I wouldn't claim that the following example constitute a genuine trend, just that the two data points seem oddly connected.
A few months ago I was surfing the net and found a clip of an interview with George Stallings (former Catholic priest who later founded the Imani Temple as an African centered alternative to Roman Catholicism). What I found surprising is that in the interview he basically affirms (with a small amount of nuance and hedging) that Rev. Moon is the Second Coming of Christ and that he even had "Holy Father" and "Holy Mother" choose his current Japanese wife. As far as I can tell the Imani Temple is still a distinct organization from the Unification Church but Stallings definitely has a close (and devotional) relationship with Rev. Moon.
Second data point:
Farrakhan is apparently getting friendly with the Church of Scientology. I'm not sure what it all means. Is this just a temporary deal, a tactical alliance, or a more substantial sharing of ideas to the point of syncretism? A recent column in the Final Call, From the Land of the Seminole and Osceola to the Clear Water Mecca of Scientology describes a trip some Nation of Islam members took to Clearwater, FL to learn more about Scientology. A more recent column from last November even refers to "the incredible work and discovery made by L. Ron Hubbard on the training of the psyche and the mind into its spiritual development which touches upon the organizational policies and discipline of study".
I'm not sure what it means, but both these examples seem odd to me. In both these cases, a Black-identified religious leader seems to be aligning with a non-Black religious organization with a reputation as a "cult" (i.e. a religious group which exploits and restricts the freedom of its members). So on the one hand, these leaders have been highly critical of more mainstream religious groups, ostensibly out of a heightened concerned for Black independence and autonomy (among other things), but at the same time they seem willing to submit to more fringe and/or hierarchical groups.
A few months ago I was surfing the net and found a clip of an interview with George Stallings (former Catholic priest who later founded the Imani Temple as an African centered alternative to Roman Catholicism). What I found surprising is that in the interview he basically affirms (with a small amount of nuance and hedging) that Rev. Moon is the Second Coming of Christ and that he even had "Holy Father" and "Holy Mother" choose his current Japanese wife. As far as I can tell the Imani Temple is still a distinct organization from the Unification Church but Stallings definitely has a close (and devotional) relationship with Rev. Moon.
Second data point:
Farrakhan is apparently getting friendly with the Church of Scientology. I'm not sure what it all means. Is this just a temporary deal, a tactical alliance, or a more substantial sharing of ideas to the point of syncretism? A recent column in the Final Call, From the Land of the Seminole and Osceola to the Clear Water Mecca of Scientology describes a trip some Nation of Islam members took to Clearwater, FL to learn more about Scientology. A more recent column from last November even refers to "the incredible work and discovery made by L. Ron Hubbard on the training of the psyche and the mind into its spiritual development which touches upon the organizational policies and discipline of study".
I'm not sure what it means, but both these examples seem odd to me. In both these cases, a Black-identified religious leader seems to be aligning with a non-Black religious organization with a reputation as a "cult" (i.e. a religious group which exploits and restricts the freedom of its members). So on the one hand, these leaders have been highly critical of more mainstream religious groups, ostensibly out of a heightened concerned for Black independence and autonomy (among other things), but at the same time they seem willing to submit to more fringe and/or hierarchical groups.
