FCR final

soul/spirituality in souls of black folk

"My goal is to sketch the spiritual world in which 10,000,000 Americans live and strive" = purpose of work, describe spiritual strivings -scale of what hes responding to affects the soul; soul is theologically motivated -not a theologian, a sociologist -despises christianity, but still at stake is spirituality -reaching down to the souls of 10,000,000 Americans

how to read del Castillo

"true" = someone doubting their accounts same method of approach like martyrs read as highly constructed piece account creates story, why did conquistadors do what they did? giving reason and making more christian

dussel reading

**--pay attention to the way in which he talks ab the OTHER -he argues that europeans dont rlly encounter non europeans/indigenous ppl as other or diff than them, they encounter them as INFERIOR ASPECTS OF THE SAME SYSTEM ***—europeans encounter indigenous not as equal humans who r just diff than them, but rather as DEFICIENT EUROPEANS, BAD CHRISTIANS, DEMONS

dussel chapt 1: modernity

**dussel believes columbus initiates modernity —**modernity constitutes notion that Europe is the center -**dussel says columbus creates modernity, eurocentrism, the notion of center and periphery, and from him encounters new world not as the other but as deficient part of the same european western white christian system

double aims

-"And yet it is not weakness,—it is the contradiction of double aims. The double-aimed struggle of the black artisan—on the one hand to escape white contempt for a nation of mere hewers of wood and drawers of water, and on the other hand to plough and nail and dig for a poverty-stricken horde—could only result in making him a poor craftsman, for he had but half a heart in either cause." -"This waste of double aims, this seeking to satisfy two unreconciled ideals, has wrought sad havoc with the courage and faith and deeds of ten thousand thousand people,"

sorrow songs

-"Before each chapter stands a bar of the Sorrow Songs,—some echo of haunting melody from the only American music which welled up from black souls in the dark past." -"there is no true American music but the wild sweet melodies of the Negro slave;" —"men may listen to the striving in the souls of black folk."

dubois position in injustice

-"I am bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh that live in the veil" —he is within the color line DESPITE his somewhat uncomplicated life -the world only lets him (black American) through revelation of other world = black American can only see w eyes of white man, Eurocentric vision; in a way no one else can see themselves

the forethought: the veil

-"I have sought here to sketch, in vague, uncertain outline, the spiritual world in which ten thousand thousand Americans live and strive" -the "veil" —"Leaving, then, the white world, I have stepped within the Veil, raising it that you may view faintly its deeper recesses,—the meaning of its religion, the passion of its human sorrow, and the struggle of its greater souls."

soul/spirituality in chapt 1

-"The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins" -"the very soul of the toiling, sweating black man is darkened by the shadow of a vast despair. Men call the shadow prejudice, " -"But the facing of so vast a prejudice could not but bring the inevitable self-questioning, self-disparagement, and lowering of ideals which ever accompany repression and breed in an atmosphere of contempt and hate"

intro to world exploration unit (module 4)

-"Western world" -200 CE, early christians persecuted until emperor Constantine-> christianity becomes religion of empire -late 1400s/ early 1500s = "discovery of new world" —European expansion, navigation, ship technology —tried to develop trade route to India, Christopher Columbus 1492, ends up in West Indies (Caribbean, Cuba, Hispaniola), he is not a hero -Western Europeans discover that there are ppl not like them

being a negro

-"Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house?" -** "the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world,—a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. " —cannot grant blacks reason -"The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife,—this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self." -"He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face." -"To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships." -"Merely a concrete test of the underlying principles of the great republic is the Negro Problem, and the spiritual striving of the freedmen's sons is the travail of souls whose burden is almost beyond the measure of their strength, but who bear it in the name of an historic race, in the name of this the land of their fathers' fathers, and in the name of human opportunity."cha

the forethought: the problem

-"if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the dawning of the 20th Century." -the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line —division, separation; division at level of soul

mission

-** "but together, not successively but together, each growing and aiding each, and all striving toward that vaster ideal that swims before the Negro people, the ideal of human brotherhood, gained through the unifying ideal of Race; the ideal of fostering and developing the traits and talents of the Negro, not in opposition to or contempt for other races, but rather in large conformity to the greater ideals of the American Republic, in order that some day on American soil two world-races may give each to each those characteristics both so sadly lack."

negative vs positive peace

---You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstration = they understand, but still choose to not do anything; more interested in preservation of order than true peace -negative vs positive peace; order and lack of violence but dont have healthy well-established peace, chooses to be silent = negative

rebuke of strands of christian thought thinking God will do everything

--King believes humans have active role w the will of God on earth by going out and acting the way jesus would act/do what is just

-recognition of racism is evil = theological (MLK evil exists and there is evil)

--all ppl made in Image and Likeness of God, created good in Genesis -once we are aware of shortcoming/sin, we sit in discomfort, ask for forgiveness, talk to neighbors or community, pray --every step he's provided fits into a Christian framework -optimism --faith that evil will be defeated --if ppl inv Holy Spirit = ends article w "come holy spirit come"; inv presence of God in, change can happen within, to change racism in the catholic church and in the world --dubois does not rlly have same faith in christianity --but brian believes that church can play helpful role, can be used for this purpose

why does America have such a problem? White clergy still racist?

--christians can be racist, yet they believe in 1 God like Islams --political, historical, cultural = theological concept revolves around; deeply embedded nature --optimism within malcolm x, this can be overcome --trying to connect to christians to islams

civics and God

--civil rights activist and pastor = king -what christian theology can produce; writing against white modernists who are also what christian theology can produce (the bad) by choosing to do nothing by permitting and allowing horrible things

2nd part of article importance

--coming at problem of racism from roman catholic priest --every one of his steps = his faith has a huge part -5hth: you can't just choose whose live matters, if you are pro-life yet u are picking and choosing --be unconditionally pro life

connecting to MLK Birmingham jail later

--connection to MLK Birmingham Jail letter ---white moderate comfortable, not in danger, letting time frame pass away

-brian's last advice: prayer element

--deep reflection, think ab privilege and where u stand on things --admit there is a problem bc self aware that there is something to pray for --presence of God admitting to ur faults easier ---admitting to sin embedded in christian culture -christianity spends lot of time on sin, telling ppl what those wrong things are --acknowledge racism is a sin, it is evil and what evil is

learning/church

--learn from perspective of ppl from color before, and how everything came to be how it is now --historical connection, unbroken line deeply embedded in christian theological thought -examples based upon church, see how religion has influenced his points --who he is addressing this to / where he images them happening --church can serve all of these things, part of theological vision

mlk and moses and Jesus

--sees himself in model of moses and jesus (criminal); expressing stakes of problems of classification by race and proposed set of problems and solutions = activism, and theory of evil, greater awareness/prophetic witness and testimony of hard truth that ppl dont want to hear (that they are apart of evil and they themselves may be evil)

racism shown

--shows how racism is instituted within society, believing police had her back, playing race card and how she is at an advantage

-are you optimistic ab roles of theologies can play in confronting this problem?

--some theology embrace racism ex. Slavery --deep danger that theology is powerful tool, can be used for good or evil --use orsi, try to understand temptation off the bat as good or evil; shouldn't take us away from realizing that in our lives theology can be used in dangerous ways; be ready for this, to see it happening, how to respond to it

lots of reversal, flip of earthly and heavenly

--the good is the prisoner judged by society to be evil; the jailer is locking the good ppl away and making themselves evil

-racism at its deepest level is a soul sickness

--theology : soul sickness can only be healed by deep prayers ---prayer to God as a community to make us better and less racist --God's love is subservive and destructive ---love is dangerous; valuable of earth and heaven, flip everything on its head ---love of God can be repurposed to defeat racism --sees evil playing out --conception of evil and racism deeply embedded w christian theology; notion of soul and self (king) -power and influence of white church = should discuss anti-racism

white privilege

--white privilege is defined as a senior race as an advantage and knowing you might get credibility bc you are white, ppl aren't always aware, but subconsciously know --always aware of racism going on, when they become fully aware of it, it threatens their privilege and way of life -bryan calling for equal action/opportunity -bryan uses Amy Cooper to represent white privilege ; list of her assumptions

theory of evil in death of evil upon seashore

-1. evil exists and it will be defeated (on the seashore) -2. good exists -3. you can see diff between good and evil think ab question of evil

3rd prescription

-3rd: what YOU can actually do --be more than instagram activism --courage confront fam and friends ---important and necessary convos --confront parish --innate connection between politics and what Church can do, so use Church as vehicle for activism --form relationship (orsi connection); make it apart of everyday lives to confront and okay to feel discomfort while learning

Background of islam

-5 pillars- prayer, ramadan, pilgrimage to mecca -abrahomic= abraham 'leader', jesus a prophet not THE prophet -quaran=recitation

mesoamerica

-Central America/mesoamerica/middle america —encounter/interaction between 2 worlds; beg early 1500s between west and mesoamerica

death of evil; ending letter to Birmingham

-King believes in death of evil, ultimately optimistic, eventually get to promise land - "I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty. Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, Martin Luther King, Jr. --ends w optimistic, beauty, possibility of freedom

MLK during injustices

-MLK didnt sit around and wait for things to happen, he takes action now

Amy more position

-amy more believed and trusted over someone of color ; inherent concept in our minds -ppl are too quick to judge a book by its cover based on skin color; ex amy cooper saw black male and assumed he would attack her

carrasco

-aztec religious view was world creating, world centering, and world renewing COSMO VISION -aztec civilization was as advanced and important to early human civilization as romans and greeks

tying everything together

-aztec world creation/renewal, power of blood, imitation of God, calendar stone, world's existence in threat, cortez is secretly serpent god returning

chapt XIV

-beautiful, sorrow song is one of most beautiful pieces in American 20th century -ends on high note -"Even so is the hope...." -"if somewhere in the world there is good, then the veil will b lifted -"and the traveler goes ...." -struggle = someone facing sunshine

reference to Malcolm x

-brian refers back to malcolm X mecca trip, believing in the oneness in God, saying that the ppl shattered the small image of God -discomfort point, if u r sitting comfortably w what is happening in the world, then u r apart of the problem --reference to Malcolm X -"to create a diff world we must know how this world came to be"

Malcolm X vs king

-completely diff civil rights movement than MLK jr, yet same as MLK jr shaped by theological ideals, oneness of God and brotherhood -lost figure of america --not as talking about as MLK Jr prob bc ppl are islamophobic

video ab MLK jr intro

-deeply theological/christianity/emotional structure --refers to mountain top -> when Moses received 10 Commandments -is King a martyr? Yes

double consciousness

-double-consciousness = 2 yous; "this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" -2 souls should be united as one, should not be 2 separate; twoness not good imposes upon black Americans —problem = twoness of people -it is possible for this condition to get better, v optimistic despite v deep problems — "this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" —double-consciousness = 2 yous — "One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

back to dubois double consciousness

-dubois' double consciousness, u may be at the bottom rank but u r still there

MLK vs Moses

-eventually get to promise land, like moses, but he like moses wont get to see -mountain top where moses receives 10 commandments

good vs evil ppl

-good = people who actually do something ab injustice and do not follow unjust law 'criminal' , evil= people who standby and do nothing and follow the unjust law -king is classified as bad since society put him in jail -king is reframing how we see ourselves as good and evil; standby worse than actual criminal, like white moderate is worse

dussel chapt 1: aztec view vs european view

-in aztec view, they are the center and europeans are the periphery -but we focus on european view bc we have european documents -'new' world is actually old world, which is actually a completely developed cultivated civilization -culture shock to Europe when they come to Tenochtitlán and realize it is a bigger more beautiful more sophisticated grander city than anything that exists in Europe at that time

degree of human

-invention of N America as "Asia", invention of 'new' world being encountered, Europe is center and everything else is periphery, everything judged by degree of to which it is European the degree to which is Christian Christian. And if it is none of those things, and it is woefully deficient and they are barely human.

king's vision; veil connection

-king's vision of human is where dubois's veil isnt there; vision of evil can be destroyed, but is still here right now

Malcolm x videos

-makes himself victim when ppl accusing -willingness to defend urself = theory of violence; it is permissible to defend urself, not actively violent bc in a system of violence/society that wont protect you - "I believe in the religion of Islam which believes in brotherhood complete brotherhood of all people. I don't believe in forcing my desire for brotherhood upon those who aren't willing to accept it." -stakes of being human, religious, cultural, theological, social, political; discussed after mecca and sees broader islam -lots of crazy accusations against malcolm x

Another clip (51 min) focuses on transformation

-malcolm inspired by diversity of islam; sees islam as pretext or foundation for universal brotherhood that transcends racial categories --saw white and black exist in harmony --attributes difference to oneness of God ---shared belief in oneness of God has a corollary effect of seeing the oneness of the human ppl ---this notion of a one God extends into the view of how you the entire human condition ---these white ppl didnt have illness of racism bc of their relationship w God --changes his view of white ppl in america and how to solve problem of racism --oneness of God creates oneness of humanity

Background of malcolm x

-malcolm rejects legal name of critique of debois of christianity as tool of slave master, to achieve some kind of subordination from the slave; deep critique of christianity; uses name dominated by ancestors 'X' -not a Christian, part of nation of islam, does not like passive principles but he is not violent -phases to his life, he is complicated; phase-prophet of nation of islam, phase-criminal, phase-no longer w nation of islam --religious/theological change, changes his worldview and actions, way he approaches question of race and America --how we respond to question of racism in america/confront evil is dictated by theological claims ab the world place, human relation to the world -killed 1965

***Codex mayor: God warrior; world creation, renewal, and continuation

-man in middle doing ritual holding arrows; 2 ppl, trees, parrot -bracketed by colored boundaries and dots; 4 trees and 4 sets of gods - rep direction; depiction of the entire world. —whatever is here is central to thought is central to the aztec worldview is at the core, of our understanding of the world, and our understanding of how relation to the gods. -red thing coming out from the god extends out in all four corners so whatever is coming out from this God goes out to all four corners, to the entire world. —being cutting pieces and being sacrificed, And the blood of the sacrifice is going out to all the world. —it takes spiritual power to keep the world going, what is the spiritual power it's the blood. —Of the god this world comes into being because of god's sacrificed himself to let the world be now there are some interesting parallels here. ****sacrifice of warrior in center of world; significant bc explains aztec sacrifice and warrior god in center gives spiritual power to create the world; in order to recreate and renew the world you need human sacrifice —At the Center of aztec thought and worldview is a God sacrificing to keep the world going. —creating the world is renewing the world. —this God is this act is creating the world right making letting letting the world happen and the power of the sacrifice is going through all the world and is allowing life to happen. -people who believe that the world must be renewed and is at risk of ending again how this world must be renewed with human blood and not just human blood, but the spiritual energy that animates the world and life that comes from human blood, so the Act, which may seem. 4 figures surrounding middle figure = how previous world was destroyed in triangles sacrifice to make 5th current world purpose similar to calendar by laying out clear message amateo deity = sacrifice yourself for world like gods do gift exchange = we give gods a gift (blood spiritual power resides within human body) as gods have given us gift

Background of nation of islam

-north american, created 1930, wealthy, It developed in response to this question of race in America, diff teachings as islam -NOT the same as islam -malcolm changed from nation of islam to islam by pilgrimage; power of ancient traditions to form thought, custom, belief, practice

what does the reading do for us

-opportunity for us to see what it looks like when a modern catholic priest comes to the question of race in our time/setting (written a year ago), and how he applies his own roman catholic faith as a priest to the question of race; his prescription = the way in which he uses his own faith to have us move forward --opportunity to see faith and reason in action, making an impact on race -foundation of what he sees as white privilege --baldwin quote = heart of the issue "every white person knows that they would not like to be black here" --frames issue perfectly -what happened in the amy cooper situation was not conscious, it happened in a second; made assumptions in unconscious which went into her split-second decision --sad; we live in a troubling society

parallels for codex mayor

-parallels w christianity and Jesus, christians literally worship, a God, whose sacrifice on a cross was necessary for their salvation and here we have an aztec understanding with the world needs to be renewed, eat and drink body and blood of christ -All of which are manifestations of this attempt to connect the human being to the God and then from the gods keep the world going now we don't have time.

chapt X

-pessimism of christianity, christianity is the slave holder religion

gods / cortes; religions of mesoamerica by David coresco chapt 3

-serpent god supposed to return in 1517, which is when cortez arrived -did the Aztecs think of the spaniards as gods? human-god —thought humans and deities shared the same essence, gods were different but human beings had some of that difference within themselves. —And mesoamerican people looked at extraordinary humans as having gods in or they thought of very powerful events in nature as being filled with God —when spaniards came, they called these kinds of beings human god's = people who are part human part god -aztecs believed gods all around them, essence from within -serpent god used to be king who did extraordinary things -human beings who did extraordinary things could be considered gods or at least ppl w essence of divinity within them ex. beautiful women have divine being -eventually extraordinariness diminished bc spaniards could be killed, eaten, etc

description of what the sacrificial victim has to look like.

-tonalli: human head, power of sun, energy and vitality -teyolia: associated w human heart, energy resided there, divine fire, animates human being, when u die it travels through world of dead, transfer into bird after death, "soul", -both released in human sacrifice and transform into butterfly afterlife rip out heart of victim, start new fire, new fires lit w new fires taking spiritual energy within human body and spreading it throughout kingdom w new fire action humans take that renews the world

aztec calendar

-v specific, shapes- rectangles represent a previous world, our current world in the center; Each one of the city's four squares depicts for us the way that the previous world was: destroyed lizards and serpents destroyed by jaguars destroyed by floods and rain destroyed by pestilence and disease. -existence is fragile -work w gods to make life and world keep going -actually more like maps that give a theological meaning than calendar

"The Assumptions of White Privilege and What We can Do about it" - Fr. Bryan Massingale intro

-written by priest, professor at fordham, works on race, identity, theology -white privilege - comes back to eurocentrism --person of specific type (white) in America is by default relying on a certain set of notions that come back from eurocentrism; having benefits and advantages in society, not needing to think ab negative treatment due to the color of your skin --existing in society and just sort of benefiting by default --can be active, but mostly passive

background purpose of european expansion / coming to america:

1. Get to India, trying to trade route to Asia, 2. gain knowledge of waters, increase maritime navigational skills, 3. win gold, 4 expand christian faith —teach everyone how to be good christians, or else killed —but then there's moves to say oh they're not even human they're actually demons they're so low in our Christian system we're going to bring them down so far, because they're worshipping idols and doing all these other things = inconsistent w our view of christianity and europeanism

W.E.B DuBois background

1868-1963 -one of most impt intellectuals in america/writer of 18th century -NAACP, writer, civil rights activist -lays foundation for other writers/new rights movement/etc Most famous work = the souls of black folk, written in 1903

explorations didn't just go to mesoamerica, went to

Africa too (slave trade) -w European group governed by christian ideals encounters other ppl in other parts of the world, wreaks havoc by kidnapping them, moving them and relocating them in harshest poss ways

instead of meeting mesoamerican ppl for who they are, Western Europeans

DESTROY THEM encounter bloodier than modern person understands; **a lot of the worst is not available bc info no longer present —**not really encounter and exchange between equals, this is one civilization dominating and doing whatever they could to destroy the other civilization

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

During collision between 2 societies ideas are exchanged, new theological ideas develop; as white Western Europeans come and colonize and invade and attack and live they intermarry with natives creating whole new races of people, people who were neither mesoamerican fully nor Western European fully and European society had to figure out what to do with that, and mesoamerican society had to figure out what to do w them too

who is MLK jr writing to in letter from Birmingham jail

FELLOW christians who are critiquing him --expects christians to follow will of God w him, want to take action now -instead he gets resistance from fellow clergy -implication of letter is proposing that evil is in ur backyard or even u -wishes churches will take a more faster and active stand -read this w christian worldview

WHAT IS EURCENTRISM?

Focus on European narrative of history, benefits white europeans; deeper level that talks ab being hood, who we are and what constitutes the we is entirely based w referent to the center being Europe ab 600 years ago, and our historical records of it are horrible than any other longer period of history -European centric mentality that everything is going to be judged as worthy or not or human or not based on the degree to which its European.

civil disobedience

MLK Jr inspired by gandhi ; disobey civil authorities in a peaceful way

OT Noah story

OT Noah's 'evil' son does a bad thing, so all his descendants cursed; Old Testament story becomes a foundation for explaining all the people of the world who aren't European Oh, because they must be part of this deficient lineage from genesis

hernando cortez

Spanish conquistador who goes to heart of aztec empire Tenochtitlán —by end of conquest conquered city and murdered king moctezuma —aztec society destroyed within 20 years -why did Aztecs let cortes come in? They had a theological view that they believed Cortez was a God ketzocorato

imitation of the Gods, was Jesus extreme?

Yes. Jesus was also a criminal

mesoamerican period wrap up

beg of new idea, biproduct of collision of ideas —race -race has been constructed by europeans, for europeans; everything ab it judged by European christians

I. Of our spiritual strivings : being a problem

begins w crying song -"How does it feel to be a problem? they say...At these I smile, or am interested, or reduce the boiling to a simmer, as the occasion may require. To the real question, How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word." —"being a problem is a strange experience" -upset when girl wouldnt accept his card when he was younger -"Then it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil. I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond it in common contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows." -"for the words I longed for, and all their dazzling opportunities, were theirs, not mine."

great temple mayor

center of capital city seat of heaven for mayan way of thinking shrine to god of rain and wine and one to fire god was and sun fights and destroys god of moon; body kicked down steps after defeated foundation myth for city and seat of heaven god of moon in pieces in archeological expedition

HCNS part 3: moctezuma and cortez; great temple

city build by indigenous ppl that works better than most of city, beautiful city, but horror and idols and destruction and human sacrifice -mesoamericans wasting city on horrific actions, we conquistadors can make it better into a christian thing; using it to distorted ends cortez coming to the most holy place of empire, the center of the world, the beginning of heaven, and asks to set up christian church IMMEDIATELY upon meeting Castillo says cortes forefront is the conversion of christianity, NOT gold or anything, and that is why he first asks moctezuma to set up christianity moctezuma eventually killed, capital falls, aztec empire falls

dussel chapt 1: description of the other and the same

columbus encounters them as A DEFICIENT EX OF THE SAME EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SYSTEM; DEFICIENT EX OF THE SAME, DEFICIENT EUROPEANS —sinners, demonic within christian framework —they are bad europeans, only if ur judging them as europeans but that obvi they are not europeans

del castillo background

comes to new world for money and land; nobody becoming someone; KING in new world sold by the promise of God, glory, and gold ppl now question behavior of conquistadors, so he is writing to salvage the image of conquistadors and preserve his status... 30 years later

instead of having convo w them ab difference, Europe constructs everyone they encounter as

deficient versions of themselves**** —constructs them as the other

pages 1-13

describing how conquistadors go to diff islands to discover new land, weren't taking slaves, attacked and a lot died civilizes natives, what they wore, viewed as less barbaric if dressed nicely FAILED early expeditions -come, land, get attacked and some die, go back and go home, try again -initial attempts to expand out W and land in mainland columbus landed in carribean

to be a human being

dictated by theological beliefs. By how humans are meant to relate to God's how humans are meant to relate to one another, how humans are in a way, able to justify treating other people as.

3 main focuses of HCNS: ***

early direction killed planning on shore tree betrayal encounter w moctezuma on great temple points of religious encounter 'colliding' ex moment on top of temple

HCNS: sacrifice, ritual, fire in center, "new fire ceremony"

every 50 years astronomical phenomena w all fires put out and sacrifical victim taken to altar, rip out their heart, start new fire in chest which gets run out throughout entire kingdom —taking the spiritual energy that resides in a human body and we're spreading it throughout the entire world. —an action that human beings take that does something to renew the world that's part of the aztec theology.

malcolm's death

giving speech at harlem theater, stepped onto stage and shot by 2 members of nation of islam under insrtuction of elijah mahammad --he abandoned nation of islam for mainstream islam -pose question of being martyr --witness, die for religious belief

dussel background

mexican anthropologist, theologian, philosopher, thinker

Tenochtitlan

modern Mexico City ; one of developing cities, even more sophisticated than anything that was in Europe at the time -ppl dont usually think ab ancient aztec or mayan civilization as equally important in terms of the development of human cities and human society, and that is often because of this Western European bias, that a lot of us have

tone

optimistic and a tad pessimistic

why is this important to theology?

part of encounter is not just ideas, it is all of humanity/all of what constitutes human being comes into collision w all of what other ppl think it means to be a human being and part of that is theology —Western Europe has a very specific Christian discourse, a very specific idea of what it means to be a human being, what it means to be virtuous, what it means to be sort of the ideal human ideal human. —Aztecs, mayans, etc have completely diff view of what it means to be the ideal human being, have a completely different idea of what constitutes human civilization completely different idea of who the gods are and how to relate to the gods. -if we are going to try to understand what is happening in our current times, we have no hope if we dont understand what happened in late 14/early 15 century; **we have no hope of understanding that without some understanding of seeds of christianity **theological exploration for us to begin to relate to sort of understand the relation of human beings to god's in a new setting.

look from western christian view

persecuted minority to now dominant majority —From a society in which a few Christians were persecuted and tortured and and attached to what they believe to that same religion now doing the same thing to others, torturing attacking persecuting groups of people with different religious perspectives.

cortez - in more detail

responsible for leading the expedition that goes into Mexico modern Mexico and over the course of time, ends up conquering and destroying the aztec empire Tenochtitlán and kills king moctezuma —Cortez is immediately attacked all around the yukitan peninsula, until finds a landing! Aztecs have god feather-serpent/Quetzalcóatl... is he cortez? Based on prophecy that he made; great historical coincidences of all time when the aztec calendar predicted the return of Quetzalcoatl in the exact year that quote has arrived. -proclamation to indigenous ppl, said in Spanish: I require you to recognize the church as Queen and superior of the world to acknowledge the Pope in the church's name and to obey His Majesty the pope's vicar who is superior lord and King of these lens. If you refuse or try to protect this process by malicious delay I certify with the are certified, with the aid of God. I will wage mighty war upon you, in every place and in every way I will seize your women and sons and sell them into slavery, I will rob you of all your goods and do to you every evil and injury in my power.

so new ppl arriving demand indigenous ppl to

stop all aspects of practicing own religion, that you abandon your entire civilization immediately without delay and recognize somebody is king and Lord of the land, who you've never heard of.

our task for this module

think ab theological perspective of these folks and see them encounter theological perspective of the other folks -**have critical awareness w the texts, we must know these accounts isnt necessarily always the truth -**we're gonna see two different theological systems and we're going to see them collide and we're going to see how people try to make sense of their relations to the gods and to one another, how they construct one another as human beings, how to construct the ideal human life.

why start autobiography with bad/sad story

to set stage for lowest point and it gets better and look at all my achievements portraying himself as VICTIM seems innocent, but reader CAN'T give in constructing new ppl as primitive, savage, in NEED of Spanish control IDENTITY BEING CONSTRUCTED!!!! 'they don't even wear clothes!' convince european reader that Aztecs are like animals

HCNS part 2: tree betrayal

tree at center of world, significant to indigenous ppl, symbol of life and death and their balance cortes comes and strikes 3 lines on tree to create a cross, showing sign of disrespect, creating tension, cross replaces heart of center of world readers will think this is a small offense, appeal to european reader bc not that violent EVEN THO IT IS! and bc christianity is at forefront of cortez mind -all cortez cares ab is christianity, violence bc the new ppl maintain idols, won't listen to christianity or convert and keep practicing their own religion "cortes is good christian just trying to convert, ppl don't listen so he gets violent!!" almost defending him... THIS IS WRONG!

why is MLK upset

upset christians are waiting and putting off to take action against injustices, we need to act now, we slaves have been waiting long enough

-3rd set of assumptions between white and black ppl

white lives matter more than black lives; upheld by history of systemic racism

who is evil according to MLK jr in letter from Birmingham jail

white moderate evil -white moderate WORSE and more populous than KKK -pointing finger of evil at most of america

theology in conquering

—**With the aid of God, and this is key, with the aid of God, the Spanish will wage mighty war on them in every single way. —if you aren't Spanish if you aren't Christian, you are not human, you aren't worthy of any of the protections any of the commandments of the Christian scriptures to love your neighbor and love your enemy.. you're not even in the category of enemy. Christianity is making a demand for instantaneous conversion or death -aztec responding to Spanish account

dussel chapt 1: center

—**center doesnt exist until europeans encounter what they deem not center. Then they create a center vs not center relationship in their minds -columbus thinks hes in Asia, encounters ppl he deems primitive —**dussel wants us to understand how does columbus think of these ppl —indigenous ppl aren't new, they are only new to the European perspective; the fact that North America is called new world shows how deeply bias we are to European ways of thinking!! -columbus believes his own world is the center, new world is off to the side/lesser —*dussel believes that is the inauguration of modernity, and the creation w columbus of eurocentrism

dussel chapt 1: columbus and the ppl he encounters

—columbus judges them from european perspective —funny bc indigenous ppl are completely sophisticated, elaborate, well-laid out civilization w entire system of religious thought that is incompatible w european view

sense of self

—sense of self is fundamentally altered in ways they dont even realize due to strength of distortion of race -discourse of division is so powerful -> European construction of black American , distortion of concept of race in America is so strong