Liberation or Liberty

I was just thinking about - - -

The long-time Pastor of one of the Presidential Candidates has decided he needs to offer a defense for some of the comments that have received a lot of attention lately. His expression is they were snippets and misrepresented his context. And further, he stated that he says what preachers are to say, and his church member is saying what politicians say.

One of the silent issues underlying this discussion is that of Liberation Theology and what it hopes to achieve. The suggestion of Marxism in the discussion is to neither accuse or defame any candidate. It does identify roots and content. Martin Luther King, Jr. emphasized that one should be judged – not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. That’s fair if applied equally across the board for all. That being indicated, what is it the former Pastor of this candidate embraces as his Core Value and Philosophy of Ministry? There is a direct and historic line between what this Pastor proclaimed and proclaims and Marxism.

There is an admission by this Pastor and an identity to what is called “Black Theology.” It links to Liberation Theology of a few years ago. Liberation Theology found its greatest expression in Latin America when some Roman Catholic Theologians saw the exploitation of the poor masses by the rich and powerful, and turned to a Marxist Philosophy for the analysis of the problems being confronted. This led to a syncretism of Christianity and Marxism – leaving out the atheistic part of Marxism – in their effort to address the need and to seek solution to the problem. African-American Theologians, many of them of a Liberal persuasion, took their cue from the Liberation Theologians and developed what is called and embraced “Black Theology.” The concerns, as they unfold, are: (1) how much has a Presidential Candidate been influenced by the blend of Marxist-Liberation Theology; (2) how will this impact his Philosophy of Government and Policy that is formulated; (3) will he embrace, and will his thought processes, be influenced by Marxist thought; Christian thought; or Patriotism.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan has submitted the following analysis:

Hillary Clinton is not Barack Obama's problem. America is Mr. Obama's problem. He has been tagged as a snooty lefty, as the glamorous, ambivalent candidate from Men's Vogue, the candidate who loves America because of the great progress it has made in terms of racial fairness. Fine, good. But has he ever gotten misty-eyed over . . . the Wright Brothers and what kind of country allowed them to go off on their own and change everything? How about D-Day, or George Washington, or Henry Ford, or the losers and brigands who flocked to Sutter's Mill, who pushed their way west because there was gold in them thar hills? There's gold in that history.

What does he think about all that history? Which is another way of saying: What does he think of America? That's why people talk about the flag pin absent from the lapel. They wonder if it means something. Not that the presence of the pin proves love of country – any cynic can wear a pin, and many cynics do. But what about Obama and America? Who would have taught him to love it, and what did he learn was lovable, and what does he think about it all?

In six days (Thursday, May 1^st), there will be a National Day of Prayer. This is surely a time when II Chronicles 7:14 should be taken very seriously and implemented as quickly as possible - -

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

You think about this with me - - -