We as Americans are in a bit of a bind these days. We’ve gotten to the point where mass shootings are something of the normal, we’ve turned on the one’s who serve and protect us, and we have even divided which lives matter more based on each other’s race. But just when you thought all hope was pretty much lost, James Baldwin comes up with a solution. Within this solution we find that we as Americans must dig deep within each other to always find a way to love one another as well as resort to rediscovering our faith in the church of God. In James Baldwin’s novel, The Fire Next Time, love plays a very powerful role in his life and as well as in his solution as we notice he believes that it is the key to making America what America must become.
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His second solution to making America what America must become again is restoring the faith that everyone seemed to use to have plenty of but now it seems as if it’s a rare commodity. As James Baldwin takes about the word sensual and how he views it as a way to be respectful and to rejoice towards the “force of life”. Soon after, Baldwin starts to discuss the faith aspect of his plan when he writes, “It will be a great day for America, incidentally, when we begin to eat bread again, instead of the blasphemous and tasteless foam rubber that we have substituted for it” (Baldwin 43). Although this quote may seem quite difficult to understand where he’s going with this whole bread topic, just hear me out. What I believe Baldwin is trying to tell us is that this nation is getting overrun with people who are “spiritual but not religious” , in other words they aren’t making the full commitment into their faith. So, Baldwin believes that in order to make America what America must become again when there was no discrimination or violence. Along those same line we also get a similar topic of faith, whether it’s your faith in your religion or your faith in those around you. As Baldwin tells us that people rarely give back, especially if it’s along the lines of love, he also tells us of something that many people hesitate to let go of and a general guideline that is still something generally true within each other nowadays. He states “If one cannot risk oneself, then one is simply incapable of giving. And, after all, one can give freedom only by setting someone free” (Baldwin 86). In order to demonstrate the importance of restoring faith in each other, Baldwin gives us a great example of setting someone free so that way they can free you. Imagine it this way, say you have a few extra dollars at the end of the purchase and you're asked to donate it to a child in need of clothes and/or
His second solution to making America what America must become again is restoring the faith that everyone seemed to use to have plenty of but now it seems as if it’s a rare commodity. As James Baldwin takes about the word sensual and how he views it as a way to be respectful and to rejoice towards the “force of life”. Soon after, Baldwin starts to discuss the faith aspect of his plan when he writes, “It will be a great day for America, incidentally, when we begin to eat bread again, instead of the blasphemous and tasteless foam rubber that we have substituted for it” (Baldwin 43). Although this quote may seem quite difficult to understand where he’s going with this whole bread topic, just hear me out. What I believe Baldwin is trying to tell us is that this nation is getting overrun with people who are “spiritual but not religious” , in other words they aren’t making the full commitment into their faith. So, Baldwin believes that in order to make America what America must become again when there was no discrimination or violence. Along those same line we also get a similar topic of faith, whether it’s your faith in your religion or your faith in those around you. As Baldwin tells us that people rarely give back, especially if it’s along the lines of love, he also tells us of something that many people hesitate to let go of and a general guideline that is still something generally true within each other nowadays. He states “If one cannot risk oneself, then one is simply incapable of giving. And, after all, one can give freedom only by setting someone free” (Baldwin 86). In order to demonstrate the importance of restoring faith in each other, Baldwin gives us a great example of setting someone free so that way they can free you. Imagine it this way, say you have a few extra dollars at the end of the purchase and you're asked to donate it to a child in need of clothes and/or