From my understanding of the reading of chapter 3 “Why Standard Mappings and Theorizing Don’t Work, Pinn’s main premise is the correlation between African American history and African American religion. According to the text, Joseph Washington claimed that “In the beginning was the black church and the black church was in the black community, and the black church was in the black community”. (42) That statement alone insinuates that without the African American history, there is no African American community, and without a community there is not a Black Church. The standard mapping and theorizing, such as doctrines and creeds, doesn’t work because they overlook the embodied meaning that is tied to the root of religious experiences in African
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This information gives us a deeper connection to the embodied meaning of African American religion and its history. It’s more than a modest overview of cultural memory, which can be deceptive, it also includes artifacts of human activity and creativity that allow us to understand and provide material cultural points giving more fundamental modes of meaning and expression. Expressions such as how African Americans present themselves, and how others view them, which began with expressive culture such as dressing up for Sunday services, which is still a present-day practice. I agree with Pinn that standard mappings and theorizing do not work because African Religion isn’t a standardized doctrine, it’s complex in nature due to all the tools, material culture points, and historical traditions that form the basis of it. I can’t say I disagree with anything because Pinn’s premise in my perspective is not to challenge my beliefs, more so give insight to make me consider things I’ve never questioned. A question I have after reading this chapter is if it wasn’t for religions such as Christianity and Islam, how would we as African Americans define ourselves? What would be the standard mappings of our existence? Especially if racism still occurred, what would have given us hope in dark times such as slavery and Jim
This information gives us a deeper connection to the embodied meaning of African American religion and its history. It’s more than a modest overview of cultural memory, which can be deceptive, it also includes artifacts of human activity and creativity that allow us to understand and provide material cultural points giving more fundamental modes of meaning and expression. Expressions such as how African Americans present themselves, and how others view them, which began with expressive culture such as dressing up for Sunday services, which is still a present-day practice. I agree with Pinn that standard mappings and theorizing do not work because African Religion isn’t a standardized doctrine, it’s complex in nature due to all the tools, material culture points, and historical traditions that form the basis of it. I can’t say I disagree with anything because Pinn’s premise in my perspective is not to challenge my beliefs, more so give insight to make me consider things I’ve never questioned. A question I have after reading this chapter is if it wasn’t for religions such as Christianity and Islam, how would we as African Americans define ourselves? What would be the standard mappings of our existence? Especially if racism still occurred, what would have given us hope in dark times such as slavery and Jim