This week, I taught James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time in my Philosophy of Religion course. It was the first time I taught any of Baldwin’s writings, even though I’ve been thinking and writing about his body of work in connection with philosophy of religion for some time.
I wasn’t entirely sure what it would be like to add Baldwin to the course, how this reading would retrospectively affect the readings and themes already covered in the course. Also, I wasn’t sure the extent to which Baldwin would be relevant to my students in China. After all, he is concerned primarily with the situation of white supremacy in the United States (and to some extent European societies). While racism appears just about everywhere in some form, its particular forms and the histories that shape instances of racism vary from one society to the next.
As it turns out, Baldwin appears to have joined the course very smoothly. I placed the reading last, after a journey through various religious philosophies and then an exploration of atheistic philosophy (in the form of Karl Marx and Martin Hägglund). With his searing critique of hypocritical features of Christianity (as well as the mythic narratives of the Nation of Islam) and exploration of the intertwining of Christianity and white supremacist ideology in American and European societies, Baldwin brings out an existential sensibility for philosophizing about religions. As Baldwin writes in The Fire Next Time: “If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.” (Baldwin 1998, 314) In countering this threading of religion and white supremacism, Baldwin calls for clarity and honesty about history, skepticism about myths of innocence (whether national or religious), and love for others in all their humanity.
This is the theme I wanted to end the course on, that philosophy of religion can be concerned with (many of) the most important issues of the day. Already, some students have indicated an interest in writing on Baldwin for the final paper. In a future post, I’ll write about some of the urgent existential issues that stood out to students, meriting attention in philosophy of religion.
Reference
Baldwin, James. 1998. James Baldwin Collected Essays, edited by Toni Morrison. New York: The Library of America.
