Marc Lamont Hill SLAMS Black Preachers for Letting 'Genocide Joe' Exploit The Church, starts about 1:12

submitted by penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable from (youtu.be)

all 10 comments
sorted by:
new (suggested)
topinsightfulfun

[–]fugwb 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I miss George Carlin.

[–]Maniak🥃😾 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

@SocialistMMA (nitter):

The Black Church is the perfect example of what Marx said when he said religion is the opiate of the masses

The Black Church got black people worshipping the god of the people who enslaved them

Now they use the church to shepherd black people into supporting genocidal oppressors

[–]Promyka5When in the course of human events... 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

That whole "religion is the opiate of the masses" thing really gets me. I know socialists still say this sort of thing, but it seems reflexive rather than reflective to me. If the Church had been nearly as effective back in the day as smartphones and social media are today at marginalizing and ostracizing dissident voices (read: CANCELLING), there would never have been any socialist revolutions at all.

And imagine reading a story from an 1882 newspaper about a devoutly religious person being run down by a horse and buggy because he was crossing the street without looking up from his Bible! How would the editorial take then (and people's opinions) differ from a story now about a pedestrian run down by a car because he was looking down at his phone!

[–]Maniak🥃😾 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

If the Church had been nearly as effective back in the day as smartphones and social media are today at marginalizing and ostracizing dissident voices (read: CANCELLING), there would never have been any socialist revolutions at all.

Well given the inquisition, the crusades and all the church-based and/or sanctioned conflicts built on "we're the ones bringing light and civilization; dissenters, heretics and savages must be either converted or killed" (currently being used by Naziyahoo to justify his genocide)... it may not have been comparable to the global effect of smartphones, but the intent to marginalize, ostracize and exterminate dissident voices was there :)

Would the opiate expression be better if it was "religion is one of the opiates of the masses"? It would be more accurate at the very least.

[–]Promyka5When in the course of human events... 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yeah, that might work better. I recognize the gatekeeping function of the Church that had to be overcome at such great cost at the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Rennaisance (Galileo's recantation, for instance), but the overpowering influence of the Church had waned considerably by the time Marx wrote his Opiate line, explaining why he might have chosen that word over another word, like 'straitjacket' or 'cudgel.'

I think that the contemporary function of the Church (or rather, the splintered collection of denominations and sects that we might instead refer collectively to as 'churches') might be more accurately viewed as supporting dissidence rather than as oppressive to it. Remember that churches were systemically shut down at the opening moment of the lockdown in 2020, probably to reduce dissidence to the naked authoritarianism, dissidence that they might have suborned. Although I'm not religious myself, nor a member of any congregation, I recognize that a considerable source of such dissidence in discussions of this and many other issues in our contemporary social milieu is that collection of various congregations that we call churches.

I think the cell phone and social media serve such a function to a much lesser degree, and serve the function of suppressing independent thought to a much greater degree.

[–]Maniak🥃😾 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Remember that churches were systemically shut down at the opening moment of the lockdown in 2020

Might depend on the area, because I also remember that at least over here, churches were one of the first places, if not the only ones, where people were still allowed to gather even though everything else was locked down, because reasons :)

But overall yeah, the social gathering aspect of churches can absolutely be a good thing, like any place where people gather and build communities can be. The community is the important part. The religious part is an implementation detail, but one that bring with it a hell of a lot of baggage.

My issue with it isn't about that social gathering aspect, but maybe more in line with the opiate thing, the "crowd control" aspect of organized religions, or any other organization that's focused on getting as many people as possible to blindly believe what they're being told and to be willing to drop all personal critical thought and simply follow, as if in a daze. Religions, and all cults, are the most obvious example, but we've seen the same principles and behaviors with C19, Russiagate, Ukraine, basically everything about 'american exceptionalism', ...

Any pattern that consists of a few narrative managers controlling the behavior of masses of people is a problem in my (not-holy) book. There isn't much of a difference between believing that some magic book is full of truth and morality, and believing that MSNBC tells the truth and should be trusted implicitly. It's just that one has been around and done damage for much longer and it affects more people, but the principle is the same.

Maybe religion was still the main vehicle for this when Marx did his thing, but nowadays the same principles have been taken and applied to many other things. It doesn't make religion less bad but it does mean that it's more important than ever to recognize those patterns because they've multiplied so much and are so much more easy to apply to even more people thanks to modern tech.

[–]Promyka5When in the course of human events... 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I saw the Due Diligence fellas cover this on the Jimmy Dore Show. I was wondering why they'd cover something done by someone I assumed was a mainstream figure, and then I saw it. Wow. I wonder what proportion of the black vote he might represent. I suspect it's fairly high, and if so, I'd say the Dems are going to have to do something drastic.

And I wouldn't put it past them.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It was definitely a powerful message combining MLK Jr's peaceful activism with the lessons of the New Testament. The sad thing is that it stands out the way it does when it should be a given for members of this church. There were obviously some people in that group who didn't need to be convinced, they already got it. Hope the rest get it, too, they should be first in line condemning Israel for the genocide they're perpetrating in full view of the world.

The video is getting around, can't remember how it came to my notice but not through DD. Hope it goes viral and convinces the black voters Biden and the Democrats have taken for granted all these years that he's not someone worthy of their support.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Whether or not you're religious, he makes an excellent point that many people have made for a long time - it's hypocritical to prop up a government that acts in ways so blatantly inimical to your foundational beliefs.

[–]Maniak🥃😾 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

But it's a tradition!

US leaders have been exploiting black churches since slavery, why are you being so un-american!!1!