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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Stuff Church People Do

Macon Dee runs/ran a blog called 'stuff white people do' that explores racism and is a place for white people to go to educate themselves. His bio says "I'm a white guy, trying to find out what that means. Especially the 'white' part." He has had a lot of good stuff up with some excellent guest writers as well. He has recently gone on hiatus for a time, and I posted a comment with the address of this blog as a option for people while he is away. The comment was rejected on the following grounds:

"your blog isn't explicitly anti-racist, and I have no interest in helping to promote Christianity"

His blog, his call. Fair enough. But the decision is worth examining. Although, I am not exactly sure what it means to be anti-racist, I certainly hope this blog is full-heartedly anti-racism. That aside, it is his second comment that is the most important.

More often then not, the church is seen as a roadblock to justice and freedom. For thousands, it is a source of brokenness and rejection, and forcing the needy to seek their fellowship and comfort with secular groups. Many white people come to racial awareness in settings far outside the church. To them, the church  is the epitome of institutionalized close-mindedness, and so they fight religion right along with fighting injustice. And by-in-large we have earned that reputation with a history of indifference and downright propagation of racial injustice. It hurts to receive comments like Macom's, but what hurts more is that I have no response for it. Shame on us church. We have screwed up. Let us be all the more diligent as we move forward in the hope of earning back a little bit of the trust we have squandered.

For some convicting research studies and statistics try Divided by Faith.


See Also:
Representatives of Christ
Why I love the Church for All People
Colbert Report
Small Things Done with Great Love
Resources

12 comments:

  1. Good post :) I just stumbled upon this from Facebook and really like the purpose of the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, very interesting.

    It's possible that this guy has had bad experiences with Christians before, and therefore he doesn't want to link to anything that has to do with Christianity.

    But then, I (say) could equally well say that I have had bad experience with people of XXX race (say), and therefore I don't want to have anything to do with people of XXX race.

    It can be difficult to keep an open mind when we have had past experiences... but that is exactly what we have to do to be good human beings...

    ReplyDelete
  3. In fact, this Macon fellow obviously hasn't even read your blog. If he had, he would have seen that it is pretty much wholeheartedly /anti-racism/, and nothing to do with "promoting" religion. Well, many people have knee-jerk reactions to anything that appears even remotely religious, such as your blog title.... maybe that explains it.

    You're right to recognize that the church has earned a bad reputation. How can we change that reputation? Surely, a good start is to engage the community in positive ways. My colleagues are people from all over the world, and many of them are (presumably) ambivalent about, or even prejudiced against, organized religion. Some of them came to our recital at C4AP, and they will have seen that our church welcomes all people and that we aren't a bunch of fanatic kooks. Yes, I'm sure your recital changed the world a little bit for the better!

    Same thing for race relations. Our behavior affects people's perceptions of our entire ethnic group. The best way to improve our reputation is to act in ways that would improve our reputation (duh). If people think we are lazy/stingy/careless, then ... show them otherwise, by being diligent/generous/meticulous! If we make a concerted effort, we CAN change people's opinions.

    In that sense, you (Katelin) are doing a great favor to white people by demonstrating awareness of racial and social issues....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awwww....thanks Shannon and Cuddlymogwai!

    It is so tough when an individual is seen as representing an entire group. What a burden that so many POC carry everyday, and as you point out, it is also true when we present ourselves as representatives of Christ. We shall definitely continue to strive to better reflect Him in this world.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good post! Have you ever read the narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas or the narrative of Olaudah Equiano (sp)? Their perceptions on Christianity reflect the duality it played out in the lives of the people in power, people that were white. For some, Christianity meant being exceptionally good. For other examples, Christianity was an excuse to enforce a power struggle. It fascinates me that they have the power to look past the bad examples and see the good.

    As far as the negative effects of Christianity in history, we also forget the positive ones. A lot of Christians worked very hard to abolish slavery, among other social reforms of the 1800s. And though I don't remember his name, there was this one judge who was a Christian and yet was so affected by the injustices that he saw that he would often, when a prostitute was being tried, fine himself and all the men in the court room for being at fault. When he died, people lined up around the block for that guy. What a way to live. Maybe a bit naive by today's standards, but still...wow. He also took up a good half page in my american history textbook...who lives that kind of life now?

    As far as examples....Christ once said that you should invite those to dinner who could never pay you back. Thanks for the post!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you, Mel, for reminding us to own our positive history as well. It is encouraging to remember the history of allies on whose shoulders we stand. Love the judge story!

    ReplyDelete
  7. http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/lesbian_teenager_to_homophobic_pastor_gay_youth_are_role_models

    *sigh* there we go again... alienating people

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good post! Have you ever read the narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas or the narrative of Olaudah Equiano (sp)? Their perceptions on Christianity reflect the duality it played out in the lives of the people in power, people that were white. For some, Christianity meant being exceptionally good. For other examples, Christianity was an excuse to enforce a power struggle. It fascinates me that they have the power to look past the bad examples and see the good.

    As far as the negative effects of Christianity in history, we also forget the positive ones. A lot of Christians worked very hard to abolish slavery, among other social reforms of the 1800s. And though I don't remember his name, there was this one judge who was a Christian and yet was so affected by the injustices that he saw that he would often, when a prostitute was being tried, fine himself and all the men in the court room for being at fault. When he died, people lined up around the block for that guy. What a way to live. Maybe a bit naive by today's standards, but still...wow. He also took up a good half page in my american history textbook...who lives that kind of life now?

    As far as examples....Christ once said that you should invite those to dinner who could never pay you back. Thanks for the post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. In fact, this Macon fellow obviously hasn't even read your blog. If he had, he would have seen that it is pretty much wholeheartedly /anti-racism/, and nothing to do with "promoting" religion. Well, many people have knee-jerk reactions to anything that appears even remotely religious, such as your blog title.... maybe that explains it.

    You're right to recognize that the church has earned a bad reputation. How can we change that reputation? Surely, a good start is to engage the community in positive ways. My colleagues are people from all over the world, and many of them are (presumably) ambivalent about, or even prejudiced against, organized religion. Some of them came to our recital at C4AP, and they will have seen that our church welcomes all people and that we aren't a bunch of fanatic kooks. Yes, I'm sure your recital changed the world a little bit for the better!

    Same thing for race relations. Our behavior affects people's perceptions of our entire ethnic group. The best way to improve our reputation is to act in ways that would improve our reputation (duh). If people think we are lazy/stingy/careless, then ... show them otherwise, by being diligent/generous/meticulous! If we make a concerted effort, we CAN change people's opinions.

    In that sense, you (Katelin) are doing a great favor to white people by demonstrating awareness of racial and social issues....

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you, Mel, for reminding us to own our positive history as well. It is encouraging to remember the history of allies on whose shoulders we stand. Love the judge story!

    ReplyDelete

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