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I believe that spirituality has always been at the core of the African American experience regardless of religious affiliation. It has been the sustaining force for those of African descent and has, when we have chosen to draw on it, allowed us to live in integrity in spite of and because of what we have had to face. I see and feel that gift slowly and imperceptibly and sometimes rapidly being eaten away and giving way to a materialistic outlook on life. Not just our young people either. I believe we have to regain that center if we are going to be the kind of leaders we need to be, not just in the Black community but in the world. I just finished a book about how this relates to race and addressing racism in this country but I am curious as to what others think.
Posted By: Tod Ewing
Monday, September 28th 2009 at 1:03PM
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Hello Mr. Tod,
Firstly, we need to have a prophet of our own to draw spirituality.
Secondly, materialism should outweigh our spirituality since materialism is indicative of advancement and improvement in the quality of life. Materialism is not just possession of tangible articles. Materialism is indicative of advancement and improvement in the quality of life as a people.
Those who are not so advance in life tend to put down those who are by cursing them as materialistic people. That is as the story of the Fox and the grape.
The most advanced people are the people that God crowns as good stewards of the earth.
Tell me what you think.
Tuesday, September 29th 2009 at 3:59PM
Harry Watley
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Spirituality alone doesn't necessarily ensure that a society will do the right thing. I do admit that it helps, but it's not the absolute defining criteria in my opinion. I think the biggest decline of a society has to do with the decline and value in marriage which is played out in television and in Hollywood.
Tuesday, September 29th 2009 at 7:27PM
Jen Fad
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Spirituality in my view is a depth of consciousness that sees life and sacred, sees and interconnectedness to humanity and a need to operate on principle and not ego. Religion and spirituality are not necessarily the same to me. Religion can inspire us to lofty purposes and transformational qualities if we use it right but if we use religious dogma to divide and exalt ourselves over others religion loses it's meaning. Materialism and having material things are two different things in my view. Materialism is like racism, s*xism. It is an attachment to a materialistic view of life, it is disease of the spirit. It views materials things as an end in themselves. It elevates a sense of power over others as an element of that. Money, prestige,status, etc dominate the thoughts of those who are materialistic. In my view our material body is to serve a purpose of serving humanity. My material goods are not the goal of my existence but rather my education, my development of consciousness, my wealth are expended in service to humankind. That takes in supporting my family, etc. My concern is that part of our problem in the Black community is that we have adopted a materialistic mind set as manifested in some of the music, videos, gangs, violence-one way or another those things are expressions of how we view our purpose in life. Marriage is played out in Hollywood because we have lost the sense of the sacredness of life and it's purpose in general. Spirituality is a frame of reference for life which guides and defines my behavior. In a materialistic outlook on life it is very easy to become preoccupied and over identifyed with things that are transient. It is easy to operate from fear, fear of loss, fear of not achieving, fear of not measuring up, keeping up with Jones etc. Sound simplistic but we see it all the time. Some of Our young people manifest that power based/ mentality having to be "all that' In their dress, ridicule and abuse of each other in the school hallways and streets, more concern for tennis shoes than life, etc. Middle and upper class have our own version. So my thing is we have to rethink where we are putting so much of our emphasis and what the consequences have been. Please share your thoughts because I think these discussions are important.
Wednesday, September 30th 2009 at 9:28AM
Tod Ewing
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I can only say I agree with Clark-I think we have not begun to tap the well of spirituality in us on a regular basis. We often do so in certain circumstances but defining ourselves as spiritual beings would mean a new orientation to life. I am not talking about a pie in the sky type thing but it is what I call the practicality of spirituality. I am currently a master's study in the field of spiritual psychology and although I have a religious faith that I consider to be an inclusive one, it has expanded my horizons as to how to apply what my religious scriptures suggest but on a daily basis. We also study how science is now proving the viabilty of "spiritual behavior" and how it reinforces the fundamentals of behaving in spiritual ways. There are physical corollaries to every behavior and literally self centered ego tistical behavior can have a physical impact in your body and on your life as a consequence, so this is no joke. I agree Clark it is real and we need to go down that path and as you said materialism may have "appeared" to work for White folk but those who subscribe to that orientation are paying the price and as a consequence so are we. However as Black people the consequences sometimes appear more obvious but materialism is devastating both communities.
Friday, October 2nd 2009 at 11:13AM
Tod Ewing
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