Friday, March 4, 2016

Open Letter to Baton Rouge Leaders 10/7/16



          In struggling with why so many Baton Rouge residents are being murdered (three at once last weekend), I wonder if we are not hampered by black liberation theology (BLT) and its opinion that a black American is foolish to allow the influence of a white person. We need to pay more attention to physics: energy, mass, and space-time from which everything emerges. We are kin, regardless of skin color or other characteristics. 
          I want you to consider our kinship. Don't just thump your Bible. Think about the evidence. Both mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomes inform us that everyone alive today is kin. We are descendants of a woman who lived in the time 60 thousands years ago to 200 thousand years ago. Mind you, humanoids have been around some 2600 thousand years, so this woman was only one of the many women some 92% to 95% of evolution’s humanoid path to us. She and the other women who lived then, may have been mating with many men (perhaps couples reacted only to the chemistry of mating). We are related only by her mtDNA and the Y-chromosomes of her father, so it's no Adam and Eve story. I assume that the descendants of her peers—the other women then --were unable to adapt to their changing environment and became extinct; but evolutionary biologists don't assume: they know. The point is that I am kin to the black Baton Rougeans who are shooting each other, and I want it to stop. My heart bleeds when I read about each murder. In the words of Jeremiah Wright, Jr. there's no pain like the shock of knowing that wonderful voice of your loved one you'll never hear again.
          You may be religious and thereby resistant to the theory of evolution. But let me point out that you do not question the use of DNA to discover criminals or parents. DNA is a technology derived from biological evolution. DNA is a fact. I would not question my kinship to black Baton Rougeans. Religion helps us imagine to perhaps deal with the unknown, while evolution helps us understand the facts so as to benefit from the known. Evolution is not a belief system in competition with religions.
          I’m wondering how our Mayor Holden seemingly shields himself from immediate concerns for each of the shootings. Are the deaths merely sacrifices for a black liberation theology? I recall another mayor who was more visible when cultural disturbance arose. I tried to refresh my memory about Mayor Dumas, but only found, “ . . . in January 1972, three [black] Muslim activists and a police officer were killed during a riot on North Boulevard in Baton Rouge” online at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._W._Dumas . What I recall is that after the killings and Bob Johnson’s injury, Woody came on TV and said something to the effect that if citizens were found with guns in the streets the police would shoot and then find out why the citizen was carrying a gun. Everything calmed down. In those days, American communities were being burned, but not in Baton Rouge.
 
          Those were challenging times for us twenty-somethings, opposing long-standing mistreatment of blacks but too busy struggling to establish ourselves in a world with mysterious manners. We were enthusiastic about the equality envisioned in 1963 and doubted the “check cashing” portion of MLK’s dream speech. As young parents, we had to decide whether to keep our children in 1970s public school. We did. We felt that everyone in this land is connected, so we needed to do our part to establish the possible combination: no-harm personal liberty and domestic goodwill, even though we would not have written that then: A Civic People of Baton Rouge only recently had discussions that led to that achievable combination. [Note: Starting September 6, 2016, we changed the above expression to private-integrity as private-liberty-with-civic-morality.]
 
          A civic people of all colors did not know about the budding betrayal of the dream of equality. In 1969 James H. Cone published Black Theology & Black Power and a year later, A Black Theology of Liberation—about black liberation theology---sprung from Latin America's 1950s Marxist-political liberation theology. Also, in 1969, the precursor to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) formed; see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Black_Caucus#Founding . In 2006, CBC reflected black liberation theology, both thirty-seven years matured; see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Black_Caucus#Non-Black_membership, in particular the quote, “We are concerned with the needs and concerns of the black population, and we will not allow white America to infringe on those objectives.” I speculate those words would have been chosen without the influence of black liberation theology. Please read that 2006 sentence again and think about it juxtaposed with our work to establish the achievable civic combination: personal liberty and domestic goodwill. I do not perceive how personal liberty and domestic goodwill can be served by either CBC or black liberation theology.

          I started becoming aware of black liberation theology, armed with my thought that Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s 2003 sermon is, in his vernacular for his church, patriotic. It features the infamous swearing, which I gave the metaphor “flag burning” in my essay, Not hung up on Rev Wright’s flag burning , February 3, 2015. I attended his February 19, 2015 speech at Southern University, so that the Advocate, with their freedom of the press would not prevent me from knowing Wright’s message. Wright's speech was divisive: he said white church may lament the separation of black church, but white church separated the blacks.  When I handed my blog card to Wright, a warm yet divisive person, he said, “But I did not burn my flag.” I told him it is a metaphor so I could avoid writing the infamous phrase. But on February 19, Wright’s speech was divisive. It did not threaten me, because it is just another intellectual construct that would repress my faith in the objective truth of which much is undiscovered and some is understood. In other words, the black liberation theology crowd might be 3% among the 70% that impose Christianity wars on my governance and tax burdens. I resent all Christians for ruining American civic life. Christians need to learn a little propriety appreciating the-indisputable-facts-of-reality.
 
          In naiveté, I was shocked to learn that Wright had led us in the acapella singing of the “Black American National Anthem”; see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Every_Voice_and_Sing . I learned this information from my friend for a day at Southern. She pointed out Edward Pratt, and I hoped he would report the event for The Advocate. Weeks later, my neighbor told me as a boy the song maintained his sense of value in a hostile land—in Alabama. My friend is my age, so his singing predates black liberation theology. Now that I understand, I am doubly glad I stood while it was sung on February 19, 2015 and will always support my neighbor's cultural commemoration when appropriate. Yet I urge more civic enthusiasm for “The Star Spangled Banner,” especially at a state-sponsored university. If it is an African-American institution, it should not receive American funds.

            We are kin. But with my new awareness, I feel estranged by black liberation theology and CBC. I wonder how enthused for the National Anthem people influenced by black liberation theology may actually be. I have already been told by a practicing school teacher, “My people never thought the preamble was for us.” They may not have thought so, but many of the 1787 founders expected emancipation when economic viability would emerge. The men who died in the Civil War represented legislators who wanted the slaves, some as the constitutionally and religiously agreed 60% persons (slaves) and and some as 100% persons (free blacks) according to physics-based ethics. (Pity the woeful people who compare the Civil War to Nazi Germany and its effort to exterminate a people, for example that professor in New Orleans --old whats his name.)
 
          As I sought more understanding of Wright, I learned of his respect for James Cone, author of black liberation theology. Black liberation theology, as I understand from Anthony Bradley’s book Liberating Black Theology, 2010, asserts that the fact of white Christian church not coming to the aid of American slaves is evidence that the Christian god is black and intends supremacy of American blacks—not blacks in general but American blacks. Therefore, any American black who allows a white person to influence him or her is denying the Christian salvation that is promised to black Americans by the black god, who sent a redeemer for the oppressed: Jesus.
          Black liberation theology seems Marxist, in that a black person is expected to forgo civic personal liberty and domestic goodwill to support black liberation theology. As we all know, theologies get proven, sometime; the ones that are false meet their end soon, and the one that is true has not proven out in some 40 thousand years of awareness. A black liberation theology person’s life is to be spent waiting for the black god to deliver American black supremacy. Moreover, the Bible offers a Christianity that is united in doubt--unverifiable faith--rather than divided by gods constructed in the image of each believer. Relief from constructed black god seems the premise of Bradley's book title.
          Black liberation theology seems intent on separating blacks from a civic people of the United States—indeed from the world. If 36 million people are influenced by black liberation theology, that’s 11% of USA population and 0.5% of world population. Bradley’s counter argument is that Christianity is for everyone: 7 billion people. My point is that most of 7 billion people should hold civic morality as a personal priority on par with eating, hygiene and the other necessities in Maslow's hierarchy, in order to secure the personal liberty and domestic goodwill that enables pursuits such as religious morality. Civic morality is required for survival: religious morals are optional for people who have the related concerns. I do not have private, religious concerns.

          My personal argument is that Christianity is not for me, and I think that is true for 30% of Americans. There is too much evidence that bible interpretation leads to Marxism. For example, persons in the South gave up their lives and fortunes to a people’s belief that it was Christian for one person to own another, based on Bible descriptions of master-slave relationships. One of my neighbors right here in Kenilworth dusted me (Matthew 10:14) when he learned he could not "win me for Christ." I hope few people are actually influenced by black liberation theology and other erroneous Bible thumping. I am working hard to leave Christianity alone as a cultural pursuit but keep its moral errors out of determination of civic morality by using physics-based ethics instead of religious morals. This is possible if 65% of believers in each of some 4000 Christian sects personally separate civic liberty and goodwill from religious liberty and fellowship. Humankind reluctantly reforms to physics-based ethics. For example, according to physics confirmed by the Civil War and many Civil Rights Acts, one person cannot own another person except by force. Yet white, American Christianity famously divided over slavery and made war with each other in 1861. Also, a community cannot long rely on vigilante groups to protect its "2016 Al Capone’s" from the police.
  
          Since I learned of black liberation theology, I have been trying to understand who, beyond Wright, the SRO audience on February 19 including Edward Pratt, and perhaps President Obama might be influenced by black liberation theology. My inquiries are met with brick walls. In an online discussion the other day, I found one person whose Facebook page advertises Cone’s 40th anniversary book revision. When I asked, the person’s posts disappeared; but the Facebook page is still there. People I talk to about black liberation theology say they don't know; but they talk no more. I find a perhaps healthy message in a media quote of Cone in June, 2012: “America has always been regarded as a white man’s country and yet . . . we know [it] will be a country for all of the people of this society and not just for whites.” Emphasis mine. See http://therevealer.org/archives/11758 . When he says "this society" does he mean the black liberation theology society? Is that the message Baton Rouge is led by? If not, I am thrilled and working even harder to establish A Civic People of the United States in Baton Rouge. However, what I fear is that Cone's intent in that 2012 quote is that whites must come to accept that the Christian god is black American and whites must make American blacks supreme for whites to be saved. I think I heard that in the halls of Southern University on February 19: "Yeah, we're kin, but we're kin to an African woman. Can't escape ethnic particulars." (In the beginning, The Word was in the Mother Country.)

          Some blacks report that they are Catholic, and I know firsthand that Catholic Parishes have been fully integrated these nearly fifty years I have been in Baton Rouge. That belies Obama's notion that racism is in the American DNA. So, maybe 36 million of 48 million blacks are empathetic to black liberation theology. President Obama claimed in 2008 he could no more deny Rev Wright than deny his grandfather, so I tend to think Obama is a black liberation theology believer, knowingly or not. If so, Marxism has a stronger hold than one would expect. But I cannot solve the nation’s problems. I merely want to help Baton Rouge become a city with 65% of members of each no-harm cultural faction being part of the over-arching culture: A Civic People of the United States. If Baton Rouge establishes a civic people, it will spread to the USA.
          Personal isolation due to black liberation theology may be hurting in other ways. Maybe there is a clue from life in Baltimore, shared by Ta-Neshi Coates. Listen to www.npr.org/2015/07/13/422554778/ta-nehisi-coates-on-police-brutality-the-confederate-flag-and-forgiveness at about 3 minutes. Coates takes for granted the black community having at least two tiers of violence controls 1) gangs to use violence and protect criminals from the police and 2) the police to clean up the mess. Do vigilante groups explain the violence and silence in North Baton Rouge? It recalls Al Capone and the protectionist racket. I know drugs are involved in NBR, but they were in 1920s Chicago, too. It seems to me the two-tier violence-culture needs reform and black church ought to take the lead in collaboration with the police. But is black church hampered by black liberation theology? Can a person collaborate with whites and preach black liberation theology?
  
          On August 1, 2015, Edward Pratt and the Advocate published the column “A program to show that black lives matter.” See theadvocate.com/news/acadiana/13052001-123/edward-pratt-a-program-to . He saddles District Attorney Hiller More with convincing the black community that they will not suffer unfairness, so that the black community will open up and report the killers in their midst. Is Pratt trying to coerce Moore into not bringing charges against criminals? Why doesn’t Pratt charge Mayor Holden to stop the killings? Why doesn’t Mayor Holden call for a curfew and use other means that have been effective for stopping the killings? I understand that “black lives matter,” is a popular slogan, but why does Pratt direct it to the DA? Is Baton Rouge in silence because of black liberation theology? Is Pratt a self-appointed agent of black liberation theology? 
 
          Also, on August 1, 2015, Mark Hunter and the Advocate published the article, “Leaders unite in prayer against crime in cities,” (online at http://theadvocate.com/news/acadiana/13032262-123/leaders-unite-in-prayer-against) and its companion article, “Speakers rally crowd with fiery political rhetoric,” online at http://theadvocate.com/news/acadiana/13032572-123/speakers-rally-crowd-with-fiery. Holden was quoted in the first article, and his prayer, much as I object to legislative prayer, at least expressed hope for goodwill among Jesus believers. But the second article quoted State Rep. Regina Barrow, “They have a plan. I can tell you some of us are not included in it.”Dr. Charles Steele Jr. said, that “the Nation of Islam will work with you to make a difference for our people.” Later, he said, “I aint’ scared of no scaredy negroes! I’m ready to die for a cause.” That sounds Marxist and black liberation theology to me; I want to encourage people to establish A Civic People of the United States, where anybody’s no-harm cultural faction may flourish, including negroes calling each other negroes and other n-words. Read what Steele's group wants in "What the Muslims Want," at www.noi.org/muslim-program/ . But, I want 65% of members of every factional culture working on the overarching culture: a civic people. A people must have civic liberty and justice in order to pursue chosen no-harm cultures and religions.
 

           The reporting by Mark Hunter gives me more confidence than many articles I have read in The Advocate. The few quotes give me an un-politically-correct sense that the meeting was hostile toward white people. Writers usually avoid making readers uncomfortable, whereas I do not approve of obfuscation--try to discover my own candid failures in order to admit problems. A civic people must candidly discuss its civic issues and needs. While I do not like to hear n-words and talk of division, I do not mind awareness that such division is promoted; I want to discuss it so as to convince Baton Rouge persons to help establish A Civic People of the United States. Did Mayor Holden hear the “fiery rhetoric,” and say nothing? A civic mayor confronts the public use of an n-word.
 
          Why hasn’t Mayor Holden stepped up to the plate against Pratt’s column to Hillar Moore? Does Pratt have a “black lives matter” agenda and Moore "is not included in it" (borrowing Rep. Barrows words)? Is Holden empathetic to Platt’s plan for Moore? Are Holden and Pratt both influenced by black liberation theology as Wright’s divisiveness rather than as Cone’s 2012 view: America is “for all of the people of this society and not just for whites.” I add America is not just for Christians. Do black lives matter to Mayor Holden? Why does The Advocate grant Platt freedom of the press so as to misdirect responsibilities and advance “black lives matter” as propaganda against Moore? Do black lives matter to The Advocate or are they focused on a business plan? With visitors and leaders in Baton Rouge advocating black liberation theology, why doesn’t the city and its hometown newspaper address it? Does silence about black liberation theology exacerbate poor school performance and some people’s desire to form another separate city—St. George City? Are some inhabitants waiting for a black god to deliver? How long does the typical god take to produce results?
  

          Baton Rouge Police Department just completed a six-weeks course for 24 pastors, courses patterned after “Cops and Clergy,” aimed at “building relationships with the African-American community.” The Advocate reported it on August 7, 2015; I could have been aware of this by July 9 if I followed other news, e.g., www.wbrz.com/tags/police/ as I should. Apparently, information flow was from the police to the clergy to explain challenges officers’ endure. Pastors, such as Bland Washington, Eric Williams, Robert Davis, Wongchin Viltz, and Herman Kelly concluded that the information motivates them to support the police. Kelly said, rather than guns we need “love, understanding and relationships.” Police Chief Carl Dabadie, with the support of District Attorney Hillar Moore, modeled the program in Memphis, Tennessee. Cops and Clergy may have launched in Sacramento, California in 2013; see portal.cityofsacramento.org/Police/Participate/Cops-and-Clergy. Jefferson Parish has a transparent program; see jeffersoncc.net/.
  
          The pastor’s sessions “coincided with the BRPD Academy” and covered “Reasonable Suspicion and Probable Cause,” “Search and Seizure,” “Use of Force,” “Human Factors,” “The Court System,” “Crime Stoppers Program,” “Incident Reporting” and “BRAVE Training,” and “split-second, life-and-death decisions.” As a consequence, some pastors have invited police to attend church functions to build trust with the congregations. Some people, in the past, would mistakenly call their pastor when they should call the police. Program head, Police Sgt. Riley Harbor III said, “Police officers have universal training when it comes to the law and pastors have universal training from Almighty God.” Harbor also turns Edward Platt’s negative propaganda “Black Lives Matter” into an appeal for pastors to respond. James Barrett wants to add “Community” to the program title: Cops and Clergy and Community (CCC).
 
          The CCC forum might frown on my desire to discuss community bad practices like 1) vigilante violence so as to protect criminals as a substitute for police protection of victims, 2)  black liberation theology which as far as I can tell posits that a black American is foolish to be influenced by a white American, and 3) Congressional Black Caucus whose stated purpose is to prevent white influence on black Americans. These erroneous activities have increased the American divide since about five years after the Civil Rights Acts of the mid 1960s--during my most vital forty-five years. Whereas I adamantly oppose legislative prayer—the erroneous mimicking of pastors by elected officials and officials involving clergy in government events—it seems to me Cops and Clergy and Community is collaboration, with clear separation of responsibilities: law enforcement, cultural leadership, and civic morality according to physics-based ethics. Lastly the media and their writers should learn to serve a civic people instead of pursuing misguided business plans. As Pastor Kelly said, Baton Rouge is in a unique position to lead the nation, I think because of the attitudes of a majority of residents and some leaders, with no thanks to The Advocate. I hope The Advocate reforms, because problems must be candidly discussed and faced rather than obfuscated by business plans.
  
          I am excited about what has been accomplished by a small group in a handful of meetings, mostly at EBRP libraries over the past eighteen months. My ability to write that I advocate iterative civic collaboration for the achievable combination no-harm personal liberty and domestic goodwill is only two weeks old now. This last of many improvements by the people who discuss this theory was by my daughter Rebekah, in New York. On my statement that I was moving away from Abraham Lincoln’s “governance” in the Gettysburg address, she urged me to use “collaboration” instead of “cooperation.” She’s right. What a gift: iterative collaboration instead of governance! I cannot wait to learn the improvements that are yet to come from a civic people
 
          Baton Rouge has a problem. We seem to have grown accustomed to vigilante violence in the black community. We must face and end our reticence. The people being shot are connected to us; they are our kin. We are their kin. Baton Rouge may, unintentionally or not, be influenced by a misguided black liberation theology and other isolationism based on the past. Because a better idea is present and originated from discussions at EBRP Libraries, Baton Rouge is in a unique position to establish A Civic People of the United States, who collaborate for the achievable combination personal liberty and domestic goodwill. I challenge the leaders to get involved in establishing a civic people. Everyone can embrace physics-based ethics: it's as simple as establishing trust in both other people's statements by never lying; also, trusting green lights by never running red ones. Lately we have called this behavior private-integrity as private-liberty-with-civic-morality.

Copyright©2015 by Phillip R. Beaver. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for the publication of all or portions of this paper as long as this complete copyright notice is included. Original, 8/5/2015 on promotethepreamble.blogspot.com 56 views before 03/04/16,  revised August 15, 2015 and October 7, 2016

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