God of the Oppressed

               Today, Professor Datcher posed an important question. His question was something along the lines of: Do all people share the same image of god? Majority of the class agreed that most people have a different perception of god, but no one was able to thoroughly explain why at that exact moment. I felt as if I had a compelling argument, but for the sake of time I chose to hold off and layout my beliefs in this week’s blog post.

                I asked my sister in law, who is Mexican, to answer Datcher’s question. Leslie responded, “We can’t all share the same God because we all go through different things.”  I then asked her to expand on that, and she replied, “What do you mean? It’s self explanatory.” Like Leslie, a lot of people address the difference in historical backgrounds on the surface level, but never dive deeper into the discussion. Therefore, I’d like to use the remaining 534 words to do so.

Not all people share the same image of God. Different groups of people experience and view God differently as a result of history. The racial tension between black and white people is the perfect representation of this theory. In Sisters in Wilderness, Sarah Williams discusses the story of Sarah and Hagar. Hagar is a black slave and Sarah is a white housewife.  Hagar and Sarah held similar beliefs in terms of religion, but experienced God differently because of race. On page 150 Williams writes, “The reality of suffering and evil challenges the affirmation that God is liberating the oppressed from human captivity. If God is unlimited in both power and goodness, as the Christian faith claims, why does God not destroy the powers of evil through the establishment of divine righteousness? If God is the one who liberated Israel from Egyptian slavery, who appeared in Jesus as the healer of the sick and the helper of the poor, and who is present today as the Holy spirit of liberation, then why are black people still living in wretched conditions without the economic and political power to determine their historical destiny?,” (Williams 150). Hagar had trouble believing God wanted the best for her because he was also the God of her oppressor. In the text Hagar and Sarah share the same God, but Hagar doesn’t feel represented or protected. The same God that allowed Sarah and Abraham to exile her is the same God telling her to return to them. Therefore, when speaking to God the two can’t be referring to the same image because they are speaking from different positions.

James Cone’s racial background also shapes his personal experiences with God. In God of the Oppressed, Cone talks about the importance of the black church. As a child Cone attempted to attend a white church, and although they never out right said he did not belong, he could feel that his presence was unwanted, leading him to the black church. Being black made Cone’s experience with God very personal. In the black church he grew extremely close to God because through God he was given strength. God represented the oppressed, which Cone was. Cone’s experience of God differed from whites in all aspects, but mostly in prayer. On page 18 Cone states, “Black prayers are not the same as white prayers,” (Cone 18). Whites pray to God in a position of authority, and they ask for more wealth or prosperity. Blacks on the other hand pray to God in hopes of freedom and empowerment. In black prayer the people pour their heart and soul out to God because they are speaking from a position of inferiority. The people look towards God to guide them to be what they were destined to be. Cone believes that there are different realities when referring to God because he does not feel represented through the white Jesus.

In conclusion, all people experience and view God differently. Every individual has a personalized image of God because we view him from different positions and social standings.