In this paper I argue that racism’s subtle and insidious reach should lead us to prefer an account of religious experience that is capable of reckoning with that reach, an account that, I shall argue, appears in the work of St. John of the Cross. The paper begins with an analysis of race and racism and the way in which the latter can have existential and even spiritual effects. The argument is then applied particularly to white people and the deleterious effects racism has on their intellects, wills, and even memories, not merely inwardly but also as a result of what Charles Mills famously calls an epistemology of ignorance. Notably, intellect, will, and memory are the key sites for union in St. John’s discussion. In the last main section, I discuss how progress in the mystical life can be hindered by racism’s effects even while it is possible for there to be “touches of union” on the way. Another result of this inquiry is that it shows how a widely-used schema, such as St. John’s, will require spiritual aspirants to deal with racism, both in themselves and in the world.

中文翻译：

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白人与宗教体验

在这篇论文中，我认为种族主义的微妙和阴险的影响力应该使我们更喜欢一种能够计算这种影响力的宗教经验的描述，我将论证，这种描述出现在圣约翰的作品中。这篇论文首先分析了种族和种族主义，以及后者如何产生生存甚至精神影响的方式。然后，该论点特别适用于白人，种族主义对他们的智力、意志甚至记忆的有害影响不仅是内在的，也是查尔斯米尔斯著名的无知认识论的结果。值得注意的是，智力、意志和记忆是圣约翰讨论中结合的关键场所。在最后一个主要部分，我讨论了神秘生活的进步是如何被种族主义的影响所阻碍的，即使在途中可能会有“结合”。这项调查的另一个结果是，它显示了一个广泛使用的模式，如圣约翰的模式，将如何要求精神追求者应对他们自己和世界上的种族主义。