Because this post also fits into another of my series - where the church gets it wrong - I will add the same disclaimer:
I desire open, honest, and nonjudgmental communication from all people and all views and all ideas. The words of my posts are simply my own thoughts on how the church* can fully be operational in Love.
Racism. It's a dressed up word for an ugliness that this country seems unable, or unwilling, to purge itself from. The struggles have been long and hard for all people of color here, and that is unacceptable. It is unacceptable for me, and it should be unacceptable for you.
This isn't about following a famous football star or television personality or even our former president. This isn't about ratings or approval or 'jumping on the bandwagon'. This is about ending, once and for all, the inequalities, the abuses, the myths and fallacies, and the mistreatment of POC.
and that is something that the church should be concerned with.
Bring up homosexuality, and the church is quick to quote verses and condemn it as an abomination to god. Bring up politics, and the church will pull out god's voting "rules", showcasing his obvious [insert sarcasm] Republican stance. Bring up abortion, and the church will pull out their marching shoes and posters. Bring up racism, and the (white) church is oddly quiet. Or worse, encouraging passiveness.
I'm going to be completely honest. I don't understand how someone can be offended by the idea of homosexuality, political differences, or abortion, and not be offended by the mistreatment of another human being, a brother or sister in this worldwide family. How can they stand idly by, blatantly ignoring the cries of someone else's child simply because it is not their own?
How can they cry out for justice for the voiceless, and with their next breath, condemn the voices crying out for racial justice? How can they criticize the most vocal and their methods, while ignoring the very reason that someone, anyone, would choose to speak out?
We have a serious, growing problem in the United States. It isn't going away. It wasn't instigated by having our first black President, although it is being perpetrated by the one we have today. It has been here since the beginning, when one man landed on these shores and decided that the people he found here were somehow less than. Those intentions set in motion hundreds of years of the same less than racism that mere words of “all men are created equal” cannot erase.
We, you and I, have a moral responsibility to reset those intentions. The church has a moral responsibility to reset those intentions. This cannot be done from the sidelines, apathetic to our brothers and sisters. We are One. If you hurt, we are reaping that hurt somewhere within our oneness.
How can we reset those intentions?
First, I believe that ignorance is the driving force behind this unsightly blight in our otherwise beautiful country. We need to educate ourselves to our history of racism, removing misinformation that we have believed or miscommunicated.
Second, the wounds of racism must be addressed. We cannot keep pushing it under the rug of obscurity, pretending that out of sight equals healed. It just equals out of your mind. We need to have conversations with those who have experienced it. It will be challenging and raw and enlightening. It will also be a curative step to this dreadful disease.
Third, we each must dig deep into our very own core, acknowledging any misconceptions or prejudices, and right them. We need to actively seek a new way, a better way, that has us all operating from the same foundation of love and equality.
In his Letter From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." We are all in this thing together. What happens to one of us is happening to ALL of us. We cannot advance, as a people, as a country, if we cannot do it as a unified people.
As a whole, the church may seem to be tripping over her own skirts of disregard, but there has always been pockets of unified thought, of forward movement, a linking of arms with all others, all races, as she seeks to bring a completeness to her Oneness. She is calling out, encouraging all to raise collective voices in agreement, hands in love, and feet in motion towards true unity. Let us all do our part. Let this be the generation that eradicates racism!
*When I say "church", I mean as a whole entity, not necessarily one denomination or actual building, etc.
other posts in this series:
starbucks and jesus
loving yourself
us vs them
mental illness
being multiracial
black and white
I desire open, honest, and nonjudgmental communication from all people and all views and all ideas. The words of my posts are simply my own thoughts on how the church* can fully be operational in Love.
Racism. It's a dressed up word for an ugliness that this country seems unable, or unwilling, to purge itself from. The struggles have been long and hard for all people of color here, and that is unacceptable. It is unacceptable for me, and it should be unacceptable for you.
This isn't about following a famous football star or television personality or even our former president. This isn't about ratings or approval or 'jumping on the bandwagon'. This is about ending, once and for all, the inequalities, the abuses, the myths and fallacies, and the mistreatment of POC.
and that is something that the church should be concerned with.
Bring up homosexuality, and the church is quick to quote verses and condemn it as an abomination to god. Bring up politics, and the church will pull out god's voting "rules", showcasing his obvious [insert sarcasm] Republican stance. Bring up abortion, and the church will pull out their marching shoes and posters. Bring up racism, and the (white) church is oddly quiet. Or worse, encouraging passiveness.
I'm going to be completely honest. I don't understand how someone can be offended by the idea of homosexuality, political differences, or abortion, and not be offended by the mistreatment of another human being, a brother or sister in this worldwide family. How can they stand idly by, blatantly ignoring the cries of someone else's child simply because it is not their own?
How can they cry out for justice for the voiceless, and with their next breath, condemn the voices crying out for racial justice? How can they criticize the most vocal and their methods, while ignoring the very reason that someone, anyone, would choose to speak out?
We have a serious, growing problem in the United States. It isn't going away. It wasn't instigated by having our first black President, although it is being perpetrated by the one we have today. It has been here since the beginning, when one man landed on these shores and decided that the people he found here were somehow less than. Those intentions set in motion hundreds of years of the same less than racism that mere words of “all men are created equal” cannot erase.
We, you and I, have a moral responsibility to reset those intentions. The church has a moral responsibility to reset those intentions. This cannot be done from the sidelines, apathetic to our brothers and sisters. We are One. If you hurt, we are reaping that hurt somewhere within our oneness.
How can we reset those intentions?
First, I believe that ignorance is the driving force behind this unsightly blight in our otherwise beautiful country. We need to educate ourselves to our history of racism, removing misinformation that we have believed or miscommunicated.
Second, the wounds of racism must be addressed. We cannot keep pushing it under the rug of obscurity, pretending that out of sight equals healed. It just equals out of your mind. We need to have conversations with those who have experienced it. It will be challenging and raw and enlightening. It will also be a curative step to this dreadful disease.
Third, we each must dig deep into our very own core, acknowledging any misconceptions or prejudices, and right them. We need to actively seek a new way, a better way, that has us all operating from the same foundation of love and equality.
In his Letter From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." We are all in this thing together. What happens to one of us is happening to ALL of us. We cannot advance, as a people, as a country, if we cannot do it as a unified people.
As a whole, the church may seem to be tripping over her own skirts of disregard, but there has always been pockets of unified thought, of forward movement, a linking of arms with all others, all races, as she seeks to bring a completeness to her Oneness. She is calling out, encouraging all to raise collective voices in agreement, hands in love, and feet in motion towards true unity. Let us all do our part. Let this be the generation that eradicates racism!
*When I say "church", I mean as a whole entity, not necessarily one denomination or actual building, etc.
other posts in this series:
starbucks and jesus
loving yourself
us vs them
mental illness
being multiracial
black and white
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