Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe – Frederick Douglass
I’ve been struggling with whether to write something about the murder of George Floyd (and by extension, all the others like him), the protests, and the riots. Like many of you, I’m outraged by what is going on in our streets.
I don’t like rioting and looting, but I like defenseless people being killed by those who are sworn “to serve and protect” even less. As far as I’m concerned, if you don’t think that systemic racism is an integral part of our judicial, economic, and political systems, then you don’t know our history and are not paying attention.
I feel like to not speak out against those things is to be part of the problem, and I don’t want to be part of the problem. On the other hand, pretty much everything I have to say has been said much more eloquently and capably by smarter people and better writers than I am.
I kind of feel like what the country doesn’t need right now is another 50-something, white, middle-class, Christian male chiming in with his special take on racism (it’s evil and pervasive in this country – sorry, couldn’t help myself).
So, I’m going with my “special take” on something that’s contributing to the problem that hasn’t been covered quite so completely – Christians.
Yup, Christians. We’re a big part of the problem, going back to the days of slavery when far too many of us were cherry-picking the bible to prove to ourselves that owning people was not only right, but OUR right, and what’s more, was good for those we owned. We used it to justify our evil actions to ourselves, and used it to make sure that those we owned stayed docile and manageable. Note that this also includes justifying our ongoing genocide against Native Americans.
Far too many of us are basically still doing the same thing.
I was heartened by the number of Christians who were disgusted and outraged by the murder of George Floyd. I felt like we were getting somewhere maybe. Then the riots started, and suddenly too many of those same people were saying, “What happened to George Floyd was wrong, but all this destruction of property is REALLY wrong,” and then went on to talk about how those people should be protesting the “right” way.
“Those people” have been protesting peacefully for years, decades even, and many of us Christians were outraged and ferociously outspoken about it, especially when we felt those protests disrespected our flag or our country.
We Christians are big on the bible, and we love it when we can slap a verse on something that’s going on today and sit back in our smug self-righteousness, point at “them” and say “See? God warned us about this, and now they’re gonna get it!”
Of course, it always seems to center around the idea that we’re supposed to be a Christian nation and, because of our misguided tolerance, us good Christians have allowed evil foreigners, unions, atheists, and liberals to hijack the country. It all adds up to manufactured outrage about things that just aren’t so. Things like “they” took God out of school – but what about the idea that God is with us wherever we are? Or, and this is another personal favorite, “they” have taken God out of our government – seriously? Take a look back at our history and tell me when God has ever been even remotely considered by our government when making decisions. That’s not to say he’s never been invoked. He has. All the time. Almost always in the most hypocritical, self-serving, manipulative way possible.
Like I said, we seem to think those verses only apply to “them”, but think about this. Up to, and including now, Christianity has been far and away the predominant religion in this country. All this systemic racism has flourished with Christians at the helm. Now, it seems to me that we are reaping what we have sown. We are watching our country tear itself apart while denying our complicity in our nation’s most fundamental sin – racism.
Because we are all complicit. We are all guilty. I’ve never thought of myself as a racist, but I look back now and see that I have repeatedly said things that were unquestionably, indisputably racist (and they weren’t all in the distant past), without even realizing what I was doing. That’s how ingrained our nation racism is. I’ve realized that I’ve been a racist all my life, without even knowing it, and I’m ashamed of myself.
Anyway, as often happens, my mind has gone off on so many tangents while writing this, that I’ve decided to break it up into multiple posts. I’ll try to title each one so that you’ll know from the title whether you should read it or not.
I’m going to close for now with this: Christ never seemed to value property over life. Why do we? It seems like focusing on the riots is like focusing on coughing up blood without bothering to cut out the cancer that is actually killing us.
Thank you, Lloyd, for these words today. There are times I feel like we Christians are all reading different Bibles and following our own personal visions of who we think Jesus SHOULD be, rather than who He says He is. Probably none of us get it right.
Sue, NONE of us get it right, myself included. Problem is, too many of us aren’t even trying.
Thank you Lloyd. Too many of us aren’t practicing what Jesus taught about servanthood, identifying with others and humility. And also we have not been addressing the rot at the heart of privilege.
Thanks Claire. I think a lot of the problem is the confluence, here in America, of Christianity and Patriotism. All our constant nonsense about “American Exceptionalism” has polluted our Christianity with undue pride, to the point where we don’t even see it. Thanks for reading!
Racism is part of our identity as Christians. Oddly enough no Bible verse, no words uttered by Jesus or in the epistles, support it.
A large majority of evangelicals need to re-evaluate why they support leaders who seem to advocate on its behalf and stoke it. Because they say they’re pro abortion?
News flash: if you’re OK with shooting “thugs” you are *not* pro life and frankly we are *all* thugs in God’s eyes.
Agreed. Maybe some day we’ll learn.
SPOT ON.
I love you, my friend.
Thanks Kim, and rest assured, the feeling is mutual!
Thank you, Lloyd. I also have been heartened and then disheartened over and over again the past week. Saddened by those who just can’t see. Saddened at all the ways I, too, as proudly non-racist, still managed to be blissfully unaware I was still racist by the worldview I was born into. Thank you for writing this.
Hey Shelley! I just have to keep reminding myself that there are a lot of people out there (like you) who still give me hope. Thanks for reading!
Of course I laughed at your title,(as I still haven’t decided if I like you or not) but the quote by Frederick Douglass really stood out to me as it basically sums up what is happening in our country at this very moment!
Thanks for the post, lots to think about and digest.
Hey Ellen, thanks for reading, and thanks even more for thinking! There’s far too little of that going on these days.
So somehow I missed this but this is what keeps going around my head and not quite finding words. It’s all so interconnected, the injustices and oppression, religion and America. Growing up it was ingrained in me that America was a Christian nation which I realized wasn’t true, but if Christians work so fricking hard to show that, then why do so few of them work to address the issues. Again, it’s a logic based on assumptions.
Hey Chavala, I think it’s because of power. American Christians are more concerned with the appearance of Christianity than the actual exercise of it – at least on a national scale – because Christianity actually means giving up worldly power. And no group gives up worldly power without a fight. Just my (decidedly unpopular) opinion.
I shared this Lloyd on Facebook. Such a powerful message about us folks that love the Lord. This week most churches can open at 75% capacity and it would make a good sermon, don’t you think?
Your way with words Lloyd touches a person’s soul sometimes and this writing sure touched ours. Thank you.
Thanks Jeanette! Glad you liked it and that it spoke to you. I’m not sure about its effectiveness as a sermon. It’s very possible that churches that would appreciate it probably don’t need it, and churches that need it would be too busy being pissed off about it to bother thinking about it. It seems that, in America, you can preach about anything except applying Christian principles to current events (or even historical ones, if that application might cause one to be critical of the country). Just my opinion, of course. Thanks for reading!
I appreciate what you wrote. I think the title speaks a lot, sometimes we’re so worried about being liked by people that we don’t speak up when people ignorantly propagate misinformation. I’m all over the place politically, basically a Catholic who believes the catechism–thus conservatives think I’m a liberal and liberals think I’m a conservative. I’m proud of Pope John Paul II, who wasn’t afraid to apologize for the mistakes of the past (and in a way that kind of ticked off some traditionalists I’m sure). I think if Christians were more steeped in our history history (and I’m not talking about “American” Christian history, but actually going back to the Church Fathers, the early councils of the Church, etc.), we could see beyond the myopia of our own nationalism. Christianity existed long before 1776, and it will continue to exist long after the Stars and Stripes are no longer flying anywhere.
Hey man, glad you liked it. I think nationalism is one of the biggest problems in the church in America, and always has been. Anyway, thanks for reading!