Today's thoughts on life
Theme Music: "Queen" - Masta Killa
Peace,
A couple of things to play catch-up, if you will. First, the NGE celebrated the birth of the founder of our nation, Allah on the 22nd. In this day and time, celebration of venerated figures can tend to border on worship. When one looks at the birth and life of respected men or women in a healthy sense, You appreciate the contributions of said figure, and look to embody the principles that they espoused. In the case of Allah, it gave me a chance to reflect on the what he taught and the worldwide effect of those principles, not wax incessantly on how great he was (Although I am consistently aware of his greatness). In our society, many of the things that great people stand/stood for have been obscured by the "Cult of Personality", and therefore reduced to a soundbite and a yearly McDonald's commercial or a stamp. Although flash sells better, in the long run we will come to venerate aesthetic over ethic. Ponder this for a second: What would the world be like if people really embodied the ethic of those that they respect instead of worship them?
Next, what the hell is going on with Black religious leaders? I'm not a proponent of religion from the door, b.u.t. if one chooses to express themselves in that way and accept the mantle of leadership, then there needs to be a certain level of consistency. In this particular case, I'm speaking of Conrad Tillard, formerly known as Conrad Muhammad. In a recent article in the Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/news/local/Massachusetts/articles/2005/02/27/heeding_a_new_call/ Tillard speaks of his conversion to Christianity, and his desire to build a vehicle for Black mobilization. For those who may not know Conrad Muhammad at one time was heralded as the "New Face" of the Nation of Islam, and a heir to Louis Farrakhan. Their was a split, and Muhammad moved on to create a non-sectarian group in New York focusing on issues in the Black Community. Armed with a degree from Harvard Divinity School, Tillard is now a pastor.
In a interview with Davey D, Harry Allen defined spirituality as consistency. While I respect all people's search for truth, too many of our leaders follow the path of apparent success vs. Consistency. If Br. Tillard has reverted to Christianity out of sincerity, than peace to him, b.u.t. people may not want to follow you if they're not sure you know where you're going.
Peace,
A couple of things to play catch-up, if you will. First, the NGE celebrated the birth of the founder of our nation, Allah on the 22nd. In this day and time, celebration of venerated figures can tend to border on worship. When one looks at the birth and life of respected men or women in a healthy sense, You appreciate the contributions of said figure, and look to embody the principles that they espoused. In the case of Allah, it gave me a chance to reflect on the what he taught and the worldwide effect of those principles, not wax incessantly on how great he was (Although I am consistently aware of his greatness). In our society, many of the things that great people stand/stood for have been obscured by the "Cult of Personality", and therefore reduced to a soundbite and a yearly McDonald's commercial or a stamp. Although flash sells better, in the long run we will come to venerate aesthetic over ethic. Ponder this for a second: What would the world be like if people really embodied the ethic of those that they respect instead of worship them?
Next, what the hell is going on with Black religious leaders? I'm not a proponent of religion from the door, b.u.t. if one chooses to express themselves in that way and accept the mantle of leadership, then there needs to be a certain level of consistency. In this particular case, I'm speaking of Conrad Tillard, formerly known as Conrad Muhammad. In a recent article in the Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/news/local/Massachusetts/articles/2005/02/27/heeding_a_new_call/ Tillard speaks of his conversion to Christianity, and his desire to build a vehicle for Black mobilization. For those who may not know Conrad Muhammad at one time was heralded as the "New Face" of the Nation of Islam, and a heir to Louis Farrakhan. Their was a split, and Muhammad moved on to create a non-sectarian group in New York focusing on issues in the Black Community. Armed with a degree from Harvard Divinity School, Tillard is now a pastor.
In a interview with Davey D, Harry Allen defined spirituality as consistency. While I respect all people's search for truth, too many of our leaders follow the path of apparent success vs. Consistency. If Br. Tillard has reverted to Christianity out of sincerity, than peace to him, b.u.t. people may not want to follow you if they're not sure you know where you're going.
posted by I Majestic at 6:04 PM
1 Comments:
Peace,
Key point that you distilled down to asthetic vs ethic. You can find that binary in religion (gnostic christianity vs the 'church', orthodox al-islam vs various sufic or heterodoxic forms, even in government in Marxism/Stalanism vs communism). The key is for the asthetic and ethic to be one. Thus the ethics aren't mysterious and it is seen that they manifest in time and space via an individual.
As for Conrad Tillard I agree with you that if one is 'sincere' then go with it. My overall issue is the same issue that happened with Benjamin Muhammad/Chavis. Once they both 'converted' they were offered a 'seat of power' that was equivalent to their positions in their past organizations even though they didn't spend 'equivalent time' in the new organizations soaking up the new doctrine.
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