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Hate to Admit He Might Be Right

Wed, Oct 31, 2007 at 12:10 pm Posted in Atheist Inquisitions, Politics

Al Sharpton versus Christopher Hitchens:

In a debate, Hitchens disparaged the God-fearing sensibilities of Martin Luther King Jr., angering Sharpton. “In terms of the civil-rights movement,” Sharpton responded, “it was absolutely fueled by a belief in God and a belief in right or wrong. Had not there been this belief that there was a right and a wrong, the civil-rights movement that you alluded to and referred to would not have existed.”

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dtatusko 9 months ago 1 point
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And to that point R. there is enough evidence to suggest that with "God" social and moral chaos have found a powerful support system.

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Julie Bogart 9 months ago 1 point
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Ah a reader of James Cone! Thump, thump my heart. :) Agree totally with you. It was his book Black Theology that helped me to think about the role of other voices in the civil rights era (other than MLK Jr. which we have reduced to a shell of what he was about).

Elijah Muhammad is a good example of someone outside Christianity with a similar message too. I had not realized how maligned Malcolm X was in our culture until I studied black theology.

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R. Michael 9 months ago 1 point
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I have heard Christians make the point that without God (meaning their idea of the Judeo-Christian God) the world would devolve into utter moral and social chaos. I have never been convinced that is true...even during my years as an evangelical. The evidence simply does not bear it out. In fact the prevelence of Christianity does not seem have much of an effect on individual moral behaviors (if you believe the Barna statistics) so I would think it would apply to corporate moral and social behavior as well.

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dtatusko 9 months ago 1 point
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I agree. I think that the issue here is that Sharpton kind of gives us a red herring by baiting us with God then injecting right and wrong as a foundation without actually making a rational connection between the two as they relate to civil rights. But without liberation theology (be it from the mouth of someone like James Cone or from a Elijah Muhammad) I do agree that the civil rights movement would be without its fundamental catalyst.

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James McGrath 9 months ago 1 point
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King is quite possibly the most influential liberal Baptist of all time, and that should not be forgotten! :)

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Julie Bogart 9 months ago 1 point
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There were civil rights activists who were not Christians, many who rejected Christianity as the white man's religion and who found leaders like MLK Jr. difficult to understand. But I would say that the role of religious faith for most black Americans was profound, not so much because of "right" and "wrong" but because of the idea that God would vindicate the oppressed, slaves in the face of oppression and evil. This hope sustained them in the face of overwhelming odds and provided the future hope that would make dying for the cause even worthwhile.

So I agree with Sharpton as far as MLK Jr. and the wider movement is concerned, but I think both limit their comments to one aspect oft he movement rather than the larger whole.

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