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White People: Follow Directions, Please, and Keep Your Hands and Arms Inside the Vehicle at All Times
I’m shaking my head, still. I posted a note on my FB wall from Thomas Merton: Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. It seems fairly intuitive and godly and loving. We should love others. Fin. Some white Evangelical guy did not like the message and broke into my wall to state that “nowhere are we told we have to get the federal government to rob us to pay off the poor.” I was puzzled at the interruption. Nothing in this image says that we are demanding the government to do anything. Just for us all, we should be kind and…
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Does History Matter?
I’m involved in life, like many people, and one thing that fascinates me is how we forget our past when it’s inconvenient but trot out certain myths and memes because they are “real” and important. For example, George Washington is the father of our country (and of little else because he was physically sterile). We have the Washington Monument, Mt. Rushmore, his face on our currency, and even a state named after him (no, not Georgia). We celebrate his birthday along with Abraham Lincoln’s in “Presidents Day,” and we revere his memory. Yet Washington was a white slaver. He held humans as property in his labor camps, and pursued them…
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What Is the Place of Jonathan Edwards As an Example to the Church?
I’m in an interesting discussion in a book group, in which we’re reading Jemar Tisby’s book “The Color of Compromise” (https://amzn.to/2UrMEOm). We’re looking at two men who tower above others in the early Colonial days: Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. These men are well-known in Evangelical circles. They preached a redeeming Gospel, they brought many into contact with God, and they helped define American Protestantism as a faith of the individual. And yet both supported slavery. George Whitefield so much that he helped convince the state of George to convert from being a slave-free state to becoming a white-slaver state—he needed the money from his enslaved Africans in order to…
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For I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel—Except the Hard Parts
I saw this on the NPR website this morning, and it sparked a reaction in me. https://www.npr.org/2018/12/09/674995075/slave-bible-from-the-1800s-omitted-key-passages-that-could-incite-rebellion On display now at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., is a special exhibit centered on a rare Bible from the 1800s that was used by British missionaries to convert and educate slaves. What’s notable about this Bible is not just its rarity, but its content, or rather the lack of content. It excludes any portion of text that might inspire rebellion or liberation. There’s a great verse in the Bible about the value of the Word. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of…
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Who Then Is My Neighbor?
(ETA: A much better response can be found here: https://mereorthodoxy.com/and-who-is-my-neighbor/) If you’ve been around the New Testament to any great length, you are probably familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:25-37 is brief. A man tried to challenge Jesus about what it mean to love God and love your neighbor by trying to get an exemption upon “neighbor.” Jesus flatly smacked him down. “The people you encounter are your neighbors. Help those people.” That is, the neighbor is the proximate. But some foolish men have now taken up the question again, to narrow what Jesus expanded here. “Is my neighbor someone on the next block? The next…
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The Color of Compromise—A Review
This is perhaps one of the most accessible, clear, and gentle book you might read about the history of, and acceptance of, white supremacy and black abasement of the American nation and in the American church. Tisby is an historian and does not shave meaning or impact by using soft words. When you read this, you understand what he is saying, directly: racism in the American church was, and is, a deliberate choice. Nothing that has happened so far had to happen. But the good news is that our American nation and our American church can be changed by the actions of interested and committed people. I would expect that…
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Thus Far Has the LORD Helped Us: A Retrospective of a Decade
Think of a moment in time, a dot, a pivot. You put a stake in the ground, marking the place you have come to thus far. You look back and you see all the rocks and pits and even chasms you crossed. And here you are, now, at the end of the journey, a period at the end of the long, long sentence you have been speaking. It was hard, and hazardous, and you think that now, NOW, you can catch your breath before you set your tent, you make the tabernacle where the Lord will dwell with you forever. But it is not a period and not an end…
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Why It Matters: For you I was born, for you I live, and for you I give my last breath
I am involved in two streams right now that are greatly affecting me on how I see myself and what I consider my values. And in one of those streams the topic came up about why people do what they do. For me, the question is really “Why pursue racial conciliation?”, which was prompted by a statement from Jemar Tisby in his podcast “Color of Compromise Pre-Launch Interview” (appx 11/28/2018): “The more you pursue justice, the more of Jesus you get.” Why this matters to me is something I’ll explain. First, a brief immediate background. I’ve been working on my “stuff” for about ten years now. I have a lot…
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Goodreads Review: The Color of Compromise, by Jemar Tisby
From The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is perhaps one of the most accessible, clear, and gentle book you might read about the history of, and acceptance of, white supremacy and black abasement of the American nation and in the American church. Tisby is an historian and does not shave meaning or impact by using soft words. When you read this, you understand what he is saying, directly: racism in the American church was, and is, a deliberate choice. Nothing that has happened so far had to happen. But the good news is that our American…
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I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living
The prophet Amos cried out (in 5:24) the desire of God for righteousness to be the ocean we swim in, a sea of support and sustaining, a place of healing and recovery. But this is America 2018, and in America justice is far off. In this America of 2018, we have Jemel Roberson. A father, brother, son. Working extra hours to pay for Christmas for his son. A church member and talented musician. The friend of many people. He was doing his job as a security guard, holding a suspect in the ground, when the police shot him in spite of his uniform and the cries of the crowd that…
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Unwanted Subject: When You Have No Space in America
This came across my newsfeed this morning, and it involves a somewhat-local yogurt shop calling the police on a black man in their store where he was not wanted: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/unwanted-subject-what-led-a-kirkland-yogurt-shop-to-call-police-on-a-black-man/ The gist is that Byron Ragland, a court-appointed special advocate and visitation supervisor, was overseeing an outing between a mother and her son. The family wanted to get yogurt, so Ragland drove them to a nearby shop. For whatever reason, Ragland didn’t buy any yogurt, but the family did, and under his supervision the mother and son…visited. Two employees were nervous about Ragland being there, and they got the store owner involved. The cops were called on this man, “African…
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Chief of Sinners
Recently I joined a group of people who are working diligently to expose, root out, combat, and overturn racism in America, most specifically in the American church. As a member of this group, I am asked to listen and to learn before I speak, and to contribute seldom, whether it is words or in reactions. (“Love your emotional breakdown! So honest!”) I’ll confess it’s hard to handle, because I mean so well! I’m one of the people who’s working for healing; how could you not want my participation and my insight and my support? How could you not want my contributions and my energy and my outside-the-group-but-inside-as-an-ally enthusiasm? How indeed?…
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#TheHateUGive – A Review
I saw The Hate U Give tonight, and I have thoughts… But first, let get some of the mechanicals out of the way. First of all, the casting was stellar. I would especially commend Yesi Ramirez for the work to find this team of players that blended in so effortlessly in their roles. In nearly every scene and interaction they were superb. I do not know enough of what the director George Tillman Jr. or the writer Angie Thomas (novel) and Audrey Wells (screenplay) were looking for exactly with the white actors for “Hailey” and “Chris,” but I winced at their portrayals. They felt accurate and yet–oh my god. The…
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Is Paris Worth the Price of a Mass?
Shocking revelation:No political party or interest group is without bias, and that includes conservative Evangelicals. Also shocking:No political party or interest group (including Evangelicals) represents themselves or their opponents perfectly. And also shocking:Political parties or interest groups (including Evangelicals) that literally betray their primary authenticizing principles are quite rightly seen as hypocritical. If Evangelicals hold to the truth that God is love, neighbors are valuable, children are treasures, the poor are the cherished of God, the rich deserve no elevation but only pity, and that truth and justice are the especial delights of God–and yet by their actions they betray every one of these because “we must have the fifth…
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Ruminations on Acts 4–Do Before You Speak
I don’t often write up my thoughts as I read the Christian scriptures. Though I’m a white Evangelical of long practice, I’ve found recently that listening is far more important than speaking. Today, however, was interesting, as I got a chance to tune in to one of my favorite long-distance churches and pastors, Pastor Andre Mitchell of Deliverance Temple, in Muncie, Indiana, and was able to listen to much of his preaching just before my own church services. There was a powerful synchronicity in the two experiences—Pastor Mitchell spoke on a theme of “Stand Your Ground,” and in my own church we had a lectio divina on Acts 4. Now…
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“To Sleep, Perchance to Dream” now available for online reading
My short story, To Sleep, Perchance to Dream, is available for online reading at Literally Stories. Take a look!
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“Only a Mother’s Love” fantasy short fiction published
My 2018 Yeah Write fiction entry Only a Mother’s Love is now published online at Short-Story.Me https://www.short-story.me/stories/fantasy-stories/1071-only-a-mother-s-love Premise is a mash-up of science fiction and true crime detective. And about 1000 words.
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A Review of “Bearfish: An Almost-History of Southern Livestock”
Wildly audacious and entertaining, and deeply disappointing I would give it five stars for its entertainment and creativity, and one star for its unsatisfying delivery. I truly loved the beginning of this book, which is the alternate history of the United States wherein a President Taft signs a bill to import hippopotamuses from Africa to the southern United States as a way to solve a problem with the food supply prior to WWII. The alternate part here is that the U.S. came very close to doing just this; the bill actually failed by just one vote. What would happen if hippopotamuses were imported and, more importantly, naturalized and became a…
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Does White Privilege Exist?
Recently a sincere white American Christian male asserted that there is no such thing as white privilege, that white Christians have no obligation to inquire as to whether there is any such thing as white privilege, that people of color, sexual minorities, and others (including, I’d hazard, women) have nothing to complain about in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, and…well, it just went on and on and on. He was angry, too, at being told that perhaps his views were not the only views that mattered. As a sincere white American Christian male, he had done all the work already, and as he was comfortable,…
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Converting the Unconvertable
You cannot change someone’s mind through the presentation of fact. That presentation of fact happens later, after they are willing to be persuaded. What changes people is personal interaction and communication. So outside of any change of mind, connection with people can lead to a chance for a change in direction. It happens very, very infrequently. Marshaling fact upon fact and argument upon argument is actually ineffective in changing a mind or an opinion. But what I’ve found is this: maintaining a consistent, fair, kind viewpoint, consistently refusing to accede to stupid and mendacious reasoning, consistently refusing to “compromise” by agreeing with putative “moderate” position, consistently refusing to allow the…
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Review: A Civil War Christmas
We saw #Taproot Theatre’s production of “A Civil War Christmas” last night, and I have to say, I wanted to like this more, but could not. This was not due to the sets, the lighting, the staging, the choreography, the sound, the music, costumes, or the actors—all which were competent and professional. It was the book that was weak, and all the best efforts of the cast to bring the story to life did not work. To be clear, this is not a bad production or even a bad play. It is just a weak book with an enthusiasm for story not matched by a skill for storytelling. We open…
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About the About of Christmas
We watched “A Heavenly Christmas” this evening as we relaxed by the fire. It’s a Hallmark Christmas movie, so there is no bad language, no mocking or satire, and no unhappy endings. It was not bad, even though I must admit that the actors were working with a somewhat unrealistic plot: a too-busy-for-family career woman falls a week before Christmas, hits her head, and suddenly finds herself in heaven with Shirley McClain, her angel guide, and discovers that she must “save” another family from the tragedies in life by intervening w/o interfering, and… Well, you’ll just have to rent or buy the movie. (Rent is my advice.) Afterwards we talked…
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Sorry Folks — to Avoid a Choice Is to Make a Choice
Traditionally, orthodox Christianity means a religion centered around the Christ of the New Testament, where what Jesus said and taught and did forms the central, defining properties of the religion. Christ did not hate the Jews or want them eliminated or gassed. Christ did not hate black Africans. In fact, some of the first disciples were black Africans. (You can look this one up. You’ll be astonished at what you were seeing all along.) Christ did not expel the stranger or demonize the foreigner. In fact, he used the foreigner despised by others as an example of what a man acting as a neighbor would look like. Christ did not…
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Welcome to Braggsville–A Review
We saw “Welcome to Braggsville” at the Seattle Center, performed by the Book-It Repertory Theater, based on the novel by T. Geronimo Johnson. First off, let me say that the cast was stellar, and the leads were absolutely fantastic. They were in their roles in a way that led me to believe they weren’t acting; only the transformation over time during the show and conversations afterwards helped me see just how incredibly talented these men and women are. The four leads in particular were astonishingly fine. (Personal note: I know one of them, and while he was able to portray his character well, he was not “being himself.” He was…
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The Words of Good White Liberals
What are your thoughts, good people? http://kuow.org/post/understand-white-liberal-racism-read-these-private-emails This is really hard for me to read, because it is easier to talk about racism and to march against racism than it is to do the hard work of confronting racism *in our own lives*. It’s my opinion that we want to tell others how to fix it in their lives, because by God we’re all fixed. We have such good feelings and intentions. And yet, an example to bring pause… Philando Castile, a good and gentle black man, was shot to death last year. His death was caught on film, he did everything we white people told him to do–stay calm,…
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Should We Provoke White Supremacists?
Recently I responded (several times!) to comments about the fine, fine speech given by Mayor Landrieu of New Orleans at the removal of four monuments/statues which had been raised originally to support and defend the white supremacists’ governance of the South, first in the American Civil War and then in the overthrow and coup 10 or so years later in the city of New Orleans. Several people replied to my comments, attempting to shift the argument to other details—tariffs, states’ rights, Southern hospitality, Northern sins, and so on. One reply went longer than the rest, and I responded to it detail by detail, as best I could. I think there…
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Jesus Was Crucified by the State
Jesus was crucified by the state, y’all. I see and hear my fellow white American Christians celebrating the fact that they are very close to imposing their peculiar version of Christianity upon an unwilling populace, because they have “captured Congress, the Presidency, and now the Supreme Court!” Jesus was crucified by the state. Jesus did not attempt to overthrow the government (although he was charged with that). Did not condemn the government for existing (he complimented the Roman soldier who behaved with respect to the law, which—when you think about the cruelty permitted by the Roman soldiers, is an awesome thing for Jesus to say). Did not attempt to force…
