Thank you so much for sharing this. In Latin America we do not have on specific figure like Dr. King. We have many throughout the continent. And the efforts of white centered theology to discredit each one of them has been part of our struggle for many decades. What is more, MacArthur and many others like hime have become the social and theological paradigms for many. The violent and exclusionary theologies they spread make it to the pulpits of the smallest churches in rural communities. Also, your statement "Black Christianity, however, is not under the jurisdiction of white definitions and the oppressive discursive tools of white theology; it exists on its own merit as a response to God’s revelation to the enslaved people brought to these American shores from their homelands on the continent of Africa." Is pure gold. That is exactly what we have tried to show North-Atlantic institutions about Latin American theologies for decades. Thank you for this note.
Really insightful, thank you for sharing. "Legacy theft" is exactly what it is and I'll be sitting with this one for a bit.
As someone who was born-in to Macarthur "churches" (cultic groups) the thing I would add is I don't think this position is particularly sensational for Macarthur or his congregations, and does little to ratchet up his notoriety internally, although it may be different externally. Denigrating MLK as a "false Christian" is such a common and decades old accepted narrative within those groups. The fact that it is so "par for the course" is exactly the point and what's so scary.
Rick Pidcock has done some great reporting for Baptist News Global tracking Macarthur's many sermons and statements on slavery, which gives a sense of the general tenor of conversation in those communities. I spent my childhood hearing countless sermons and lectures about why slaves should stay slaves, openly segregationist sentiments, and that MLK was a fallen false prophet.
Of concern to me are the 700k+ fundamentalist homeschoolers from the 90s, many of whom were indoctrinated with those teachings from birth and now have kids of their own, spreading these ideologies as total fact through multiple generations. Just one of our Macarthur churches had over 300 homeschooling families, many of whom had 5-10 children, and almost all using explicitly segregationist and neo-confederate curriculum that denigrated MLK and others (the history chapters I studied on Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were... Insane).
Thank you so much for sharing this. In Latin America we do not have on specific figure like Dr. King. We have many throughout the continent. And the efforts of white centered theology to discredit each one of them has been part of our struggle for many decades. What is more, MacArthur and many others like hime have become the social and theological paradigms for many. The violent and exclusionary theologies they spread make it to the pulpits of the smallest churches in rural communities. Also, your statement "Black Christianity, however, is not under the jurisdiction of white definitions and the oppressive discursive tools of white theology; it exists on its own merit as a response to God’s revelation to the enslaved people brought to these American shores from their homelands on the continent of Africa." Is pure gold. That is exactly what we have tried to show North-Atlantic institutions about Latin American theologies for decades. Thank you for this note.
This should be more widely read. Thank you, Talique.
Really insightful, thank you for sharing. "Legacy theft" is exactly what it is and I'll be sitting with this one for a bit.
As someone who was born-in to Macarthur "churches" (cultic groups) the thing I would add is I don't think this position is particularly sensational for Macarthur or his congregations, and does little to ratchet up his notoriety internally, although it may be different externally. Denigrating MLK as a "false Christian" is such a common and decades old accepted narrative within those groups. The fact that it is so "par for the course" is exactly the point and what's so scary.
Rick Pidcock has done some great reporting for Baptist News Global tracking Macarthur's many sermons and statements on slavery, which gives a sense of the general tenor of conversation in those communities. I spent my childhood hearing countless sermons and lectures about why slaves should stay slaves, openly segregationist sentiments, and that MLK was a fallen false prophet.
Of concern to me are the 700k+ fundamentalist homeschoolers from the 90s, many of whom were indoctrinated with those teachings from birth and now have kids of their own, spreading these ideologies as total fact through multiple generations. Just one of our Macarthur churches had over 300 homeschooling families, many of whom had 5-10 children, and almost all using explicitly segregationist and neo-confederate curriculum that denigrated MLK and others (the history chapters I studied on Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were... Insane).