Black Religion, Baha'i Community: Part One
O thou who hast an illumined heart! Thou art even as the pupil of the eye, the very wellspring of the light, for God's love hath cast its rays upon thine inmost being and thou hast turned thy face toward the Kingdom of thy Lord.
(The Baha'i Sacred Writings, referring to People of African Descent)
I have recently returned from Ghana and from the Baha'i World Center in Israel and my thoughts regarding the dynamic relationship between the Revelation of Baha'u'llah and the spiritual destiny of black Americans have reached a new intensity and depth. As you will know from previous posts, I believe that the Baha'i Faith is a 'prophetic', 'holy spirit' religion, in complete harmony with the best of the African American religious tradition, without being a "mere replica" of any aspect of that tradition. You also know that I am a keen observer of three trends in the development of Baha'i devotional culture, being driven by a revolutionary consciousness emerging among Baha'is of African Descent in America. Finally, you know that I'm interested in exploring what could be called a Baha'i Theology of Black Liberation in the spirit of the pioneering work done by James Cone. I've decided to do a series of posts, reflecting on "black religion in the Baha'i community". Here goes...
Black Religion, Baha'i Community: Part One
The foundation of my reflections on this topic is the following: The evolution of the Baha'i community in America and the spiritual and social consciousness of African Americans both within and without the Baha'i community, have converged in a moment of tremendous possibility. We are now in a position to begin to discover new models of unity in diversity through systematic study of the expression of black religion within a new multicultural, international faith community: The American Baha'i Community.
When I refer to "black religion", what am I talking about? I define black religion as those patterns of devotional practice, religious reasoning, social organization, and cultural expression that have emerged in the centuries since enslaved Africans were first brought to North America. African Americans have brought these patterns with them into the Baha'i community and as their consciousness of their spiritual reality as "the pupil of the eye" has deepened, they have exerted an increasingly transformative impact on the Baha'i Faith, just as they have done with Christianity and Islam. Examples of this transformative impact, what it means for our understanding of Baha'i belief and practice and how they relate black theology and black nationalism with be addressed in future. While you're waiting, rush out and purchase a copy of "Lights of the Spirit" written by Professors Richard Thomas and Gwen Etter-Lewis which is an awesome new book about African Americans in the Baha'i Faith.
7 comments:
I just happened upon your blog and wanted to tell you how wonderful it is to find it! I'm an African-American female Baha'i, who was raised by a Baha'i father and Christian mother.
I look forward to your continuing insights about Baha'i Theology of Black Liberation.
It's been a joy reading your blog.
Loving Baha'i regards.
I think you set up an interesting challenge for yourself and I wish you would share more of your thoughts on what a prophetic bahai black liberation theology would look like.
The Bahai attitude towards government and the prohibition of civil disobedience would rule out even the peaceful activities of a Rosa Parks or an MLK, let alone a Nat Turner or a Malcolm X. The Bahai emphasis on unity and obedience to government along with other comments about race and politics made by the central figures seems very inconsistent with what I would normally associate with liberation theology. I'm curious and would like to better understand what you have in mind.
Welcome Portia and Abdu'l-Halim and thanks for sharing your interest in this important topic. My hope is that my exploration will encourage dialogue among Baha'is of African Descent and Black Americans in general. In response to Abdul-Halim, it is true that the Baha'i attitude towards government would rule out certain types of civil disobedience that are viewed as heroic and highly effective by most Black Americans. However liberation strategies such as those pursued by Thurgood Marshall that brought about the historic Brown vs. Board of Education decision would be completely acceptable as recent events in Egypt have shown. The approach to black liberation has always been a debate among black Americans and the thinking has been quite diverse. The question is which of those approaches are aligned with core Baha'i beliefs and practices and which are not and why. A second and perhaps deeper question is the degree to which Western liberal democratic notions of liberation (on which much of the thinking of African Americans is based)are in harmony with a Baha'i view of liberation. This question could be applied to Marxist-Socialist and Black Nationalist perspectives as well. The Baha' Faith is a prophetic, "activist" religion which is commited to social change on a global scale. Baha'i have simply chosen to utilize the power of unity rather than engage in the impotence of partisan politics. Of course the questions you raise are worthy of long, long discussion and I would love to engage in that with as it will help my own thinking to mature on this subject.
Fascinating stuff Philippe. You may have already read some his works, but I've found the work of Dr. C Eric Lincoln, who writes about the history of black religion in America, to be very inspiring and insightful. I think you'll find his book "Race, Religion and the Continuing American Dilemma." very relevant to your research.
Your discussion brings to mind a problem that I find exists in most "liberation" movements. The philosophies of these movements usually define "liberation" as political and economic self-determination, but they never define what exactly the "self" is, nor what it is that we will determine should be done once we have to the freedom to do so. How can you be self-determined if you don't who you are or what you're struggling for? I think this is the fundamental question that any distinctive "Baha'i liberation theology" would have to address.
I agree Malik, any discussion of liberation must begin with an explicit statement about ones theological anthropology. What is a human being, what is the purpose of human existence and how is that purpose fulfilled. You can then analyze oppression relative to how one answers those questions. This is exactly what the Baha'i Faith does, particularly when you consider the way that Baha'u'llah defines oppression existentially and epistemologically as well as socially and politically in the Book of Certitude. It is one of my favorite passages from that momentous work. The document, Individual Rights and Freedoms written by the Universal House of Justice addresses similar issues with great depth. Both these texts are required reading for any discussion involving liberation.
Pillipe, have you read Lights of the Spirit? I really want to order it, but I don't know if it's really worth getting. I'd love to hear a real review of the book.
Sebrina, Lights of the Spirit is the best portrait of African Americans in the Baha'i Faith that I have ever read and includes a lot of information that I was unfamiliar with in addition to some of the more well known things about folks like Louis Gregory. Go read it right now and when you are done, give it to someone that you love.
That's my review in brief.
Post a Comment