan from germany who joined the struggle of landless peasants in paraguay and bolivia. the paraguayan 'sin tierra' (like the brasilian 'dos sem terra'), engage in direct land seizures and the establishment of agricultural cooperative production in 'asentamientos'. the franciscan in question tells of his experiences in paraguay confronting state repression alongside the pasants. this is one example of what i meant when i wrote before about historical materialist analysis revealing to the proponent of liberation theology ''the nature of the crisis'' as a means of defining the ''prudent disposition'' relative to taking a preferential option for the social struggles of the oppressed in situ, and then defining what that means (in context of a concrete analysis of the concrete social reality), as praxis. for Camilo Torres (the founder of the Colombian ELN) this meant celebrating the eucharist only among those engaged in armed struggle against the army of the Colombian neo-colonial narco-state while fighting alongside them.
The Latin American branch of Christian Communist Liberation Theology, according to thologians such as Leonardo Boff; is rooted in the concept that "prudence is the understanding of situations of radical crisis". Among Christian Communists, Historical Materialism is utilised as a methodology of analysis to define the nature of the crisis in question as a product of political-economic dynamics and modalities derived from the workings of what is termed "the late capitalist/imperialist mode of production". According to this subset of Liberation Theology, the challenge for the Christian Communist is then to define what it means (in context of "a concrete analysis of the concrete social reality"), to affirm a "preferential option for the poor and oppressed" as Praxis (active theory), and as commanded by an ethics allegedly "rooted in the beatidic teachings of Jesus". Christian Communist Liberation Theology is not about evangelization per se, but rather about developing an Orthopraxis (ethical action; The condition of coming to the light by doing the works of God), that aims to reconcile the "Beatidic Ethics" of Jesus, as expoused in the Sermon on the Mount; with existing social struggles against what is termed "neo-colonialism" or "Late Capitalism". Both Christian Communism and Liberation Theology stress "orthopraxis" over "orthodoxy". A narrative of the nature of contemporary social struggles is developed via "materialist analysis" utilising historiographic concepts developed by Karl Marx. A concrete example are the Paraguayan Sin Tierra (landless) movement, who engage in direct land seizures and the establishment of socialized agricultural cooperative production in asentamientos. The contemporary Paraguayan Sin Tierra operate in a very similar manner as that of the reformation era Diggers. For Camilo Torres (the founder of the Colombian guerrilla group E.L.N.) developing this Orthopraxis meant celebrating the Catholic Eucharist only among those engaged in armed struggle against the army of the Colombian state, while fighting alongside them.
/ Composed by Miguel Angel Torres, October 2010.
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(C) Miguel Angel Torres, Emmanuel Goldstein
