This just knocked my socks off! Phillipe Copeland has written in Baha’i Thought about his reactions to reading the writings of Dr James Cone on Black Liberation Theology. I make no apologies for quoting the whole of Phillipe’s post.

As some of you are aware, I’ve been reflecting for some time on the relationship between the Revelation of Baha’u'llah and the spiritual destiny of black Americans and have recently began to write about it a great deal. My recent discovery of James H. Cone, considered by many to be the father of Black Theology in America has deepened my passion for this topic and greatly influenced my thinking about Baha’u'llah and Black Theology. I’m currently reading Cone’s A Black Theology of Liberation and Black Theology and Black Power. This brother is deep. If you want to experience a real treat, you can watch him giving a recent lecture at my alma mater Harvard Divinity School called Strange Fruit: The Cross and the Lynching Tree. You’ll see what I mean!

My exposure to Cone has caused my mind to explode, so I’m still in the process of collecting the various pieces of gray matter and putting them back in my skull. Because of this I will make a few brief comments about what could serve as a basis of analyzing what the Revelation of Baha’u'llah might mean for black Americans.

1. The Revelation of Baha’u'llah represents the fulfillment of the eschatological expectations of both Christianity and Islam, the two religious traditions that the majority of black Americans either belong to or are greatly influenced by.

2. That Baha’u'llah’s comparison of blacks to the “pupil of the eye” has profound implications for understanding of their role in ushering in the Kingdom of God on earth and represents the “great reversal” of social relationships mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran.

3. That Baha’i expectations of the God-given role that America is destined to play and fulfilling the Will and Purpose of God for this age, implies great spiritual significance for the meaning of being a black American.

4. That the “unique”, “wondrous”, “System” which Baha’u'llah has brought to the world is what will make possible the fulfillment of the long-held aspirations of black Americans for racial justice and unity.

Think about it!

Technorati Tags: Liberation Theology, Baha’u'llah, Black Theology, Black Power, Kingdom of God, Bible, Quran, America

I was very sad to get an email from my friend Sandy Bharat to say that Jael, her husband and also my friend, had passed away on the morning of 30 November.

The best of husbands, the best of friends, a beautiful and special person and my beloved Jael passed away this morning at 6am. We have been in hospital since Monday evening when he suffered a major stroke. He has been in a coma most of this time but beautiful moments also came but I cannot write about those just now.

Jael

Technorati Tags: Jael

Do please go and have a look at the new Faith Column on The New Statesman website. The New Statesman is one of the UK’s leading current affairs magazines.

Ben Davies, the blog’s editor, invited me to write the first posts - on the Baha’i Faith - for the new blog.

Do go and have a look, and please leave a comment, if you feel moved to.

Technorati Tags: current affairs, Baha’i, Faith

Up at just after 5 yesterday morning and off to Luton airport to get to Edinburgh for the Scottish Inter Faith Council’s conference, The Place of Faith in Scotland. The conference was part of the SIFC’s Scottish Inter Faith Week and coincided with St Andrew’s Day. I’d been asked to facilitate a workshop on Spiritual Identity and Social Cohesion.

The aircraft bounced and bucked and lurched as we came into Edinburgh. At one point the flight made a wide turn over the grey waters of the Firth of Forth before coming into land at Edinburgh International Airport. I looked down at the white-capped waves and raised a quick prayer that we wouldn’t end up in those icy waters. This was one of the most turbulent landings I have ever experienced. I probably would have paid a lot of money to have the same experience in a theme park.

I got off the airport bus on Waverley Bridge and climbed up into the Old Town. A gale was blowing over, in and through Edinburgh. It was a struggle to walk against the wind up the Royal Mile towards the Castle. Edinburgh is a distinctive and distinguished city, conscious of its history and full of wonderful and dignified buildings. I had a few minutes to spare before going into the conference, so walked up the High Street, with all its history, and took the air on the Castle Esplanade. Actually, the air nearly took me - over the low wall and down the castle mound.

We were welcomed by The Lord Provost, the Rt Hon Lesley Hinds welcomed us to Edinburgh City Chambers. After a speech by James McGrigor MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament), we listened to a rather too long and turgid address by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

There was a lively discussion in my morning workshop. Participants included a senior Rabbi, a Hindu priest, an Imam, several Church of Scotland ministers and functionaries, two National Health Service managers, and a Jewish congregant. We considered whether religion should have a place on the public square and be able to influence government policy at all; if so, do the minority religions have an equal voice (and should they have an equal voice to the majority religions, such as the Church of Scotland).

We went on to consider the secular and secularism: is a resurgent secularism trying to thrust resurgent religion back into the private sphere? Is a secular state, secular in the sense of being neutral as between the different religions, necessary for all the faiths to be able to play a part in public life?

And finally we spoke of the importance of inter-faith dialogue at the local level, of the grassroots followers of the different faiths getting to know each other and learning to appreciate their shared humanity.

My afternoon workshop went off in rather a different direction. Participants after lunch included the Very Revd Dr Finlay Macdonald, former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and currently the Principal Clerk to the General Assembly, the Right Revd Brian Smith, Bishop of Edinburgh (in the Scottish Episcopal Church), and Ephraim Borowski, Director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities. This was a really high-powered group and they started by dismantling the principal terms of the question: spiritual identity and social cohesion. An altogether intellectually challenging afternoon.

I was very happy to hear Rabbi David Rose thank Maureen Sier, the SIFC’s Development Officer, who is a Baha’i at the close-of-conference reception with the Lord Provost. He also thanked Allan Forsyth, mentioning him as a Baha’i representative who had done a lot of work in preparation for the conference, but who couldn’t be present on the day. Allan is the chairman of the Baha’i Council for Scotland.

Then down the steep steps of Advocates Close and back to Waverley Bridge in the early evening dark to catch the airport bus. The gale was blowing harder and I worried that flights would be cancelled.

One airline was delaying its flights because of the bad weather, but I’m glad to say easyJet kept going. The wind whipped our coat-tails as we walked out to the our plane, and the aircraft was rocking on its wheels even while we were still on the stand. As we taxied onto the runway, we felt the full force of the wind coming off the Firth of Forth. Engines to full power and we bucketed down the runway. The wind wanted to take us even before the wheels had left the ground, and the first few minutes in the air were theme-park stuff. It was a rough old flight all the way south, only an hour, but we felt the turbulence every mile of it. We had an exciting landing at Luton. The pilot had to steer hard to keep us straight on the runway and then he stamped on the brakes.

I got home just before 10 p.m. after a round trip of some 800 miles. A long way and a long day for a conference!

Technorati Tags: Edinburgh, Scottish Inter Faith Council, Scotland, inter-faith, dialogue, Church of Scotland, Scottish Episcopal Church, Jewish Communities, Baha’i