Thankfully we have Prof. Loury participating in the public discourse on race in America. The parallels with life in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries is brilliant.
Powerful. Heard. Thank you for doing this. We need to build positive and broad coalitions that uplift people. The current popular movements fetishize, belittle, and demean - even the groups they aim to "help". Learned helplessness and abstract color "privileges" are malware not to be installed in children.
I had to read the Intro to FBT to understand what you meant by the "politics of authenticity," which you reject. That's a very useful concept! It is not a rejection of authenticity, but a rejection of the politics of authenticity in which other decide what the "authentic" viewpoint for a paricular group should be. Good riddance!
This was a great article Glenn; I think it does a good job of capturing the need for the presentation of heterodox ideas of black people; and you present compelling ideas of your own. Your highlight of the problem of racial essentialism is particularly compelling.
I do though disagree with your initial interpretation of Paul when he discusses the “rulers of darkness” — I suspect that while he did think people ought to and thought he wrestled with bad ideas, I also think he believed that the rulers of darkness were conscious beings, albeit maybe not flesh and blood. Throughout his writing he seems to me to suggest that the “rulers of darkness” have agency. And I’d like also just to point out that in the context of that excerpt, it follows a passage that condones slavery.
“5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.“
I find it a tragic irony in fact that people whose relatively recent ancestors were enslaved so commonly adhere to a religion that frequently condones slavery in its literature that is allegedly sacred. It is a contradiction that people can condemn “Whiteness” for slavery, but not condemn Christianity, when the former is an irrevocable contingency of birth while loyalty to the latter is a conscious choice that can be rejected. I cannot choose to have ancestors other than the ones I have; but I can choose not to worship a book that applauds slavery to gods or men.
Regardless though, as an introduction to your article, the quote you chose works, when taken as a metaphor.
Just came back to and re-read this after seeing the link in The Glenn Show blurb.
I am so damn thankful for FBT, for heterodox black thinkers and writers, and for the "permission" (as a formerly progressive white woman) to not buy into the dominant "racial equity" narrative.
I resonate with everything you say and as a Jew I am preternaturally uneasy around group think.especially when it suppresses intellectual debate..the very underpinning of Jewish thought/faith. I actually made an appointment with a local rabbi to discuss my distress around these matters and to ask him about what Jewish thought would say. He shared honestly and said that he couldn't quite speak his truth to his congregarion because of the political divide even in a small temple. However when BLM came out with anti-Israeli statements they took down the BLM signs outside but left some of them inside. When you talk about Havel and "the lie" then this example embodies the place we have come to..at least when we speak in groups. As a person who puts a HIGH premium on intellectual integrity and truth, these times are so trying. and just when I'm feeling down. I learn about this new journal and feel lighter. Thank you for your voice.
I honestly wonder why U felt the need to express, “I am no longer a Christian” at the start of your article—it seemed to set a tone over the reasonable & excellent points U make.
I am a practicing Christian, and it did not bother me at all that Dr. Loury clarified this at the outset. It meant that his interest in the quote from Ephesians was literary rather than doctrinal. The phrasing of "no longer" as opposed to "not" is an interesting self-reflection.
Uplifting article. I like the idea that, not everything is right, but that empathising is important and we're all in it together to make things better. If BLM has does something positive, it has put the need for empathy on the radar of some comfortable white people and that's important if we're going to get involved in race talk. But BLM doesn't have the framework to get all people working together well, IMO.
Alas, I agree with you that Paul literally thought there were conscious beings, albeit not flesh and blood, who were ruling invisible realms and influencing us in pernicious ways.
Though I do not believe we would do better to believe that. We have little reason to believe Paul about the delusions he espoused. He even admits to being a charlatan, and lying about who he is to gain converts—pretending to be like whatever audience he is addressing, such as pretending to be Jewish when trying to convert Jews.
1 Corinthians 9
“20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.(A) To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law),(B) so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law(C) (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law),(D) so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.(E) I have become all things to all people(F) so that by all possible means I might save some.(G)“
If a person wants to be a “follower of Jesus”, one of the first things they should do is stop following Paul. He promoted ideas that Jesus would have likely found blasphemous, Jesus being a Jew who honored the Law — Jesus would have found himself being turned into a sacrificial Demi-god ritually cannibalized to be repugnant. His Jewish followers—his apostles and his brother James, never abandoned the law. Paul though did, and encouraged others to, which eventually contributed to what is called Christianity today.
Thankfully we have Prof. Loury participating in the public discourse on race in America. The parallels with life in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries is brilliant.
Powerful. Heard. Thank you for doing this. We need to build positive and broad coalitions that uplift people. The current popular movements fetishize, belittle, and demean - even the groups they aim to "help". Learned helplessness and abstract color "privileges" are malware not to be installed in children.
I had to read the Intro to FBT to understand what you meant by the "politics of authenticity," which you reject. That's a very useful concept! It is not a rejection of authenticity, but a rejection of the politics of authenticity in which other decide what the "authentic" viewpoint for a paricular group should be. Good riddance!
This was a great article Glenn; I think it does a good job of capturing the need for the presentation of heterodox ideas of black people; and you present compelling ideas of your own. Your highlight of the problem of racial essentialism is particularly compelling.
I do though disagree with your initial interpretation of Paul when he discusses the “rulers of darkness” — I suspect that while he did think people ought to and thought he wrestled with bad ideas, I also think he believed that the rulers of darkness were conscious beings, albeit maybe not flesh and blood. Throughout his writing he seems to me to suggest that the “rulers of darkness” have agency. And I’d like also just to point out that in the context of that excerpt, it follows a passage that condones slavery.
“5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.“
I find it a tragic irony in fact that people whose relatively recent ancestors were enslaved so commonly adhere to a religion that frequently condones slavery in its literature that is allegedly sacred. It is a contradiction that people can condemn “Whiteness” for slavery, but not condemn Christianity, when the former is an irrevocable contingency of birth while loyalty to the latter is a conscious choice that can be rejected. I cannot choose to have ancestors other than the ones I have; but I can choose not to worship a book that applauds slavery to gods or men.
Regardless though, as an introduction to your article, the quote you chose works, when taken as a metaphor.
beautifully written and argued.
Simple, direct, empathic, powerful. All the attributes of authentic intellectual discourse. Thank you.
Way to bust the bottle on the bow of this newly launched intellectual ship, Dr. Loury!
Just came back to and re-read this after seeing the link in The Glenn Show blurb.
I am so damn thankful for FBT, for heterodox black thinkers and writers, and for the "permission" (as a formerly progressive white woman) to not buy into the dominant "racial equity" narrative.
Beautifully written and expressed Professor Loury.
I resonate with everything you say and as a Jew I am preternaturally uneasy around group think.especially when it suppresses intellectual debate..the very underpinning of Jewish thought/faith. I actually made an appointment with a local rabbi to discuss my distress around these matters and to ask him about what Jewish thought would say. He shared honestly and said that he couldn't quite speak his truth to his congregarion because of the political divide even in a small temple. However when BLM came out with anti-Israeli statements they took down the BLM signs outside but left some of them inside. When you talk about Havel and "the lie" then this example embodies the place we have come to..at least when we speak in groups. As a person who puts a HIGH premium on intellectual integrity and truth, these times are so trying. and just when I'm feeling down. I learn about this new journal and feel lighter. Thank you for your voice.
I honestly wonder why U felt the need to express, “I am no longer a Christian” at the start of your article—it seemed to set a tone over the reasonable & excellent points U make.
I am a practicing Christian, and it did not bother me at all that Dr. Loury clarified this at the outset. It meant that his interest in the quote from Ephesians was literary rather than doctrinal. The phrasing of "no longer" as opposed to "not" is an interesting self-reflection.
Thanks so much, Glenn, for continuing to press for focusing discourse on ideas and challenging racial essentialism.
Amen.
Uplifting article. I like the idea that, not everything is right, but that empathising is important and we're all in it together to make things better. If BLM has does something positive, it has put the need for empathy on the radar of some comfortable white people and that's important if we're going to get involved in race talk. But BLM doesn't have the framework to get all people working together well, IMO.
Thank you. Your work is highly valued
Alas, I agree with you that Paul literally thought there were conscious beings, albeit not flesh and blood, who were ruling invisible realms and influencing us in pernicious ways.
Though I do not believe we would do better to believe that. We have little reason to believe Paul about the delusions he espoused. He even admits to being a charlatan, and lying about who he is to gain converts—pretending to be like whatever audience he is addressing, such as pretending to be Jewish when trying to convert Jews.
1 Corinthians 9
“20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.(A) To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law),(B) so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law(C) (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law),(D) so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.(E) I have become all things to all people(F) so that by all possible means I might save some.(G)“
If a person wants to be a “follower of Jesus”, one of the first things they should do is stop following Paul. He promoted ideas that Jesus would have likely found blasphemous, Jesus being a Jew who honored the Law — Jesus would have found himself being turned into a sacrificial Demi-god ritually cannibalized to be repugnant. His Jewish followers—his apostles and his brother James, never abandoned the law. Paul though did, and encouraged others to, which eventually contributed to what is called Christianity today.