tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14751283192184232482024-02-07T16:26:16.282-05:00By Their Strange Fruit <b>Christianity & Race:</b> 'Ye shall know them by their fruit,' yet what 'Strange Fruit' we have...BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.comBlogger726125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-36748290621213737102019-02-18T14:31:00.001-05:002020-02-17T22:18:42.186-05:00New Fruit<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57zxWlvxOxvzrfDR0td5QBWix86hPATMejyEGRGYLsftdGi-oieWzVah30NxvCdi6HCmsIw8IVlboS4eCyC6XUAUfxeRUKQDWix380lt2bzTKLjusxUebi_zarIY_ITbMH9dHKH7Tfp_2/s1600/colors%252Bcopy+-+Copy+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57zxWlvxOxvzrfDR0td5QBWix86hPATMejyEGRGYLsftdGi-oieWzVah30NxvCdi6HCmsIw8IVlboS4eCyC6XUAUfxeRUKQDWix380lt2bzTKLjusxUebi_zarIY_ITbMH9dHKH7Tfp_2/s1600/colors%252Bcopy+-+Copy+-+Copy.jpg" /></a>At this point, it's obvious that I have no longer been updating <i>By Their Strange Fruit</i>. I have attempted for some time to return to this discipline that has been so formative for me over the years, but it has become clear that it's time for me to focus on new fruit.<br />
<br />
<b>Maybe </b>now that I’m <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2015/06/on-personal-note.html">daily living out</a> my justice convictions in my work at <a href="http://4allpeople.org/">UM Church for All People</a>, rather than writing from the sidelines of academia, I don’t feel the same need for the outlet of expression.<br />
<br />
<b>Maybe </b>in this <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2015/01/post-post-racial-society.html">post-post-racial era</a> of blatant bigotry, pointing out the subtly pernicious manifestations of systemic racism felt too trite.<br />
<br />
<b>Maybe </b>after the <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2016/11/deep-in-my-heart-i-do-believe.html">election of Trump</a>, my heart just needed to find new modes of resistance.<br />
<br />
<b>Maybe </b>after the many <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2015/05/dont-habituate.html">repeated unarmed killings</a> there is simply nothing more to say. Simply, "see too many previous posts": <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014/08/michael-brown-ferguson.html">Michael Brown</a>, <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014/02/jordan-davis-1995-2012.html">Jordan Davis</a>, <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2016/01/mlk-and-bundy-oregon-standoff.html">Tamir Rice</a>, <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2015/07/friday-fruit-073115.html">Sarah Lee Circle Bear</a>, <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2015/07/friday-fruit-073115.html">Ralkina Jones</a>, <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014/09/whatisjustice-for-john-crawford.html">John Crawford</a>, <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2012/03/bias-matters.html">Trayvon Martin</a>, <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2016/09/logical-fallacies-no-angel-and-tyre-king.html">Trye King</a>, <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2015/06/emmanuel-ame-is-there-no-sanctuary.html">on</a> and <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2016/07/psalms.html">on</a> and <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2015/05/baltimore-and-unheard.html">on</a>. Say their names.<br />
<br />
<b>Or maybe</b> after nearly 10 years, every act of resistance just has its season. Time to bear new fruit.<br />
<br />
<br />
Racism is no less prevalent, Christ is no less relevant.<br />
In fact, both are arguably much more so now than ever before.<br />
The work continues.<br />
<br />
I have so much love and gratitude for these years of learnings and relationships that have come out of this space. What began as a simple medium for my own self-education, grew deeper, richer, and much larger than I had ever anticipated. I am so <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/p/topical-index.html#GuestPosts">grateful for the many</a> who were <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/p/friday-fruit-archive.html">so crucial to the journey</a>.<br />
<br />
I will leave the site up, both for my own reference and for others’ use, as long as the internets allow. I<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.4allpeople.org/AllPeoplePodcast"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="640" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx05HhIpiKra0hOxiIOaYHzaRFMbrmz5oi6h3UwTC0Vj80xCLvqspuMIVXvdNLsODSXS5e9s9k40uRQrxipISR-Zi1czkwCTb-_FKFXlfy-WaL1FPsCPXiwIRbtWjLsGtRy_8wh4juxFGS/s200/14e66161e46e565c34bc62436fefb0e3.jpg" width="181" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.4allpeople.org/AllPeoplePodcast">Check out the <br />"All People Podcast</a>"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
may even use it for the occasional outlet to speak up on specific issues as they arise, or as a platform to promote ongoing visibility for justice work happening around the country.<br />
<br />
As this chapter draws to close, I include some links below to revisit a few of my favorite BTSF posts from over the years. Going forward, I’ll be hosting a new podcast in collaboration with Pastor Greg Henneman, in which we explore being a <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-i-love-church-for-all-people_31.html">Church for All People</a>, and the practices that we believe are critical for building the fully just and inclusive Body of Christ. <a href="https://www.4allpeople.org/AllPeoplePodcast">Check it out and subscribe here</a>.<br />
<br />
I continue to yearn to know how we as Christians can and will get out ahead of this ever-evolving beast we call racism. There are so many brilliant, talented groups and individuals do the work to whom I will always be grateful.<br />
<br />
And so, what say you readers?<br />
How have you been coping in this new era? How do you continue to resist?<br />
<br />
With so much love, gratitude, and hope,<br />
Katelin<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>A few BTSF favorites from over the years:</b><br />
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/08/is-god-colorblind.html">Is God Colorblind?</a><br />
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2011/08/white-savior-complex.html">White Savior Complex</a><br />
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2012/03/theyll-know-we-are-christians.html">They Will Know We Are Christians</a><br />
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014/08/timeline-of-racism-part-1.html">Timeline of Racism</a><br />
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2011/02/white-history-month.html">White History Month</a><br />
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2016/03/logical-fallacies-model-minority.html">Logical Fallacies: Model Minority</a><br />
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/01/that-mascot-doesnt-honor-anyone.html">That Mascot Doesn't Honor Anyone</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/p/topical-index.html">Click here for the full BTSF topical index</a><br />
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<br />BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-66677411235481823012018-01-28T15:12:00.001-05:002018-01-28T15:12:27.880-05:00Fred Korematsu Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On January 30th, we celebrate '<a href="http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2045111,00.html">Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution</a>,' in honor of his birthday. <a href="http://korematsuinstitute.org/">Korematsu</a> (是松 豊三郎) is the first Asian American to have a <a href="http://www.pbs.org/pov/ofcivilwrongsandrights/film_description.php">day named after him</a>.<br />
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Korematsu was living in California when Franklin D. Roosevelt issued <a href="http://ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=74">Executive Order 9066</a> in 1942, stripping American citizens of their legal rights, and allowing their indefinite imprisonment without due process. Thousands of Americans of Japanese descendants were removed from their homes and detained in <a href="http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/">internment camps</a> (See post: <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2012/02/racial-profiling-and-japanese-american.html">Racial Profiling and the Japanese American Internment</a>). Having broken no laws, hundreds of thousands suffered the undue loss of their freedom and property.<br />
<br />
Rather than surrender to military detention, Korematsu went into hiding, only to be captured and arrested several weeks later. He contested his detainment as unconstitutional, but in their 1944 ruling on <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/323/214" style="font-style: italic;">Korematsu v. United States</a>, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066.<br />
<br />
It was later shown that during the course of the proceedings, Solicitor General Charles Fahy <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/24/nation/la-na-japanese-americans-20110525">suppressed legal documents</a> that stated "there was no evidence Japanese Americans were disloyal, were acting as spies or were signaling enemy submarines." Through it all, white Americans either voiced support for the internment program or simply remained silent. Indeed, the <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/when-justice-failed#cart/cleanup">ACLU largely sided with the FDR administration</a>.<br />
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Korematsu and his family were eventually sent to the Topaz internment camp, where he had a horse stall for his living quarters. He was forced to work long hours in the labor fields, <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/when-justice-failed#cart/cleanup">receiving $12/month</a>. After his release, Korematsu was still strapped with a federal conviction, affecting his ability to get work, even above the racial discrimination faced by his peers.<br />
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Having spent his early years as shipyard welder aiding in the <i>defense</i> of the USA, he worked welding water tanks in Utah. He soon learned he was being paid only half of what his white colleges were earning. After asking for equal pay, he was threatened with arrest and was forced to leave his job.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Receiving the<br />
Presidential Medal of Freedom</td></tr>
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Four decades after his arrest, Korematsu's conviction was finally vacated. To the judge, he said "According to the Supreme Court decision regarding my case, being an American citizen was not enough. They say you have to look like one, otherwise they say you can’t tell a difference between a loyal and a disloyal American....I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color." <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_1751-1800/ab_1775_cfa_20100512_174749_asm_floor.html">He continued</a>, "If anyone should do any pardoning, I should be the one pardoning the government for what they did to the Japanese-American people."<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"></span></span>Though his name was cleared as an individual, the 1944 Supreme Court ruling in favor of Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 still stands today. In <a href="http://korematsuinstitute.org/institute/aboutfred/internmentcases/fred-korematsu-v-united-states/">Korematsu's words</a>, "As long as my record stands in federal court, any American citizen can be held in prison or concentration camps without a trial or a hearing. That is if they look like the enemy of our country."<br />
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After September 11, 2001 Korematsu fervently urged the public not <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-is-post-911-american.html">treat American Muslims</a> as Japanese Americans had been treated during WWII. He also spoke out against detainments in Guantanamo Bay, <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/1983/1103/110306.html">maintaining that</a> “full vindication for the Japanese-Americans will arrive only when we learn that, even in times of crisis, we must guard against prejudice and keep uppermost our commitment to law and justice.”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">With Rosa Parks</td></tr>
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To his death, he <a href="http://www.densho.org/archive/default.asp?path=fromthearchive/200711-fromthearchive.asp">maintained</a> “I'll never forget my government treating me like this. And I really hope that this will never happen to anybody else because of the way they look, if they look like the enemy of our country.” <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Do-we-really-need-to-relearn-the-lessons-of-2724896.php">He knew that</a> "No one should ever be locked away simply because they share the same race, ethnicity, or religion as a spy or terrorist. If that principle was not learned from the internment of Japanese Americans, then these are very dangerous times for our democracy."<br />
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January 30th is Korematsu's birthday. How will you <a href="http://korematsuinstitute.org/fredkorematsuday/curriculum/">remember his legacy</a>?<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Don't be afraid to speak up. One person can make a difference, even if it takes forty years." </i></div>
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<i>- Fred T. Korematsu</i></div>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-32015353342971389232018-01-14T22:39:00.003-05:002018-01-14T23:59:57.040-05:00Guidelines for a Constructive Church<a href="http://adventistpeace.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341e3ff253ef01bb08ae3840970d-800wi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for Guidelines for a Constructive Church" border="0" height="216" src="http://adventistpeace.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341e3ff253ef01bb08ae3840970d-800wi" width="320" /></a><i>In honor of MLK today, enjoy this speech he delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church on June 5, 1966. </i><i>Like so many of his words, this address feels every bit as prescient today as it did then. The full transcript and a recording can be <a href="http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_guidelines_for_a_constructive_church/">found here</a>. </i><br />
<br />
I would like to preach from the subject: "Guidelines for a Constructive Church." Over the last several weeks now, we've been reading a good deal in our newspapers about guidelines. Now this word has been applied basically to the public school systems across our nation, particularly in the South.<br />
<br />
The Supreme Court of our nation rendered a decision back in 1954 declaring segregation in the public schools unconstitutional. And that next year in 1955 it came back stating that every school district was to integrate "with all deliberate speed."<br />
<br />
And yet we came into 1966 with the terrible realization that only 5.2 percent of the Negro students of the South had been placed in integrated schools, which meant in substance that we haven't made 1 percent progress a year. And if it continued at that pace it would take another ninety-six years to integrate the public schools of the South.<br />
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And so the Department of Education decided that the process had to be speeded up on the basis of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964. And this department decided to set forth certain basic guidelines that had to be followed. The guidelines stated in substance that the process of integration had to be speeded up; that all grades had to be integrated; that even faculties had to be integrated.<br />
<br />
And this plan, or these guidelines, was submitted to every school district and that school district had to decide whether it would follow the guidelines. If it refused to follow the guidelines then federal funds would be cut off. If it complied with the guidelines then federal funds would be continued. And so today there is a great discussion all over the educational world and the public school system about whether a school district or a school board will follow the guidelines.<br />
<br />
This morning I would like to submit to you that we who are followers of Jesus Christ, and we who must keep his church going and keep it alive, also have certain basic guidelines to follow. Somewhere behind the dim mist of eternity, God set forth his guidelines. And through his prophets, and above all through his son Jesus Christ, he said that, "There are some things that my church must do. There are some guidelines that my church must follow."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tomitronics.com/old_buildings/ebenezer/images/MLKpreaching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for mlk ebenezer" border="0" height="320" src="http://tomitronics.com/old_buildings/ebenezer/images/MLKpreaching.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="256" /></a>And if we in the church don't want the funds of grace cut off from the divine treasury, we've got to follow the guidelines. The guidelines are clearly set forth for us in some words uttered by our Lord and Master as he went in the temple one day, and he went back to Isaiah and quoted from him. And he said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." These are the guidelines.<br />
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You see, the church is not a social club, although some people think it is. They get caught up in their exclusivism, and they feel that it’s a kind of social club with a thin veneer of religiosity, but the church is not a social club. The church is not an entertainment center, although some people think it is. You can tell in many churches how they act in church, which demonstrates that they think it’s an entertainment center. The church is not an entertainment center. Monkeys are to entertain, not preachers.<br />
<br />
But in the final analysis the church has a purpose. The church is dealing with man's ultimate concern. And therefore it has certain guidelines that it must follow.<br />
<br />
Now I wish time permitted me to go into every aspect of this text, but I want to just mention a few. Let us first think of the fact that if the church is following its guidelines, it seeks to heal the broken-hearted. Now there is probably no human condition more tantalizing than a broken heart. You see, broken-heartedness is not a physical condition; it’s a condition of spiritual exhaustion.<br />
<br />
And who here this morning has not experienced a broken heart? I would say broken-heartedness comes basically from the trying experience of disappointment. And I don't believe there are many people here this morning under the sound of my voice who have not been disappointed about something.<br />
<br />
Here is a young man or a young woman dreaming of some great career and setting out in school to try to make that career possible, only to discover that they don't quite have the mental faculties, the technical know-how, to achieve excellence in that particular field. And so they end up having to choose life’s second best, and because of this they end up with a broken heart.<br />
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Here is a couple standing before the altar in a marriage that seems to be born in heaven, only to discover that six months or a year later the conflicts and the dissensions begin to develop; arguments and misunderstandings begin to unfold. And that same marriage which a year earlier seemed to have been born in heaven ends up in the divorce court, and the individuals are left with a broken heart.<br />
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Here is a family, a mother and father striving desperately to train their children up in the way that they should go. Working hard to make their education possible; working hard to give them a sense of direction, praying fervently for their guidance. And yet, in spite of all of this, one or two of the children end up taking the wrong road, moving toward some strange and tragic far country. And the parents end up having to acknowledge that the children that they raised are prodigals lost in a far country, and they end up with a broken heart.<br />
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And then there comes life’s ultimate tragedy, that something that always makes for a broken heart. Who this morning hasn't experienced it? When you must stand before the bier of a loved one. That day when the casket rolls down the aisle. That experience called death, which is the irreducible common denominator of all men. And no one can lose a loved one, no one can lose a mother or father, sister, brother, a child, without ending up with a broken heart. Broken-heartedness is a reality in life.<br />
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And Sunday after Sunday, week after week, people come to God’s church with broken hearts. They need a word of hope. And the church has an answer—if it doesn't, it isn't a church. The church must say in substance that broken-heartedness is a fact of life. Don’t try to escape when you come to that experience. Don't try to repress it. Don't end up in cynicism. Don't get mean when you come to that experience.<br />
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The church must say to men and woman that Good Friday is a fact of life. The church must say to people that failure is a fact of' life. Some people are only conditioned to success. They are only conditioned to fulfillment. Then when the trials and the burdens of life unfold, they can't stand up with it. But the church must tell men that Good Friday’s as much a fact of life as Easter; failure is as much a fact of life as success; disappointment is as much a fact of life as fulfillment. And the church must tell men to take your burden, take your grief and look at it, don't run from it. Say that this is my grief and I must bear it. Look at it hard enough and say, "How can I transform this liability into an asset?"<br />
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This is the power that God gives you. He doesn't say that you're going to escape tension; he doesn't say that you're going to escape disappointment; he doesn't say that you’re going to escape trials and tribulations. But what religion does say is this: that if you have faith in God, that God has the power to give you a kind of inner equilibrium through your pain. So let not your heart be troubled.<br />
<br />
"If ye believe in God, ye believe also in me." Another voice rings out, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden." As if to say, "Come unto me, all ye that are burdened down. Come unto me, all ye that are frustrated. Come unto me, all ye with clouds of anxiety floating in your mental skies. Come unto me, all ye that are broke down. Come unto me, all ye that are heartbroken. Come unto me, all ye that are laden with heavy ladens, and I will give you rest."<br />
<br />
And the rest that God gives is the rest that passeth all understanding. The world doesn't understand that kind of rest, because it’s a rest that makes it possible for you to stand up amid outer storms, and yet you maintain inner calm. If the church is true to its guidelines, it heals the broken-hearted.<br />
<br />
Secondly, when the church is true to its guidelines, it sets out to preach deliverance to them that are captive. This is the role of the church: to free people. This merely means to free those who are slaves. Now if you notice some churches, they never read this part. Some churches aren't concerned about freeing anybody. Some white churches face the fact Sunday after Sunday that their members are slaves to prejudice, slaves to fear. You got a third of them, or a half of them or more, slaves to their prejudices. And the preacher does nothing to free them from their prejudice so often.<br />
<br />
Then you have another group sitting up there who would really like to do something about racial injustice, but they are afraid of social, political, and economic reprisals, so they end up silent. And the preacher never says anything to lift their souls and free them from that fear. And so they end up captive. You know this often happens in the Negro church. You know, there are some Negro preachers that have never opened their mouths about the freedom movement. And not only have they not opened their mouths, they haven’t done anything about it.<br />
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And every now and then you get a few members: "They talk too much about civil rights in that church." I was talking with a preacher the other day and he said a few of his members were saying that. I said, "Don't pay any attention to them. Because number one, the members didn't anoint you to preach. And any preacher who allows members to tell him what to preach isn't much of a preacher."<br />
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For the guidelines made it very clear that God anointed. No member of Ebenezer Baptist Church called me to the ministry. You called me to Ebenezer, and you may turn me out of here, but you can’t turn me out of the ministry, because I got my guidelines and my anointment from God Almighty. And anything I want to say, I'm going to say it from this pulpit.<br />
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It may hurt somebody, I don’t know about that; somebody may not agree with it. But when God speaks, who can but prophesy?The word of God is upon me like fire shut up in my bones, and when God’s word gets upon me, I've got to say it, I’ve got to tell it all over everywhere. And God has called me to deliver those that are in captivity.<br />
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Some people are suffering. Some people are hungry this morning. Some people are still living with segregation and discrimination this morning. I'm going to preach about it. I’m going to fight for them. I’ll die for them if necessary, because I got my guidelines clear. And the God that I serve and the God that called me to preach told me that every now and then I'll have to go to jail for them. Every now and then I’ll have to agonize and suffer for the freedom of his children. I even may have to die for it.<br />
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But if that’s necessary, I'd rather follow the guidelines of God than to follow the guidelines of men. The church is called to set free those that are captive, to set free those that are victims of the slavery of segregation and discrimination, those who are caught up in the slavery of fear and prejudice.<br />
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And then the church, if it is true to its guidelines, must preach the acceptable year of the Lord. You know the acceptable year of the Lord is the year that is acceptable to God because it fulfills the demands of his kingdom. Some people reading this passage feel that it’s talking about some period beyond history, but I say to you this morning that the acceptable year of the Lord can be this year. And the church is called to preach it.<br />
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The acceptable year of the Lord is any year when men decide to do right.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is any year when men will stop lying and cheating.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when women will start using the telephone for constructive purposes and not to spread malicious gossip and false rumors on their neighbors.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is any year when men will stop throwing away the precious lives that God has given them in riotous living.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when people in Alabama will stop killing civil rights workers and people who are simply engaged in the process of seeking their constitutional rights.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will learn to live together as brothers.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will keep their theology abreast with their technology.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will keep the ends for which they live abreast with the means by which they live.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will keep their morality abreast with their mentality.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when all of the leaders of the world will sit down at the conference table and realize that unless mankind puts an end to war, war will put an end to mankind.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: and nations will not rise up against nations, neither will they study war anymore.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will allow justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when we will send to Congress and to state houses of our nation men who will do justly, who will love mercy, and who will walk humbly with their God.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain will be made low; the rough places would be made plain, and the crooked places straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will do unto others as they will have others do unto themselves.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will love their enemies, bless them that curse them, pray for them that despitefully use them.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men discover that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth.<br />
The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess the name of Jesus. And everywhere men will cry out, "Hallelujah, hallelujah! The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah, hallelujah!"<br />
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The acceptable year of the Lord is God’s year.<br />
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These are our guidelines, and if we will only follow the guidelines, we will be ready for God’s kingdom, we will be doing what God’s church is called to do. We won’t be a little social club. We won’t be a little entertainment center. But we’ll be about the serious business of bringing God’s kingdom to this earth.<br />
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It seems that I can hear the God of the universe smiling and speaking to this church, saying, "You are a great church because I was hungry and ye fed me. You are a great church because I was naked and ye clothed me. You are a great church because I was sick and ye visited me. You are a great church because I was in prison and ye gave me consolation by visiting me."<br />
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And this is the church that’s going to save this world. "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to heal the broken-hearted, to set at liberty them that are captive, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-32196996150124804632018-01-08T00:46:00.000-05:002018-01-09T10:16:10.012-05:00Be the Light<a href="http://t.motionelements.com/stock-video/video-backgrounds/me8565679-golden-light-rays-particles-loopable-background-hd-a0120-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Related image" border="0" src="http://t.motionelements.com/stock-video/video-backgrounds/me8565679-golden-light-rays-particles-loopable-background-hd-a0120-poster.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a>Sometimes it feels like everything is just awful. Like things just can't get any worse.<br />
All around, we see division, anger, hatred. So much brokenness. So much injustice.<br />
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Yet the Church has an opportunity in this moment. We have a chance to cast a vision of God's restored Kingdom. To embody a Holy dream. To lead.<br />
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Too often we focus on the brokenness, the violence, and the injustice. That's what get's the most attention, and riles people's emotions.<br />
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It's good to point out what's missing in this world. It's good to identify the things that break God's heart. But too often we just stay there. The the world is good at pointing out what's wrong. God's people are called to shine on what is right.<br />
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I am reminded of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE9ICpo2WpY">recent MennoNerds conversation</a> I had with <a href="http://shalominthecity.com/">Osheta Moore</a>, author of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/151380149X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_-Iftzb3HEMSZQ">Shalom Sistas: Living Wholeheartedly in a Brokenhearted World</a></i>. She observes, "I am surrounded by people who are so eager to notice the brokenness in the world." Doing the work of <i>shalom </i>is not about "camping out in the broken," Osheta continues, "because we don't have to go too far to find the broken. The broken is as close as our Facebook feed. <i>Our</i> job is to say, yeah that's broken, but God's dream for it is <i>this </i>picture of wholeness. God's dream for it is <i>this</i> being restored."<br />
<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55c26712e4b028ec7abaf230/t/59d3d1e4a9db09d615d4a034/1507054057083/Osheta+Moore+IG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for osheta moore shalom" border="0" height="200" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55c26712e4b028ec7abaf230/t/59d3d1e4a9db09d615d4a034/1507054057083/Osheta+Moore+IG.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Osheta reminds us that a call for true <i>shalom</i> is a call into a vision of something whole, something just, something greater than what the world proposes.<br />
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It's not that we should ignore the injustice and the brokenness. We know the issues are real, with devastating consequences for ourselves and for our neighbors. But what if, because we know these issue are real, what if we framed the issues around what could be, and not just what isn't?<br />
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The world already spends too much energy denigrating our communities, telling us what we don't have and what's wrong with us. And too often our churches are the first to contribute to the barrage of negativity and shame, pointing out everything that is wrong and how far we have fallen.<br />
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We do it because we care. Because we know it's not what God would have for us. We do it to provoke change. But we end up missing the <i>Imago Dei</i> in the very people we are trying to champion.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_Xr3cwEhN9xqBWUXLT8Dq31dIDTX448BlHgsOUR_EZQ-z-e6eRX_jxEVK3BVWJn2RByCpV4V1KeySUKgrkN3XeN8E_MCEKTPidY4I9iHyJduf2fVLFLzSS6yDGEijgQVSVX5ZXZa198F/s1600/ShalomDef.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for shalom wholeness" border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_Xr3cwEhN9xqBWUXLT8Dq31dIDTX448BlHgsOUR_EZQ-z-e6eRX_jxEVK3BVWJn2RByCpV4V1KeySUKgrkN3XeN8E_MCEKTPidY4I9iHyJduf2fVLFLzSS6yDGEijgQVSVX5ZXZa198F/s320/ShalomDef.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Instead, if we will allow God light of hope, of wholeness and <i>shalom</i>, to be our focus, we will inspire each other into truly living into our call as the hands and feet of Christ on this earth. The energy will shift, and we will realize that we are already equipped to achieve the change we are seeking. We will move out of our guilt and into redemption. We will no longer be paralyzed in heartbreak and despair, but will mobilize our communities into something better.<br />
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The world looks around and sees darkness, despair, and disillusionment. But that's not who God is. "God says there is more. There is beauty, there is flourishing, there is hope. There is the Holy Spirit. There is good." God says "let there be light!"<br />
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We believe in a world filled with equity and with justice. We believe that everyone deserves to live. We believe every culture is beautiful and worthy. We believe children can be fed and healthy. We believe that every vote should count, and that laws should be fair. We believe schools can be safe and healthcare can be affordable. We believe all neighborhoods can be prosperous and all people can be truly free.<br />
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The world will tell us it cannot be done. But Jesus says, "yes it can."<br />
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This is the work of the Church--the work of hope. Let us reclaim our place as prophetic witnesses to God's vision for the world. And then let us partner with God in bringing about that Kingdom "on earth as it is in Heaven"<br />
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It's a new year. It's the season of Epiphany.<br />
Let's us be the Light, Church.<br />
Be the Light. </div>
BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-66792081790678191642017-12-11T00:04:00.001-05:002017-12-11T00:04:37.825-05:00Rise Up...and Build!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe-mxOP6Lh3to5plCV6V5OAidXLr7coYsGcUIN0BvaGa0PQvrrQEvdEo94dnopf1vmPaa7gbEjJ4R1p3eKnryTE0OJvVIe0Q7r-8guhfBPZ1tPO1I8eaFTpCMfvWJAhpEdDPBWNr4Z500/s1600/Picture7.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="470" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe-mxOP6Lh3to5plCV6V5OAidXLr7coYsGcUIN0BvaGa0PQvrrQEvdEo94dnopf1vmPaa7gbEjJ4R1p3eKnryTE0OJvVIe0Q7r-8guhfBPZ1tPO1I8eaFTpCMfvWJAhpEdDPBWNr4Z500/s320/Picture7.png" width="320" /></a><i>The following is adapted from a brief address given at the 2017 <a href="http://www.4allpeople.org/allpeopleconference/">All People Conference</a> in Columbus, OH. The theme for the event was based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nehemiah+2%3A18&version=NRSV">Nehemiah 2:18</a>--"Rise Up...and Build!"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-i-love-church-for-all-people_31.html">UM Church for All People</a> (C4AP) grew out of the relationships formed in the Free Store. It is through these diverse relationships of mutually and accompaniment that we believe we will come to know God better<br />
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And it was out of these relationships that the church was formed. Folks began praying together, and worshiping together. And so in 2002, C4AP was born. And it grew.<br />
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We host the All People Conference over a Sunday on purpose so that you can get take a deep dive into experiencing the palpable energy of the <i>koinonia </i>in this place. Our pastor is a bit of a Greek scholar so he uses words like that when describing C4AP. Best I can tell though, the literal translation of <i>koinonia </i>must just be “holy chaos,” because that sure can be what it’s like around here.<br />
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If you get a chance, I invite you to experience C4AP on a Sunday morning…and you got experience it to believe it. But I want to describe it a little bit for you here, in the meantime.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcQ8pHfblv388nVZDZrwvQVHz3uaPvnbKZ55P37fiX4OlCBEAk_C88UBY3VDBZyL0uZgYbhHKacvhbLqeN35tDeO6-K2r-R9PshjIz9OL_6xejhmQf-0mDLeQLtd9KukVEu7eomBFqyZq/s1600/Picture2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="300" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcQ8pHfblv388nVZDZrwvQVHz3uaPvnbKZ55P37fiX4OlCBEAk_C88UBY3VDBZyL0uZgYbhHKacvhbLqeN35tDeO6-K2r-R9PshjIz9OL_6xejhmQf-0mDLeQLtd9KukVEu7eomBFqyZq/s320/Picture2.png" width="320" /></a>One of the other ways that’s reflected is in the worship music. We have an excellent band that can play hymns, Black gospel, CCM, Appalachian bluegrass, and much more. We worship with all kinds of music because we want to represent the full range of who we are, and indeed who we are yet to be become…either for the next visitor that walks through the door, or for when we join together with the heavenly chorus.<br />
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And this comes with it’s challenges. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Forbes">Rev. James Forbes</a> notes that “a truly diverse congregation where anybody enjoys more than 75% of what’s going on is not thoroughly integrated.” If everyone’s always comfortable, that’s not integration…that assimilation. That’s cultural hegemony disguised as unity.<br />
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Too often the multicultural church owes its success to the people of color in the congregation simply willing to 'take it for the team' and give up their own beautiful heritage for the sake of white folks being comfortable.<br />
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So what are the rest of us willing bring as a sacrifice of praise?<br />
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This also means that if I’m doing my job as minster of music, no one is happy with me all of the time, but everybody is happy with me some of the time.<br />
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We are a Church for All People. But not all people like all people.<br />
But we have to move from tolerance to acceptance, to affirmation, yes even to love.<br />
We have to take these elements into ourselves and learn and grow from them.<br />
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The world will teach us tolerance…and that’s fine, there’s a place for that.<br />
But the cross calls us to so much more.<br />
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When I come home at the end of the day I do NOT what my husband to say “baby, I tolerate you.”<br />
Maybe that’s the truth. Sometimes tolerance is a good place to start.<br />
But’s not what scripture says.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7Xe2mpwb7IMpjuRzbRu4EOgT7a7IgIpPj7g0K1UYtUhvtbm_RpNqgqC8PDRFmxvwR4J7Av2gINk720xlfiWtRYopwqYlQSe1468dPTK2xgeKDBmigPkZAWMPM7bJFdDGolu1zLTGd_pQ/s1600/Picture3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="900" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7Xe2mpwb7IMpjuRzbRu4EOgT7a7IgIpPj7g0K1UYtUhvtbm_RpNqgqC8PDRFmxvwR4J7Av2gINk720xlfiWtRYopwqYlQSe1468dPTK2xgeKDBmigPkZAWMPM7bJFdDGolu1zLTGd_pQ/s320/Picture3.png" width="320" /></a><br />
"Tolerate your enemies"<br />
"Tolerate your neighbor as you tolerate yourselves."<br />
"Tolerate one another as I have tolerated you."<br />
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No. Christ calls us to <b>love</b>.<br />
But sometimes loving is hard. It’s uncomfortable.<br />
<i>Nobody </i>said church was supposed to be comfortable.<br />
It sooths, it nourishes, it comforts…but it’s not comfortable!<br />
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Here’s another distinctive element that sometimes makes our guests uncomfortable at C4AP: the sharing of joys and concerns. That’s right my friends, brace yourselves, we pass the mic! And that can bother our middle-class, and time-oriented culture friends in the room.<br />
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But let me tell you, it’s the high holy moment of the service. More than the sermon, sometimes even more than communion. It is a moment when folks that do not often get their voices heard. And they’re not voiceless...just unheard. But its a holy moment where those voices are lifted together in prayer.<br />
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It matters that someone can stand up and share that her gas is cut off, and winter is coming, and she's scared. And's she's not necessarily asking anyone to fix it, but asking for us to pray with her about it. And then the very next person may stand up and tell us that their last kid just went off to college, and their excited, but their also sad because now they're empty-nesters. And they know no one can fix it, but they're asking for us to pray with them about it. It matters that these two prayers are lifted equally before the ears of God.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXvikt6DyYCn97oaZBB1SqU-bFL_wWSVYNIf053Qwf0_W3lqxYTDCfTARYNMeAFC7O7M6txBPv6P8FJGtKUFDABvP4pY3H_20N-mLxBtev9JJd2Gzsy6Gb4pUcFFtf_sUiss8MoLAUUzX/s1600/Picture4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="390" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXvikt6DyYCn97oaZBB1SqU-bFL_wWSVYNIf053Qwf0_W3lqxYTDCfTARYNMeAFC7O7M6txBPv6P8FJGtKUFDABvP4pY3H_20N-mLxBtev9JJd2Gzsy6Gb4pUcFFtf_sUiss8MoLAUUzX/s200/Picture4.jpg" width="163" /></a>And every week we also pray the Lords Prayer. That's not so special, lots of churches do that. And we, like you, pray “give us this day.” But I have to tell you tell you I don’t really believe that prayer. I never have. I believe I went to school, got a degree, got a job. I get a paycheck and go to the grocery store. <i style="font-weight: bold;">I</i> give me my daily bread. But it matters that I'm in a pew next to someone who doesn't necessarily know where dinner is coming from tonight, but for a fact that it's God that is providing it. And they're teaching me that it's just as true in my life as well.<br />
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I sit next to folks in worship that are diligent and practiced in relying on God, when all I know how to do is rely on myself. We worship with folks that know how to listen for God’s still small voice, and how to wait upon the Lord.<br />
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And so when my back’s against a while and I’m in my troubled times, I <i>know </i>who I’m turning to to ask for prayer. Every single person that walks through these doors is poor...some of us are just so poor that all we have is money.<br />
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So some folks come to C4AP because they don't feel welcome through the doors of any other church. That’s a travesty, friends. Some folks come out of deep desire to be of service for an under-privileged community. Which is good too.<br />
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Confessionally, I came for more selfish reasons. I have not come to serve the poor. I have come to sit at the feet of those that can show me the face of Christ. I come to C4AP out of a conviction that isolating ourselves among believers of similar backgrounds only deprives our own souls of God's majesty.<br />
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Rich, diverse community is how we will know who God is.<br />
In that regard, I am really spoiled at C4AP.<br />
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Every Sunday morning, I have the privilege of worshiping with a beautiful body of believers.<br />
We worship with old folks, young folks, wealthy, unemployed, folks who’ve done time, PhDs, GEDs, physical illnesses, mental illnesses, addictions, many races, many nationalities, many sexualities,<br />
many backgrounds…And a whole lot of joy in the Lord. It’s holy chaos.<br />
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And I am convinced that in doing so, we draw nearer to God.<br />
In a time when mainline denominations are wringing their hands about declining membership<br />
and aging…buildings. I’ll let you in on a little secret: the answer is simple. I joined this church because it was a church actually, doing, the work of a church. Being what the church was supposed to be<br />
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In Rev 7:9 we see a picture of what heaven will be like someday, that "every tribe, every tongue, every nation" will worship before the thrown. So why not start now? Indeed, don’t we also pray each week, "let it be on earth as it is in heaven."<br />
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And our Triune God is our model: diverse, and unified as One. Isolation within our own groups is not what God would have for us.<br />
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My husband and I moved onto the block in a hard-living neighborhood on the South Side of Columbus to be in relationship with the surrounding community. And we adopted a value of downward mobility, not as a charitable endeavor, but as one fundamental to our own souls. And it is fundamental to life of Christ’s church on earth.<br />
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As Christians, we should be on the forefront of inclusively, not limping along in the rear.<br />
What message does it send the world when we will not unite together to worship our Jesus?<br />
What witness does it give when someone is more welcome on a street corner than they are in a pew?<br />
What does it say about Christ if meth dealers are less discriminating than our churches?<br />
What does mean when hate groups run better outreach campaigns?<br />
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As Christians, we all love Jesus.<br />
But maybe we need to relearn what that means.<br />
Are we Christians that love Jesus…as long as He sticks to our social norms, and knows how to behave? And knows how to put on a good face? And knows how run a meeting using Roberts Rules of order.<br />
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What about when Jesus smells funny, or speaks with a slur? Do we love him then?<br />
Or when his music too loud, his clothes are too baggy, or his body is pierced….oh wait, it was.<br />
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Do we love Jesus when it puts our own egos is at risk?<br />
When he ask us to lay down our own self-importance, our own desire to save the day?<br />
Sometimes we just like to fix things, more than we actually like to love.<br />
Do we love Jesus if we’re not called to fix it?<br />
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You may serve food at a soup kitchen, but have you eaten at the table as well?<br />
You may pray for the poor, but do you ask for their prayers as well?<br />
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What I hope to convince you of before you leave the All People Conference this weekend is that community development <i>is</i> congregational development. Too often we separate service and salvation, as though that 'love thy neighbor' is something to do in the Church's spare time.<br />
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If your church disappeared tomorrow, would your neighborhood notice that you were missing?<br />
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It matters that nearly 1,000 people walk through the doors of our church each week. And it matters that we sit in in the pews together as we pray about what God has next for our community. It matters that it’s those same folks that are serving produce in our Fresh Market, and shopping in our Free Store, and working in our bike shop.<br />
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In a church where most folks make less than $20,000 per year, we see the widow’s mite go into the offering plate every single week. And it’s out of those pennies, and nickels, and dimes that we’ve done $60 million in affordable housing. We absolutely believe that. We just do.<br />
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We take the relationships that we have formed and we invest them in building the inclusive body of Christ, which then has an energy and a momentum, a holy chaos, that we are able to invest in whatever God is doing next.<br />
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We contend that we will draw nearer to God when we are in fellowship with the fuller range of God’s people. And when you draw nearing to God, powerful things start to happen.<br />
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Don't talk to me about the dying church. All this wringing of hands is driving me crazy. Let us live, and live abundantly! Isaiah 61:4 says "they will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations."<br />
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We’re at a critical moment in this neighborhood, indeed in this country. We’re being told it, can’t be done. That’s people cannot come together, cannot bridge the divided.<br />
This is a moment for the Church<br />
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Th church can cast the vision for the diverse and inclusive body of Christ and then boldly live into it as a beacon to the world.<br />
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We can build a Church for All People, we can build a Columbus for All People, and dare I say it…an America for All People. Let us rise up...and build!<br />
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-24449973779589644992017-11-05T22:24:00.002-05:002017-11-05T22:37:21.583-05:00Local Elections: Vote!<a href="http://archive.magazine.jhu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Afro_voting2_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://archive.magazine.jhu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Afro_voting2_11.jpg" height="320" width="253" /></a>Tuesday is another election day.<br />
<b>Are you registered? Do you know your polling place?</b><br />
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I've always made it a point to vote in all elections, local and national, that were available to me, just on basic stubborn principle. Recent years have emphasized to me <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/19/1323089/-The-People-of-Ferguson-Have-the-Power-To-FIRE-the-Entire-Police-Force">how truly important <b><i>local</i></b> elections are</a>, even as a matter of life and death.<br />
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In Ferguson, <a href="http://www.fergusoncity.com/92/Police-Department">Police Chief</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Police_Department_(Missouri)#2014_police_shooting">Thomas Jackson</a> was appointed by the elected mayor (via city manager). The <a href="http://www.stlouisco.com/LawandPublicSafety/PoliceDepartment">St. Louis County</a> Chief of Police, <a href="http://www.stlouisco.com/LawandPublicSafety/PoliceDepartment/AboutUs/ChiefJonBelmar">Jon Belmar</a>, was also appointed by elected officials (county executive and city council). In Beavercreek, the Ohio city where <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014/09/whatisjustice-for-john-crawford.html">John Crawford</a> was killed, the elected <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavercreek,_Ohio#Local_government">city council members, city manager, and city mayor</a> were the ones to appoint the <a href="http://beavercreekohio.gov/197/Police">Chief of Police Dennis Evers</a> and the ones who determine police budgeting allocations. These are the folks overseeing the police force chains-of-command that establish protocols, that train their officers, that give the orders, that the lead internal investigations, and that buy military equipment for their departments.<br />
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And state-level elections matter too. The special prosecutor for the Crawford shooting, <a href="http://www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com/story/news/state/2014/09/06/say-wal-mart-prosecutors-experience-plus/15194261/">Mark Piepmeier</a>, was appointed by State Attorney General <a href="http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/About-AG/Mike-Dewine">Mike DeWine</a>. Florida <a href="http://www.sao4th.com/">State Attorney Angela Corey</a> was elected to office in 2008 before famously failing to convict George Zimmerman of murder, even while prosecuting <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014/08/marissa418-to-set-oppressed-free.html">Marissa Alexander</a> to the fullest extent of the law. And it was Florida <a href="http://www.flgov.com/">Governor Rick Scott</a> who first assigned Corey to the Zimmerman case.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Seal_of_the_Attorney_General_of_Ohio.svg/2000px-Seal_of_the_Attorney_General_of_Ohio.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Seal_of_the_Attorney_General_of_Ohio.svg/2000px-Seal_of_the_Attorney_General_of_Ohio.svg.png" height="200" width="197" /></a><br />
County executive? Attorney General? City Council? County Sheriff? State Attorney? When is the last time you paid close attention to who was elected to these offices? But these are the elected positions that had direct influence on the most prominent racial cases of recent history.<br />
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Though the narrative is sometimes <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/whos-charge-here-ferguson-and-st-louis-county-police-not-elected-officials">convoluted</a>, it's the <i>local </i>ballot elections that are at the center of most racial justice issues today. They determine who will be prosecuted under <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2012/03/incarceration-new-jim-crow.html">New Jim Crow laws</a>, which legislatures might propose a new <a href="http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/11/24/kill-at-will-bill-moves-forward-in-ohio/">Kill-At-Will</a> bill or a <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/11/war-on-drugs.html">mandatory sentencing law</a>. It's the county commissioners, governors, and state officials that determine how your local taxes are spent, whether on police militarization or on public transportation. It's the school board members that decide whether to feed the <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-school-to-prison-pipeline-part-1.html">School-to-Prison Pipeline</a> or to actively reverse <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014/08/timeline-of-racism-part-2.html">systemic educational disparity</a>. It's also these local elections that regulate <a href="https://www.hudexchange.info/home/">housing affordability</a>, <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2012/04/earth-day-stewardship-and-environmental.html">environmental justice</a>, and <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/discrimination-employment.aspx">discrimination laws</a>--all decisions made at the local level, and with immediate consequences for racial justice.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.fairvote.org/voter_turnout#voter_turnout_101"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hE08NXAYDukmNzEAJ4Ug2GPdiUwjoLux_E-EUkQDc_sgKL7WP6Y05HJ3BlH2v4cmurxO2DKJ9LfdmtK5RpMxIAo9IPu9Y654lbpGjS6iM3b54AdF7q94BgmFZ2bTKROgE-KqPd49SsNz/s320/Capture.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fairvote.org/voter_turnout#voter_turnout_101">Source</a></td></tr>
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But as important as off-year voting is, it's not always made easy. Municipal elections are often held during odd-numbered years (as is the case in <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Voices/2014/0820/The-timing-of-elections-matters-Ferguson-edition">Ferguson</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavercreek,_Ohio#Local_government">Beavercreek</a>), those without major national elections, and thus with lower expected voter turnout. States may enact restrictive laws that reduce voter participation (see post: <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-trouble-with-voter-id-laws-part-1.html">The Trouble with Voter ID Laws</a>). While Ohio, <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/Early_voting">like most states</a>, allows for early voting, the law is getting more prohibitive, the Supreme Court having recently <a href="http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/09/29/early-voting-in-ohio.html">eliminated all evening voting hours</a> and reduced weekend voting from 24 to 16 hours.<br />
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Clearly, laws such as these disproportionately affect working-class folk who hold one or more jobs to make ends meet. Of note, it is also elected local officials, like <a href="http://www.sos.state.oh.us/">Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted</a>, who regulate the elections themselves.<br />
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Shouldn't we laud an increase in voter turnout rather than trying to suppress it? Shouldn't we want more citizens to become engaged in electoral proceedings, not fewer? How does decreased participation enhance the democratic process?<br />
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Perhaps there is a fear of allowing more people to vote in a democratic society. But if a political party makes gains from voter suppression, what does it say about that party’s platform? Clearly not that it is formed with the benefit all citizens in mind.</div>
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Years of disenfranchisement leads to a foundation of legal precedent and <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/04/14/if-congress-looked-like-us/">accumulated power</a> that perpetuate disparity and injustice. It’s no coincidence that that the <a href="http://media.cq.com/pub/demographics/">Senate is still 94 percent white</a>. As Christians, we know God says to “choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you” (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%201:13&version=NIV">Deuteronomy 1:13</a>), but some groups are still embarrassingly absent from our leadership.</div>
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Christians have a <a href="http://bible.cc/acts/14-23.htm">legacy</a> of <a href="http://bible.cc/2_corinthians/8-19.htm">electing</a> leaders, and we have a responsibility to protect this right for all of our sisters and brothers. The early church decided that it would be good for them to “choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn responsibility over to them” (<a href="http://bible.cc/acts/6-3.htm">Acts 6:3</a>). Indeed, we are to “select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens” (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+18%3A21&version=NIV">Exodus 18:21</a>). When we exercise the right to vote, we participate in a history passed down to us from both our political and spiritual forebears.</div>
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This year, make <a href="http://www.vote411.org/">plans to ensure that you cast your ballot for local elections</a>. Most states allow <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx">no-excuse absentee ballot voting</a>, which means you can <a href="http://www.longdistancevoter.org/absentee_ballots#.VDIMb_mwJcQ">vote in your pajamas</a> from the comfort of your couch (allowing you to <a href="http://www.vote411.org/ballot#.VDHpR_mwJcQ">research each of the names and issues</a> that appear on your ballot as you go). As mentioned above, most states also allow for early in-person voting, which means you can find a time to vote that is convenient for your schedule. <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/11/05/why-dont-people-vote/">No excuses this year</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvBXeqTZcQVEmI-VeNa18L_8F5DCjrdalHrOw6HOeuXd7u_wEK5QyxH3EHrrXut0AQ9-Oax3yXBd3zIY7aS9uKyc2obIgb1so4ZcQf-lMF1Yg7RJiYh3EAjH_PcfXFHOU1IkLWBTWaD9P/s1600/constitutional_vote.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvBXeqTZcQVEmI-VeNa18L_8F5DCjrdalHrOw6HOeuXd7u_wEK5QyxH3EHrrXut0AQ9-Oax3yXBd3zIY7aS9uKyc2obIgb1so4ZcQf-lMF1Yg7RJiYh3EAjH_PcfXFHOU1IkLWBTWaD9P/s200/constitutional_vote.jpeg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.vote411.org/bystate.php">So, check yourself</a>: are you registered? Is your registered address current? Do you know the <a href="http://www.vote411.org/bystate.php">ID requirements</a> in your state? If you're all set personally, help ensure that your friends and neighbors also understand their voting rights and the importance of local elections. Organize a trip with your church to go vote together, or volunteer to help shuttle voters to the polls on election day.<br />
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As Christian voters we have an obligation to “discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good” (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%2034:4&version=NIV">Job 34:4</a>). We tend to pay attention to the Office of the President more than any other elected official. But our voices have the most influence on our own lives, and the lives of our neighbors, when we make sure to vote locally.BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-82815366980436641502017-11-03T00:16:00.000-04:002017-11-03T11:54:43.161-04:00Friday Fruit (11/3/17)<a href="http://museoblaisten.com/images/coleccion/MI036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for Altar de Dolores" , Maria Izquierdo" border="0" src="http://museoblaisten.com/images/coleccion/MI036.jpg" height="320" width="254" /></a>On Fridays, BTSF offers links to other discussions about race & Christianity. It's an opportunity for you to read other perspectives, and for me to give props to the many voices leading the way...<br />
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<b>Weekly Round Up:</b><br />
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<li><a href="http://www.kathykhang.com/2017/10/26/no-justice-no-peace-gospel-conference/">No Justice, No Peace of the Gospel Conference</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/racial-justice/letter-white-suburban-christian-brothers-sisters-one-month-charlottesville/">One Month After Charlottesville: A Letter to My White Suburban Christian Brothers and Sisters</a></li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="https://www.redletterchristians.org/im-not-full-american-because-im-not-white/">‘I’m Not Full American, Because I’m Not White’</a></li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="http://www.kathykhang.com/2017/09/05/defenddaca/">#DefendDACA</a></li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/jamele-hill/">Jemele Hill</a></li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="https://www.colorlines.com/articles/infographic-breaks-down-how-racism-impacts-black-people-daily">Infographic Breaks Down How Racism Impacts Black People Daily</a></li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2017/09/06/rev-robert-lee-iv/">Rev. Robert Lee IV</a></li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="http://remezcla.com/lists/culture/mexican-female-artists/">Beyond Frida: 10 Mexican Female Artists You Should Know</a></li>
</ul>
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These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?</div>
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Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged.</div>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-56832551922329267712017-10-29T19:11:00.000-04:002017-10-29T19:11:34.683-04:00Halloween Costumes<i>'Tis the season for a reminder...</i><br />
<i><br /></i><a href="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/Taylor2FINAL1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/Taylor2FINAL1-1.jpg" height="200" width="134" /></a>There are <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/10/7_racist_halloween_costumes_to_avoid.html">plenty</a> of <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/10/29/racist-halloween-costumes/">articles</a> <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/10/30/guest-post-asian-hair-for-halloween/">about</a><b> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindylu/sets/72157622462938397/detail/">racially</a> <a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2007/10/30/reasons-i-hate-halloween/">inappropriate</a> <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2011/10/30/occupysunday-blood-boiler-du-jour/">costumes</a></b>, yet <a href="http://resistracism.wordpress.com/2007/10/31/the-racist-sexist-hellfest/">every year</a><a href="http://resistracism.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/halloween/"> folks</a> <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2009/10/16/the-worst-sexy-halloween-costumes-sexy-fat-arab-edition/">perpetuate</a> <b><a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/10/31/happy-halloween-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SociologicalImagesSeeingIsBelieving+%28Sociological+Images%3A+Seeing+Is+Believing%29">appropriation</a>, <a href="http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2011/10/open-letter-to-pocahotties-and-indian.html">caricature</a>, and <a href="http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/11/paris-hilton-as-sexy-indian-halloween.html">humiliation</a> as <a href="http://dontpaytopray.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-most-racist-day-of-year.html">Halloween sport</a></b>. It is <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2009/10/28/how-to-inform-a-friend-their-halloween-costume-is-racist/">annual affliction</a>, so I guess it's worth making the point yet again...<br />
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<b>Using a culture, race, or ethnicity as a costume is not appropriate. Ever. </b><br />
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On Halloween, we get the opportunity to disguise ourselves as <b>something 'other,'something different from normal, something bizarre</b>. That people of color might be one of these costume options is tragic and offensive.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/SETH2FINAL2-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/SETH2FINAL2-1.jpg" height="200" width="134" /></a><a href="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/Kai%20lee2FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/Kai%20lee2FINAL.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a>As <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/10/29/racist-halloween-costumes/">Lisa Wade notes</a>, Halloween outfits basically come in three flavors: <b>scary, funny, or fantasy</b>. Real cultures shouldn't fit into any of these categories. By using people's identities as costumes, we imply that they are 'not one of us,' or not even fully human, belonging instead to the realm of ghouls and goblins.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/kahlid2FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/kahlid2FINAL.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a><a href="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/Ranato2FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/Ranato2FINAL.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a>In the U.S., we spend the entire year marginalizing people of color, maintaining <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-to-get-to-sesame-street.html">low visibility on TV</a>, in movies, and in the media, but then suddenly become hyper-interested in '<b>appreciating culture'</b> for one offensive night (as though dressing as a Hollywood version of what you think a culture is has anything to do with appreciating it).<br />
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When we claim that it's all '<b>good harmless fun</b>,' we reveal our privilege never to have to face the consequences of such stereotypes in our own lives. We reveal the power we hold to dictate who defines 'harmless' and 'fun.' We reveal how loudly our own voices are heard, even as we silence others. We reveal our capacity to imagine fantasy worlds for real cultures, while ignoring the historical baggage that makes us feel uncomfortable.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home.html"><b>Students Teaching About Racism in Society (STARS)</b></a> at <b>Ohio University</b> began a poster campaign to educate folks about the hurtful nature of racist costumes with the slogan "<b>we're a culture, not a costume</b>." All of the costumes they depict are real, and are perennially reprised. They get big props for concisely and clearly communicating what many of us have been frustrated with for years.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home_files/Taylor2FINAL1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
So, before dressing up this year, refer to Austin C. Brown’s guide to <a href="http://austinchanning.com/blog/2013/10/halloween">finding culture-appropriate costumes</a>. And if you are looking for some clever alternatives, check out <a href="http://takebackhalloween.org/">Take Back Halloween</a>, and <a href="http://lerablog.org/general/trends-fashion/alternative-halloween-outfit-ideas/">try some new themes</a> this year.BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-143000000357319322017-10-08T20:56:00.001-04:002017-10-08T20:56:23.580-04:00Creation Myths: Christopher Columbus<a href="http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2010/10/columbus.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" src="http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2010/10/columbus.gif" height="200" width="161" /></a><br />
What we now accept as the<b> </b>true history of the United States in reality is comprised of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281"><b>decades of creation myths</b></a>. After the American revolution, having separated ourselves from the rich history of Europe (and having sneered at this continent's indigenous histories to the point of annihilation), the newly formed United States found itself without a heritage with which to construct its new civilization. We were left without a history, without heroes or cultural icons. And the void needed to be filled.<br />
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As a result, we now have a cultural reliance on several sacred stories of our foundation. We revere the country's <a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html">holy texts</a>, and ritualistically repeat the essential creeds to our children. The stories of <a href="http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/mandm/intro.asp"><b>Jamestown</b></a>, the <a href="http://hnn.us/articles/406.html"><b>pilgrims</b></a>, and <a href="http://www.history.com/videos/did-pilgrims-really-land-at-plymouth-rock#did-pilgrims-really-land-at-plymouth-rock"><b>Plymouth Rock</b></a> can be piously recalled. Yet none of the modern tales match the actual reality of our past. <a href="http://richgibson.com/talktoteachers.htm"><b>James Baldwin</b></a> notes, "what passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one’s heroic ancestors."<br />
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<a href="http://www.travel-studies.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-size/coll1eecard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.travel-studies.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-size/coll1eecard.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a>And we have made heroes out of our<b> </b>cruelest ancestors, not the least of which was <b><a href="http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/History/Hero-making_LMTTM.html">Christopher</a> <a href="http://abagond.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/christopher-columbus/">Columbus</a></b>. After first encountering the Arawaks, <a href="http://www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/apeopleshistory.html">Columbus realized</a> "with 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." Thus was born America's true founding legacy.<br />
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To take advantage of Columbus's 'discovery', <a href="http://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/requerimiento">Spain</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requerimiento">declared</a> that "<b>with the help of God</b>, we shall powerfully enter into your country, and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke and<b> obedience of the Church </b>and of their highnesses; we shall take you, and your wives, and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can, as to vassals who do not obey, and refuse to receive their lord, and resist and contradict him; and we protest that the deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault, and not that of their highnesses, or ours, nor of these cavaliers who come with us."<br />
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The crimes that followed Columbus's landing set the stage for centuries abuse and atrocity, the legacy of which <a href="http://www.perc.org/articles/article170.php">continues today</a>. Much of these works were carried out in the name of Christ. Consider that the first English ship to carry enslaved West Africans to the New World was <a href="http://www.macquirelatory.com/Jesus%20Slaveship.htm">named </a><i><a href="http://www.macquirelatory.com/Jesus%20Slaveship.htm">Jesus</a>. </i>For hundreds of people this was the first encounter with God's Son, He that had come to '<a href="http://bible.cc/luke/4-18.htm">set the captives free</a>,'<br />
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<a href="http://zinnedproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/rc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://zinnedproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/rc.jpg" height="200" width="164" /></a>Many of us already know that the stories we heard in grade school are myths. But white America perpetuates and clings to them anyway. Why? Perhaps we are too afraid to look straight into the face of our generational sin. White Americans <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2011/02/uweekly-race-matters.html">continue to benefit</a> from our ancestors' actions, and it's time we owned up to the implications.<br />
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That Columbus is lauded as a hero is shameful and embarrassing. We need to <a href="http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/287-124/13834-rethinking-columbus-towards-a-true-peoples-history">rethink</a> what stories we <a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2010/10/11/telling-the-truth-and-community-accountability-on-columbus-daythanksgiving/">tell</a>. Begin by watching this video, and consider who and what we celebrate on Columbus Day:<br />
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-48072468772514244122017-10-05T23:02:00.001-04:002017-10-05T23:02:29.111-04:00Friday Fruit (10/06/17)<a href="http://www.colorlines.com/sites/default/files/styles/embedded_image/public/images/articles/2017/10/quvenzhane-wallis-now-100217.jpg?itok=8Sru2Z43&timestamp=1506975949" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Black girl in black dress and sweater with gold necklace in front of teal background with light grey text and insignia" border="0" height="209" src="http://www.colorlines.com/sites/default/files/styles/embedded_image/public/images/articles/2017/10/quvenzhane-wallis-now-100217.jpg?itok=8Sru2Z43&timestamp=1506975949" width="320" /></a>On Fridays, BTSF offers links to other discussions about race & Christianity. It's an opportunity for you to read other perspectives, and for me to give props to the many voices leading the way...<br />
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<b>Weekly Round Up:</b><br />
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<li><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/3-concerns-about-pursuing-multi-ethnic-churches#When:2017-09-13T05:00:00+00:00">3 Concerns About Pursuing Multi-Ethnic Churches</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/september/native-american-worship-drums-in-church-debate.html">A Deeper Debate over Drums in Church</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://smwatkins.com/2017/09/28/the-problem-with-protests/">The Problem with Protests</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.scarymommy.com/racism-manifests-through-whataboutism/?utm_source=FBOnsite">Your Whataboutism Is Exposing Your Racism</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://hackingchristianity.net/2017/09/what-are-you-prepared-to-do-for-justice.html">What Are You Prepared To Do For Justice?</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/short-i-was-slave">'In Short, I Was a Slave'</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/read-adam-beach-hollywoods-erasure-native-actors">Adam Beach on Hollywood's Erasure of Native Actors</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/quvenzhane-wallis-will-release-two-new-childrens-books">Quvenzhané Wallis Releases Two New Children's Books</a></li>
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These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?</div>
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Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged.</div>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-33942979795640464302017-10-02T00:11:00.000-04:002017-10-02T00:46:43.315-04:00Appropriation of Protest<a href="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/57c7589a1700001a1fc76d55.gif?cache=ohgbobx3ej&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for kaepernick vs trump" border="0" height="280" src="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/57c7589a1700001a1fc76d55.gif?cache=ohgbobx3ej&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale" width="320" /></a>I first wrote about '<a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2016/09/for-such-time-as-this-taking-knee.html">Taking a Knee</a>' a year ago. That's when Colin Kaepernick began his now famous National anthem protest. He started it to challenge police brutality and racism. Not to make a point about free speech. Not in defiance of Trump.<br />
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Now, scores of players, as well as coaches and owners, are taking symbolic postures during the anthem. They're upset that Trump tweeted. They want to express their free speech. They're showing their solidarity. But Kaepernick is still out of a job.<br />
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Athletes of color have a <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2016/08/for-such-time-as-this-black-power-at.html">long history of political expression</a>, and an equally long history of receiving criticism for it. We want them to entertain us, to serve us, not to challenges us or make us even slightly uncomfortable with the system that put them there.<br />
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<a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2017/09/25/take-a-knee/">Abagond observes</a>, "that making it about respect for the flag, or even free speech, draws attention away from what taking the knee is all about: protesting racial inequality and, in particular, police brutality."<br />
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<a href="https://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2017_14/1955161/170405-pepsi-composite-cr-0807_14fe29bb715f07716b97c1c1bd550a82.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for jenner pepsi" border="0" height="171" src="https://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2017_14/1955161/170405-pepsi-composite-cr-0807_14fe29bb715f07716b97c1c1bd550a82.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
And it's not the first time Black expression in the face of oppression has been co-opted by a white narrative. This is the legacy of Black blues, hip hop, fashion, and many other means of voice that were birthed out of a desire to call attention to the lived realities of life as a Black person in the United States.<br />
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There is a constant drive in white dominate culture to appropriate, and thus to tame, the expressions of oppressed groups. Indeed, the work of combating injustice itself functions this way. As months protects unfolded after the killings of Michael Brown, there were ongoing calls to “wait for the facts” from many moderate white progressives. Protesters were criticized and marches were deemed a waste of time.<br />
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These days, the controversial and “militant” phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ is worn as a badge of honor by progressive social justice warriors that want to show they are truly ‘woke.’ Marches take place every week across the country for one cause or another. And now anyone that wants to feel like they're taking a stand...can 'take a knee.'<br />
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<a href="http://worldwideinterweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/protest-sign-funny.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for ironic protest" border="0" src="http://worldwideinterweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/protest-sign-funny.png" height="200" width="132" /></a>Too often, people of color take the risk first, finding a new and powerful way to make their voices heard. Too often, white folks respond first with anger and skepticism, followed by dismissal, and ultimately finished by co-opting to the point of ineffectiveness or distraction.<br />
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It's not necessarily bad that more people have become aware, or have been willing to join a cause. But what if we didn't wait so long to stand up against injustice? What if, in particular, the Church were at the forefront of movements for justice, instead of limping along in the rear? What if we stood for the causes we were asked to stand for...rather than just appropriating the methods to our own ends?BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-53839574973961018572017-09-17T21:57:00.000-04:002017-09-17T21:57:34.525-04:00Sanctuary for Edith Espinal<div>
<a href="https://scontent.fcmh1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21371017_1603122833085038_3991281318146829450_n.jpg?oh=2c6053cda63a3c9a048dee479ba7dc5e&oe=5A5517C2" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image may contain: 6 people, people standing" border="0" height="213" src="https://scontent.fcmh1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21371017_1603122833085038_3991281318146829450_n.jpg?oh=2c6053cda63a3c9a048dee479ba7dc5e&oe=5A5517C2" width="320" /></a>The Church is a place of sanctuary. This legacy goes back to the earliest days of our faith, offering refuge and shelter for those being persecuted. Will God's people offer sanctuary today? </div>
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Edith Espinal has lived in Columbus, OH a long time. Her three children live here too, and two of them are citizens. Four years ago, she applied for asylum but was denied, as were her subsequent appeals. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) has given her final notice and she now wears an ankle monitor. On September 18, she faces deportation.<div>
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"I don’t want to leave behind my children"</div>
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Edith has no criminal record, she's never even gotten a speeding ticket. </div>
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"I'm not a bad person. I've always tried to follow the law"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPdd3yusF7FAs-o190-sM5u06lINi4xm4ZxFoMvZta5fOjoCbirKcrpQ2FE5RD-htn_dEvbbayH8vBI1GZgHpc9bfaCcNDRPYxQ1ypIOYgm_Iv5LkgiLs1Fndf6KDVeXNauiYfrRnS5PS/s1600/2017-09-17+19.06.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPdd3yusF7FAs-o190-sM5u06lINi4xm4ZxFoMvZta5fOjoCbirKcrpQ2FE5RD-htn_dEvbbayH8vBI1GZgHpc9bfaCcNDRPYxQ1ypIOYgm_Iv5LkgiLs1Fndf6KDVeXNauiYfrRnS5PS/s320/2017-09-17+19.06.42.jpg" width="320" /></a>Columbus faith leaders, spearheaded by Columbus Mennonite Church, are asking ICE "to hear the plea of our neighbor, and join us in keeping her home with her family...We will continue to walk with Edith and her family in hope and prayer until she receives a stay of removal." Without this stay, Edith will be deported. </div>
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How do we as Christians walk in accompaniment with Edith and her family? </div>
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Theirs represents the thousands of other families in similar situations. Afraid of being taken from their home. Afraid of losing their loved ones. Afraid of what comes next.</div>
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These are real people. They have faces, they have names. </div>
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Moreover, they are the face of Christ. Will we offer him sanctuary, or will we send him away? </div>
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<a href="http://fpl.actionkit.com/sign/edith-espinal-stay-removal/"><i>Add your name to the petition for Edith Espinal</i></a></div>
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<i>Luchamos al fin.</i></div>
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<i><a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23LetEdithStay&src=typd">#LetEdithStay</a></i></div>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-18042857983793196642017-09-10T23:06:00.000-04:002017-09-10T23:30:39.274-04:00Dream on Dreamer<i>The following is adapted from a sermon originally given in honor of MLK Sunday</i><i> by <a href="https://twitter.com/cook263">Rev. Karen Cook</a>. Today, it is reposted as a word of encouragement to DREAMers who face uncertain futures in these times. We love you, we'll keep fighting for you. Dream on.</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://twitter.com/cook263"><img alt="Image result for karen cook umc" border="0" src="http://www.capitolareanorth.org/sites/default/files/district/capitolareanorth/image/page/karen-photo.jpg" height="200" width="160" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/cook263">Pastor Karen Cook</a></td></tr>
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There is <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2037">story about a young man named Joseph</a>.</div>
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He was one of the youngest of Jacob’s twelve sons, Joseph the dreamer.<br />
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How many of you dream? What will it take for us to just let go and dream? Why do dreams puzzle us? What make a dream a good dream or a bad dream? </div>
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<b>Dream on Dreamer. </b> </div>
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Joseph had these two dreams and he made the mistake of sharing these dreams with his brothers. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” (Genesis 37:6-7)</div>
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I didn’t have brothers or sisters but I can just image with my minds eye some jealousy was rearing its ugly head. How dare Joseph have the audacity share this dream with his brothers, his half brothers at that. Before Joseph’s brothers could recover from the shock of his first dream he told them about the second dream. </div>
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He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” (Gen. 37:9) Not only did the brothers react but daddy had something to say this time. “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” (Gen. 37:10) </div>
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<b>Dream on Dreamer.</b></div>
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It was on a hot Wednesday, August 28, 1963, that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaimed for all American and all of the world to hear: </div>
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<a href="http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/articles/History/M-Z/mlk-jr-05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for mlk" border="0" src="http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/articles/History/M-Z/mlk-jr-05.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood...</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."</span></blockquote>
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<b>Dream on Dreamer. </b> </div>
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Joseph’s half brother Reuben said, “let’ not kill him; let’s defer him.” Other brothers said, “Let’s sell him into slavery, and file him away in that part of the memory bank labeled deferred and forgotten. </div>
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And we will see what will become of his dreams.”</div>
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Joseph’s brothers made a big mistake. </div>
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<a href="http://www.holyhome.nl/bijbelplaatjes/lll2-05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Joseph tells his brothers about his dreams" border="0" src="http://www.holyhome.nl/bijbelplaatjes/lll2-05.jpg" height="213" title="" width="320" /></a>They didn’t know that the Dream-Giver was using what they meant for evil would be used to bring about the fulfillment of Joseph’s dream. They didn’t know that God was using the evil to fortify Joseph and his faith for that moment when Joseph’s own brothers would come to his doorstep begging for bread. </div>
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Because Joseph waited on God, he had been allowed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Because he had trusted the God who gave him this dream; that same God had taken those same dreams that people said couldn’t and wouldn’t never be; and brought them to fulfillment. That same God had taken those same dreams that folk said he was uppity for dreaming and had no right to dream and turned them into living realities. I can see Joseph as he looked at his brothers and said, </div>
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“You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”</div>
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What happens when a dreamer is attacked and his or her dream deferred? I’ll tell you what happens. The same God who gave the dream uses those hardships, uses the suffering, uses the pain, uses the obstacles which were meant to destroy God’s servants. Hear this beloved, God will use it as a means to fortify and strengthen the dreamer. Beloved, I know it may not feel like it now but hold on dreamer, hold on.</div>
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The bible says, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8-9)</div>
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTaZfltI6Kk_8Q6_oI-qPQvz4gU4B73eMgiSgbbxSgYQVYGSoIN" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Complentative MLK" border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTaZfltI6Kk_8Q6_oI-qPQvz4gU4B73eMgiSgbbxSgYQVYGSoIN" title="" /></a>His body could be killed but neither Dr. King nor the dream itself could be destroyed because Dr. King had learned to trust the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God of Joseph, the God of his mother and father, the God who had set his soul on fire and told him, “I have set thee a watchman on the wall” (Ezekiel 3:17)</div>
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Dr. King learned that in all things God’s grace is still sufficient and God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. (Hebrews 11:34)</div>
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Dr. King knew that no matter what people said about him or did to him he could not be discredited with God, who had put on his back the multicolored robe of mercy, redemption, salvation, love, and forgiveness which had been purchased by the blood of Jesus on Calvary’s tree.</div>
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What happens when the dreamer is attacked and his or her dream deferred? If you trust God, he will let you see the fulfillment of your dreams.</div>
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Beloved, if God has shown you a book and it says authored by________, yet you don’t have a computer or a laptop, or an iPad, baby write that thing out long hand. </div>
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<b>Dream on Dreamer.</b></div>
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If God has put a song in your heart and a melody in your soul, yet you can’t play a lick, baby write down those words and keep humming that melody. </div>
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<b>Dream on Dreamer.</b></div>
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If you are the best cook this side of Parsons Ave. and you see yourself in your own restaurant, baby keep on cooking. </div>
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<b>Dream on Dreamer.</b></div>
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If God has called you to teach, yet you don’t have a degree don’t let that stop you, teach baby teach. Teach your children, teach your grandchildren, teach in Sunday School, teach a bible study. </div>
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<b>Dream on Dreamer.</b></div>
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There maybe one here today, your dream has been laying dormant for many years. If that is you, today starts your journey of fulfilling your dream. I need somebody to shout…I’m getting my dream back!</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Dream on Dreamer!</b></div>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-10492173705633929382017-09-03T22:30:00.001-04:002020-09-07T13:17:03.485-04:00Labor Day<a href="http://s4.hubimg.com/u/4039851_f520.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Cartoon: Executive hanging a 'happy labor day' sign while standing on the back of a laborer" border="0" height="227" src="http://s4.hubimg.com/u/4039851_f520.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a>Once per year the USA celebrates <b>Labor Day</b>, a national holiday originating from 1800's celebrations of trade workers and the social/economic benefits they bring to our society. So, is this holiday only an antiquated excuse for an extra time to sleep in?<br />
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Let's use the day to examine the serious economic and labor struggles that still plague our country.<br />
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It is increasingly difficult for the average worker to support a family. In most states, <i>minimum </i>wage is well below the <i>living </i>wage (<a href="http://www.ehow.com/about_6398862_living-wage-vs_-minimum-wage.html">there is a big difference between the two</a>). Ironically, thousands of folks will go to work on Labor Day because they need the money and can't afford a day of rest.<br />
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When folks are desperate for work, they will endure any number of <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/07/19/dizzy_and_sick_mcdonalds_workers_strike_after_enduring_110_degree_heat/">abuses or indignities</a>. They may work in dangerous environments, or be paid less than promised. Workers may be given insufficient training, leading to injury or embarrassment when they don't perform to standards.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4E92pG2wnBNKZgxJ2H2ygU3ogqgch3OYwU8yaUm6MgqGkEgPVB6TQMkDbb2velzEN65o4S-0u9W2qu0XxokFNiGrhDZDVoannPgCMpi0rydTyBWDK9VCQuUA2kDRoAqeX9ctrex8lm-6W/s238/loanshark_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4E92pG2wnBNKZgxJ2H2ygU3ogqgch3OYwU8yaUm6MgqGkEgPVB6TQMkDbb2velzEN65o4S-0u9W2qu0XxokFNiGrhDZDVoannPgCMpi0rydTyBWDK9VCQuUA2kDRoAqeX9ctrex8lm-6W/s0/loanshark_large.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Employees may be held at work long after their shift is over, if that is what the boss deems necessary. Maybe they need to pick the kids up from school, but they don't dare leave and risk losing their jobs. Workers may be required to maintain an open schedule to be placed in shifts as is convenient for the company, but may not be told their schedule until the last minute, and so cannot line up child care or other jobs.</div></span></div>
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Folks may spend an hour on the bus to get to a job, only to arrive and find out they aren't needed that day. Or they work for two hours and then get sent home. "Try again tomorrow." And if they don't show up for that chance, they know they loose the opportunity for later.<br />
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There are serious consequences of this labor disparity. Workers skip meals so that their children may eat. Folks turn to loan sharks to make ends meet, entrenching themselves in a spiral of debt (see post: <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-cost-of-being-poor-part-1.html">The Cost of Being Poor</a>). Families make tough choices to cut out "non-essentials" like medicine (see post: <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2012/03/health-care-reform.html">Healthcare Reform</a>), clothing, and nutritious food.<br />
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And as the nation bemoaned the 7% unemployment rate, unemployment in <a href="http://publicreligion.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GOTW.082113-01.jpg">communities of color remains at 13%</a>--the same racialized wage disparity ratio that <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-dream-50-years-later.html">Dr. King bemoaned</a> in 1967. Indeed, while analysts fret about about the housing market, there continue to be huge disparities in <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/08/26/racialethnic-gap-in-u-s-homeownership/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SociologicalImagesSeeingIsBelieving+%28Sociological+Images%3A+Seeing+Is+Believing%29">homeownership across race</a>.<br />
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Take a close look at the words of <a href="http://www.esvbible.org/search/Jeremiah+22%3A13-16/"><b>Jeremiah 22:13-16</b></a>. Woe to we that profit from injustice and gain economic security at the expense of others! We "who make our neighbor serve us for nothing and do not give them their wages." Jesus himself urges that "<a href="http://bible.cc/luke/10-7.htm">the workers deserve their wages.</a>" And yet, as more states put an end to collective bargaining, the wealthy receive a <a href="http://www.good.is/post/must-see-chart-tax-breaks-for-the-rich-versus-budget-cuts/">smaller tax burden</a> now than they have in the last <a href="http://tom-atlee.posterous.com/the-surprising-history-of-federal-taxes-on-we">80 years</a>.<br />
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Part of our problem is that we have a very warped perspective of economic reality. Particularly since housing in the United States is largely segregated by economic standing, people look around themselves and feel that, on the whole, there is equal opportunity and prosperity for everyone.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YnQwTS-K6jI">PBS News Hour</a> </b>recently conducted an informal survey, asking people identify the sort of economy that exist in the USA. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnQwTS-K6jI&feature=player_embedded">Their findings are telling</a>. Also, <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-18-2011/world-of-class-warfare---warren-buffett-vs--wealthy-conservatives"><b>Jon Stewart</b></a> points out the huge economic disparities that most folks gloss over. Both of these videos are embedded below.<br />
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Take time this week to give thanks for your own economic security, no matter what level it is at.<br />
For more insight into the issues mentioned above, read Barbara Ehrenreich's '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0805063897"><b>Nickel and Dimed</b></a>' or play this <a href="http://playspent.org/">excellent interactive game</a> to see what choices you would make given some stark realities.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-18-2011/world-of-class-warfare---the-poor-s-free-ride-is-over">The Daily Show with Jon Stewart</a></b></div>
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Get More: <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/">Daily Show Full Episodes</a>,<a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/indecision">Indecision Political Humor</a>,<a href="http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow">The Daily Show on Facebook</a></div>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-89868166077266572522017-08-31T22:25:00.000-04:002017-08-31T22:31:02.160-04:00Friday Fruit (09/01/17)<a href="https://d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront.net/?resize_to=width&src=https%3A%2F%2Fartsy-media-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2FykUStlbvaj_o8KKX16ixgg%252FWWAR_Lorna_Simpson_candid_SL4.jpg&width=1100&quality=95" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Lorna Simpson, candid. Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum." border="0" height="219" src="https://d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront.net/?resize_to=width&src=https%3A%2F%2Fartsy-media-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2FykUStlbvaj_o8KKX16ixgg%252FWWAR_Lorna_Simpson_candid_SL4.jpg&width=1100&quality=95" width="320" /></a>On Fridays, BTSF offers links to other discussions about race & Christianity. It's an opportunity for you to read other perspectives, and for me to give props to the many voices leading the way...<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>Weekly Round Up:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://hackingchristianity.net/2017/08/should-reducing-hate-be-a-measure-of-church-effectiveness.html">Should Reducing Hate be a Measure of Church Effectiveness?</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://intervarsity.org/blog/racial-reconciliation-not-cause">Racial Reconciliation Is Not a Cause</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.redletterchristians.org/the-holy-tradition-of-going-to-jail-for-jesus/">The Holy Tradition of Going to Jail for Jesus</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://urbanfaith.com/2017/07/7-ways-seminary-students-color.html/">7 Ways to Survive Seminary for Students of Color</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/faith-and-public-life/the-story-of-the-crucifixion-as-told-by-the-privileged-and-powerful/">The Story of the Crucifixion (As Told by the Privileged and Powerful)</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/jarrylee/essential-asian-american-writers-you-need-to-be-reading?utm_term=.ongwBJlzn#.wgNAxEyrl">32 Essential Asian-American Writers You Need To Be Reading</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-overlooked-black-women-altered-course-feminist-art">The Overlooked, Radical History of Black Women in Art</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2017/07/03/transfers-of-military-equipment-to-police-forces-increase-civilian-death/">Transfers of military equipment to police increases civilian and canine death</a></li>
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<a href="http://www.4allpeople.org/allpeopleconference/"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcj8CdLRhaq2YNbuUerWZluLxc2foSnVbI_plh6VCjZY_ZWn6zhW3tdAIqSNHNWXdHlD0DeGdsJhD_mdgm8S7a7LqQ0a8BqvKyrl6KB23qC6yYmw_rD1RJpdnWR2bXlnPaemEAXlzN-pJx/s1600/APC+discount.png" /></a></div>
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These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?</div>
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Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged.</div>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-40371202347887579832017-08-24T23:15:00.000-04:002017-08-24T23:26:12.151-04:00Friday Fruit (08/24/17)<a href="https://www.redletterchristians.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cville-clergy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://www.redletterchristians.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cville-clergy.jpg" width="320" /></a>On Fridays, BTSF offers links to other discussions about race & Christianity. It's an opportunity for you to read other perspectives, and for me to give props to the many voices leading the way...<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>Weekly Round Up:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://auburnseminary.org/will-america-pick-cross/">Will America Pick Up Its Cross?</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://engagethepews.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/dear-white-pastor/">Dear White Pastor …</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://scottwoodsmakeslists.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/we-arent-at-the-healing-stage-with-racism/">We Aren’t At The Healing Stage With Racism</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.unfitchristian.com/charlottesville-racism/">I'm Tired of Explaining Racism to You</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ebonyjohanna.com/2017/08/15/what-more-can-i-say/">What More Can I Say? On Charlottesville and White Supremacy</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/faith-and-public-life/church-we-have-work-to-do/">Church, We Have Work to Do</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://austinchanning.com/blog/2017/8/our-work-just-got-harder">Our Work Just Got Harder</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://feistythoughts.com/2017/08/23/why-i-stopped-talking-about-racial-reconciliation-and-started-talking-about-white-supremacy/">Why I Stopped Talking About Racial Reconciliation And Started Talking About White Supremacy</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2017/08/17/white-tears-in-trumpville/">White tears in Trumpville</a></li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://www.4allpeople.org/allpeopleconference/"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcj8CdLRhaq2YNbuUerWZluLxc2foSnVbI_plh6VCjZY_ZWn6zhW3tdAIqSNHNWXdHlD0DeGdsJhD_mdgm8S7a7LqQ0a8BqvKyrl6KB23qC6yYmw_rD1RJpdnWR2bXlnPaemEAXlzN-pJx/s1600/APC+discount.png" /></a></div>
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These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?</div>
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Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged.</div>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-20172195510987562322017-08-13T22:31:00.001-04:002017-08-13T22:45:59.528-04:00#Charlottesville<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5505b93ce4b02e3c159d027b/t/5665f68c2399a307a1bfed24/1449522829807/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for wake up and do something" border="0" height="200" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5505b93ce4b02e3c159d027b/t/5665f68c2399a307a1bfed24/1449522829807/" width="133" /></a>What else is there to say? Have we not convinced you?<br />
<br />
Were you surprised at the images and videos this weekend?<br />
Did you think we were exaggerating when we said the nation's demons were being released?<br />
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"I can't believe this is happening"<br />
Aren't you persuaded yet?<br />
<br />
Or maybe you are, but you're paralyzed. Feeling overwhelmed, helpless. Deadened.<br />
But it is you that the movement needs. Your voice that must be heard.<br />
<br />
Have you spoken up yet? At the dinner table, in the office?<br />
Have you put a stop to snide remarks and crude judgements?<br />
Have you done the hard work on your own heart?<br />
<br />
It takes each one of us. Particularly those that haven't been vocal to this point.<br />
Maybe you thought others were handling it. Maybe you thought it wasn't your fight.<br />
Maybe you thought it was too controversial. But the reality is, it takes <i>you</i>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://i.redd.it/3d8kq62zaefz.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for charlottesville rally cartoon" border="0" height="320" src="https://i.redd.it/3d8kq62zaefz.png" width="249" /></a>People of color fight these forces every single day, not just when it hits main stream news.<br />
What are white folks willing to do?<br />
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What will <i>you </i>do?<br />
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And what about the Church? Our worlds' beacon of hope, justice, and mercy?<br />
Has your church spoken up yet? If not now, then when?<br />
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Many laws have come and gone. It's the Church that is charged with changing hearts and minds.<br />
How will the church respond when hate is perpetrated?--not in spite of Christian beliefs, but often<i> because </i>they are Christian.<br />
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We need a Church that will redeem us from our nation's sins, so that we don't have to relive it all once again. So that we don't have to go through this one more time. So we don't have to see these scenes yet again.<br />
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What will <i>your </i>church do?<br />
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"It is not the episodic marches and rallies that define white supremacy, <br />
it is the ordinary, dull ways that society props up the racial caste system <br />
that lead to the most egregious offenses." <br />
-<a href="https://twitter.com/jemartisby">Jemar Tisby</a></div>
BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-26209887307544167082017-08-06T21:07:00.002-04:002017-08-06T21:31:29.291-04:00On Affirmative ActionIn discussions about "reverse discrimination" the conversation often quickly slides to the subject of affirmative action. <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2010/04/tatum.html">Dr. Tatum</a> devotes an entire chapter<i> </i>to the subject, subtitled "I'm in favor of affirmative action except when it comes to my jobs." She notes that many white people wonder "Will I get the job I want or will it go to some 'minority'?" The implication being that the minority that got the job is inherently less qualified and only got it based on color.<br />
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Obama acknowledged fears of white people in his <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88478467">A More Perfect Union</a> speech:</div>
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<a href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQBAO27zKyljgQBPTLoCWJSm0IcHPNxZIZjk-kiVSqzVolM6dAdxw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQBAO27zKyljgQBPTLoCWJSm0IcHPNxZIZjk-kiVSqzVolM6dAdxw" /></a>"Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience — as far as they're concerned, no one handed them anything. They built it from scratch...And in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear an African-American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time..."</blockquote>
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Particularly in this economy, it's scary to think that one might lose an opportunity because of skin color. But this is a fear that people of color have to deal with every day--and have been for centuries.<br />
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But two wrongs, don't make a right, so let me try to explain why I don't think affirmative action is a wrong.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzupCdJOoDk6e2p8GK3acFbC-sow3kp4kcF5GFwGuLlOCyTeEBLsdKJFzsyv_JmMN2FuIePHsrL9-03ftBS6RLddiw28hIRJbu-m3aZbWuBEp1m0kbcThF1p537Ft094oeYiRco01-fwO/s1600/Image--Race+history+in+USA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzupCdJOoDk6e2p8GK3acFbC-sow3kp4kcF5GFwGuLlOCyTeEBLsdKJFzsyv_JmMN2FuIePHsrL9-03ftBS6RLddiw28hIRJbu-m3aZbWuBEp1m0kbcThF1p537Ft094oeYiRco01-fwO/s400/Image--Race+history+in+USA.jpg" width="400" /></a>Those that don't like affirmative action generally feel that through these policies their whiteness becomes a disadvantage. In fact, white privilege and systemic disparity acts to bolster white folks so much that whiteness can never truly be a disadvantage--affirmative action just makes it so we aren't so way out ahead (see post on so-called '<a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2011/05/white-victims-of-racism.html">White victims of racism</a>').<br />
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Forty-years of "advantage" cannot begin to reverse the 500 year head-start white people had (see post: <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2011/02/uweekly-race-matters.html">Academic Admissions</a>), or erase the economic and psychological mars that oppression has left on >40% of this country. There are still severe inequalities that prevent otherwise-qualified people from coming to the <a href="http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/26/06/2007/40926/asian-civil-engineer-takes-amec-utilities-to-tribunal-for-racial-discrimination-after-getting-interview-posing-as-less-qualified-british-candidate.htm">interview</a> with a fair shot. We have a responsibility to rectify the discrimination in the <a href="http://eash22.wordpress.com/">classroom</a> and in the <a href="http://www.trainerstoolchest.com/player.php?url=747">workplace</a>, as well as the historical head start white folks have had. </div>
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One problem affirmative action faces is that it gets confused with quotas. Filling quotas and affirmative action are two different things. In my view, quotas are used to fulfill a requirement and then say "there. we're done. we can <b>s</b>top now. we have our token minorities." It is a system totally unrelated to merit or qualifications, which is why a lot of white people freak out about it. These practices are no longer allowed.</div>
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Affirmative action, on the other hand, when done well, is goal driven. That means the numbers can be exceeded and the policy acts to aid the company's success as well as that of the employees'. Remember that "<a href="http://resistracism.wordpress.com/racism-101/">seeking the empowerment of people of color is not the same as disenfranchising white people</a>." The idea of proactive enrollment is that you decide what qualifications one needs to be successful, including a diverse background with an understanding of multiculturalism, and then you stick to those qualifications. You cast your net wide, advertising the position in <a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/">Black Enterprise</a> (or whatever applies to your field), and you remember that bringing diversity into the workplace is one of the job qualifications during the interview process. Keep in mind, there are many white people that fulfill this requirement and everyone has the opportunity to gain a background in cultural diversity, but more people of color may have taken advantage of those opportunities (often can hardly help but to!) and so may be more likely to fit the job description.<br />
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Allow me to describe a situation where the model I describe might be relevant.<br />
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<a href="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQa4CY4sR3ANFhYHxgmfyZkulcviP0Ok_yi1QsW-xTRfEB0RWWt" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQa4CY4sR3ANFhYHxgmfyZkulcviP0Ok_yi1QsW-xTRfEB0RWWt" /></a>Applications for <b><a href="https://www.aamc.org/about/112494/medicalschools/">medical school</a></b> are a tough business. What does it take to get in? It takes top notch grades for sure. Last year's Ohio State class had an undergraduate GPA averaging 3.7. The next biggest thing is the MCAT--OSU's average is a 33. So lets assume anyone with those numbers is fit to be a good doctor. Then what? OSU says you will need clinical and research experience, 'leadership,' 'volunteer service,' and 'extracurricular activities.' What exactly does all that mean? And how much is enough? who knows.</div>
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There are thousands of med school applicants with high high GPAs and MCAT scores. So in what activities could an applicant participate to make her application more attractive? Debate team? Orchestra? Baseball? What about becoming a member of a <a href="http://commonground.richmond.edu/programs/DRT.html">Diversity Roundtable</a>, or the Multicultural Student Union. Attending a <a href="http://www.communitytampabay.org/programs/programs_anytown/anytown.htm">diversity retreat</a>. Going to events where you are in the racial minority. These options promote the development of any number of important skills for med school: well-roundedness (so you don't go crazy in your first year), cross-cultural understanding (vital for any doctor who wants to see patients outside her immediate family), relating to different perspectives (collaboration is the new hot trend in the research community), empathy, patience (hello bedside manner!).<br />
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<a href="http://images0.cpcache.com/product/347253980v4_480x480_Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images0.cpcache.com/product/347253980v4_480x480_Front.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>Maybe a candidate has a 3.7 GPA AND was a member of the biology honors society, phi beta kappa, and graduated magma cum laude. But so what? Those accolades are largely redundant. We already said a 3.7 makes you a good doctor, so stick to that qualification, and accept a student who brings other qualifications in addition.<br />
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Once we have determined when a student is academically smart enough to become a doctor, lets make another priority be that she is culturally smart enough to be a good doctor. If this were more a part of our rubric, I actually think a lot fewer white people would qualify. </div>
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People that grow up in a similar way will think a similar way, will tackle problems in similar ways. This is not a good way to run any organization. We limit ourselves and each other. We have no idea what innovations we are missing by limiting ourselves to work with those like us. </div>
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I cringe to think of how long ago we might have had the cure to cancer if we were taking advantage the all<span id="goog_104862308"></span><span id="goog_104862309"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a> brilliant minds that, though historic discrimination, had to struggle through school while they worked part-time to help support their family (it is easy to get into college when you don't have to worry about the next utility bill). Or what about the inventor of an eco-friendly biofuel that couldn't get a job interview because she has a funny name? Or the broker of peace in the Middle East that got teased so much in high school that he didn't have the confidence to apply for college. It happens. And we are screwing ourselves over because of it.</div>
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<a href="https://exceler8com.r.worldssl.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/cast-a-wide-net1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for cast a wide net" border="0" height="165" src="https://exceler8com.r.worldssl.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/cast-a-wide-net1.jpg" width="200" /></a>Let's be clear though, our own evangelical and economic benefit is not the primary reason to rectify discriminatory hiring practices, it is only a fringe benefit.<br />
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The heart of the matter is recognizing that there is systemic injustice. And with it comes our responsibility to care for others and make sure that we work to right the wrongs that brought us to that place of privilege (you know...'<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13:34-35&version=NIV">love one another</a>,' '<a href="http://bible.cc/matthew/5-40.htm">give the cloak off your back</a>,' '<a href="http://bible.cc/micah/6-8.htm">do justice, and love kindness</a>').<br />
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Too many employers stop at the 'cast the net wide' part of creating an open interview process. They figure they will advertise widely and then just choose the best candidate. But this strategy ignores the systematic advantages that white people have to making it through the interview process (or even TO the interview process).<br />
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Many studies show that when resumes are close or identical in their content, black candidates are more likely to <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_2_48/ai_97873146/">loose out on the job</a>. White folk have the right hair, the right cloths, the right accent. How must it feel to worry whether wearing your hair the way God put in on your head will keep you from getting a job? </div>
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A couple of important points to leave you with. First thing to remember: just because someone is black in a predominantly white work environment does NOT mean that person got the job because of affirmative action. And even if she did, that fact has no bearing on her ability to do the job, or how qualified she is. Affirmative action is here to ensure that the many highly talented minority applicants get seen, heard, and hired, despite the pressures in society to keep them invisible.</div>
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Second, those that have benefited for so long from an unjust system owe it to our workplaces, our churches, our sisters and brothers of color, and ourselves to make some sacrifices to reverse wrongs done. We have an imperative to fix the wrong that we benefit from, even if we personally didn't cause it to develop. </div>
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<a href="http://www.archives.gov/eeo/images/eeo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.archives.gov/eeo/images/eeo.gif" /></a>Take a look at <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+6:1-7&version=NIV">Acts 6:1-7</a>, with the concept of affirmative action in mind. This is a story about how the church first deals with marginalized members of its community and how it uses affirmative action to remedy the situation. A minority group of Jews were complaining that their widows weren't getting their fair share of the food distributions. And what did the Apostles do about it? They promoted seven (fully qualified: "full of the Spirit and wisdom") Greek leaders to make sure rations were distributed fairly, not only to the Greek widows, but to everyone in the community. The apostles gave full support to this 'equal employment opportunity' by laying hands on them and blessing them.<br />
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Notice that, after it was brought to their attention, the Apostles recognized and acknowledged that an injustice was occurring. They didn't dismiss the complaint, or claim that the Hellenistic Jews were just trying gain an unfair advantage. They didn't blame the victim, or claim it was a "Greek problem" to be solved by the Greek community. They stepped up a fixed the situation. And what happened? "So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith"</div>
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I don't know how to right the centuries of racial wrongs that have compounded themselves. I don't know if the methods discussed here even come close-- at best they are indirect solutions that don't guarantee immediate equality. But it might help, and for now, it is all the law allows. And we have do something.</div>
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To close, Ta-Nehisi Coates articulates some good points in this article <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/black-privilege/238482/">Black Privilege</a> for The Atlantic:<br />
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There are some legitimate criticisms of Affirmative Action. I think this is one of the dumbest: the underlying premise is that society is generally fair, and no one receives a leg up ever, except black people. Or it assumes that such advantages exist, but negritude, in the nation of white leagues, black codes, and red lines, imparts the sort of boost heretofore unwitnessed. </blockquote>
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But the history of America, itself, is, in no small measure, the history of an Affirmative Action program for white people. Mitt Romney was born in a Detroit neighborhood <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/04/the-other-detroit/8403/">where the deed read</a>: </blockquote>
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"Said lots shall not be sold or leased to or occupied by any person or persons other than of the Caucasian race. But this shall not be interpreted to exclude occupancy by persons other than of the Caucasian race when such occupancy is incidental to their employment on the premises." </blockquote>
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In other words, the neighborhood, like virtually every nice neighborhood in Detroit, and many throughout the country, was a giant set-aside for white people who didn't want to compete with blacks. But no one feels that Mitt Romney achievements--or the achievements of white people in general--are tainted by red-lining. No one says, "Would Mitt Romney have succeeded without race preferences?"<br />
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...I've talked repeatedly about my concerns with race-based Affirmative Action. But none of those concerns involve ill-gotten goods. Who is the successful human who can claim that they have never, not once, been advantaged by society? And who, with honesty and intelligence, would seriously claim that, among those advantages, black privilege is king?</blockquote>
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BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-678020307566883842017-07-30T22:20:00.000-04:002017-07-30T22:44:34.252-04:00We ARE the Body of Christ: #AllPeoplePractices<a href="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs158/1101512457261/img/344.jpg?a=1115821784692" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for donita harris" border="0" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs158/1101512457261/img/344.jpg?a=1115821784692" height="200" width="176" /></a><i>The following is taken from a sermon by Pastor Donita Harris on this the 10th anniversary <a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/p/topical-index.html#AllPeoplePractices">UM Church </a></i><i><a href="https://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/p/topical-index.html#AllPeoplePractices">for All People</a> being in its building. Her scripture text for the morning was <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A12-26&version=CEB">1 Corinthians 12:12-26</a>. </i><br />
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Today as we celebrate 10 years of ministry in this building, Apostle Pauls’ message aligns perfectly with the evolution of who we continue to become as a worshiping congregation. Paul’s message to us today emphasizes the reality and importance of our diversity.<br />
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The basic point of the entire 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, is that all the members of a church/ a faith community contribute to the over well being, the health of the church. No one in the church is an extra that the church can just as well do without. Paul will inform us that everybody is somebody because we’re in this together.<br />
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Paul is so intent on driving home this point of our oneness in the church that he refers to Christ as the church. Paul, has learned that every believer is a member of Christ’s body. Likewise, you and I are members of the body of Christ. I chose a translation that uses the term parts instead of members to identify limbs and organs, to emphasize we are not as members of the Jesus club but as a part of a living breathing entity. He continues to drive this important analogy between the human body and the body of Christ, using the fearfully wonderfully connectedness of our human body.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAugbwzQaOp5cfignc_qx3XGW-aWI8jTloUGVo49VudGPDE8Au6zAd3mz4EvDPev2Czg2YaXYwO9AB3LGTbKIxxH3PV4Qi4pxHcFHhYm2qjVKAh-pwZ7UOqgCG1w1lXiUVrSnTH8uOHxmb/s1600/Logofilledin5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for church for all people columbus um" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAugbwzQaOp5cfignc_qx3XGW-aWI8jTloUGVo49VudGPDE8Au6zAd3mz4EvDPev2Czg2YaXYwO9AB3LGTbKIxxH3PV4Qi4pxHcFHhYm2qjVKAh-pwZ7UOqgCG1w1lXiUVrSnTH8uOHxmb/s1600/Logofilledin5.png" /></a>I love the imagery! I don’t know if Paul means to be humorous, because he has a serious point to get across. However, I must admit after I read this passage a couple of times I thought about just one body part trying to do the Hokey Pokey. It is hard to picture this huge eyeball rolling around, or even better, a gigantic ear hopping about? How can we dance with God if we don’t embrace all of God’s parts as valuable?<br />
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When Paul was writing his first letter to the Corinthians, he was dealing with a problem of division. It turns out the Corinthians had fallen into this worldly trap of creating a hierarchy where there was no need for one, and some people were setting themselves over and above the others. Others unfortunately, who lacked the more spectacular gifts of others were discouraged and began to ask whether they had any place or function in the church. The church was dividing not uniting.<br />
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When Paul refers to the foot and ear he speaks to members suffering “I am not good enough.” Think about it if the foot could speak, it most likely would reveal a feeling of insignificance. Hands seem to have such value. During a church vote, no one in a meeting says, “Raise your foot” it’s always “Raise your hand!” The foot thinks, “The hand has so much dexterity, it can pick a scalpel and do delicate operations. Hands play the piano or violin. There was a reason why washing a guest’s feet was a common act of courtesy – in Paul’s day they were dirty. Feet come in contact with dirt and mud. They are the lowest members of the body.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjl4OA-i3zI35ahLq259r45Sq0MhGrJLVCsvxXRRtQYnjvPnPYWqlh5s-TqNkSKmE7kwNDUulXCmodBcoTEHH4TZylT1Tl0OCVILzO25UhPOfutQEzzkteDbQrSyjvOt-ctTZ5mpRWwtXZ/s1600/2017-07-30+12.33.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1105" data-original-width="1538" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjl4OA-i3zI35ahLq259r45Sq0MhGrJLVCsvxXRRtQYnjvPnPYWqlh5s-TqNkSKmE7kwNDUulXCmodBcoTEHH4TZylT1Tl0OCVILzO25UhPOfutQEzzkteDbQrSyjvOt-ctTZ5mpRWwtXZ/s320/2017-07-30+12.33.49.jpg" width="320" /></a>Yet, the body would be in bad shape without a foot. Did you know that you use more than 200 different muscles to walk? If your feet and their muscles are not working well you aren’t going very far. Their role to play in the body is absolutely essential. They literally hold up the body. They permit the body to move about. Without them, the body would not be whole. If can’t Hokey Pokey and turn yourself about without your feet. Stay with me, we are dancing with God!<br />
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Similarly, the ear feels inferior to the eye. It may be up high on the body, but it does not compare with the eye in receiving praise. The eye is out front. Lovers gaze into one another’s eyes; the only one I can remember looking onto my ears my mother and all she ever says is, “Wash those dirty ears!” Poets write poems about the eye but never about the ear. Yet when we listen to the music that soothes our soul we often close our eyes to better hear. Often after reading beautiful poetry or a powerful scripture passage we close our eyes. To better hear and imagine. <br />
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And what about the nose? Referred to in passage as the sense of smell essential to the whole. How many times have we taken pleasure in smelling flowers or a fresh baked pie? How many times have we avoided something harmful because of the foul odor? Smelling serves a needed service, though we would not think to rate in high on the list of essential body parts.<br />
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Now, the feet and the hands, the ears and the eyes, even the nose all exist according to God’s plan. There are no spare parts. The issue is addressed on several occasions in this letter, self-importance was indeed a problem among the Corinthians. Folks suffering from <i>I am enough</i> and all the church needs. The eye and the head no matter what it sees or thinks need feet to put it thoughts and visions into action. If you don’t elevate your thinking about lowly feet the body doesn’t move.<br />
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Unity in diversity is a concept of "unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation" that shifts focus from unity based on a mere tolerance of physical, cultural, linguistic, social, religious, political, ideological and/or psychological differences towards a more complex unity based on an understanding that difference enriches human interactions.<br />
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From its apostolic beginnings, then, the Church has always been thought of as a community of diverse members with diverse gifts, and the diversity of the saints continues to testify to how differently the same Christian faith and life may be expressed in this world. The idea is sometimes rooted in our teaching about the Holy Trinity: God is a unity, one God, in a diversity of persons, Father Son and Holy Spirit.<br />
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<a href="https://cfs.osu.edu/sites/cfs.osu.edu/files/styles/slider/public/CAP_front%20of%20church.jpg?itok=l27DMTHw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for church for all people columbus um" border="0" height="170" src="https://cfs.osu.edu/sites/cfs.osu.edu/files/styles/slider/public/CAP_front%20of%20church.jpg?itok=l27DMTHw" width="320" /></a>It is not difficult to see where Paul is heading with this body analogy even as he turns in his metaphor, to what most likely are internal organs and what we refer to as our “private areas.” In verses 22-25, Paul argues that every member of the body is necessary. There are no exceptions. Those body parts that are deemed weaker, less honorable, or less presentable are all critically important. Paul rejected the Corinthians criteria for evaluating which gifts were most honorable. Internal and external parts of the body needed to create a balance whole.<br />
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In 12:26, Paul pens one of the most powerful verses in the Scriptures: "If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part gets the glory, all the parts celebrate with it." Indeed, it is through suffering that we learn how important the parts of the body are. If the head forgets about the feet, just stub a toe; the head will pay attention! Furthermore, if you dislocate a tiny bone in your foot your whole body is miserable. The converse is also true. The head might ache if the back is in pain. Cure the back pain, and the headache disappears. Or if you’ve ever been sick with a cold or the flu you know that a simple cold, cough, or sore throat can affect your entire body. Appreciate the solidarity of the body. Fearfully and wonderfully made. No spare parts.<br />
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We are not here by chance. Can you remember what originally attracted you to this place and why you stay? I believe it is because of the Body itself—all of us as members; all of us who have allowed the call of Christ to be lived out through our relationships together. We are here because we know we are deeply connected to one another. As members of the same body we are so closely bound together that we actually share the same feelings. What causes joy for one member delights all of us the whole body. When one member suffers we share the pain, the entire body hurts. When I look out at your I am often astounded by how deeply your connected to my soul. Look around you. Is it true for you?<br />
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Our ten years in this place is fruitful because you graced this place with your entire body. We have experienced the truth that not all differences divide. We know in fact, some differences make for an even deeper unity. We also know not all differences can be held together. Some differences between us really do divide us and truly challenge us to appreciate our “Unity in Diversity.” We tend to forget that many of the strengths we so admire in one person are often incompatible with the strengths we admire in another. The grace of a figure skater is useless to a Sumo wrestler. We need the diversity of each person for the body of Christ to function.<br />
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<a href="http://www.gcorr.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/C4AP-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for church for all people columbus um" border="0" src="http://www.gcorr.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/C4AP-1.png" height="160" width="320" /></a>Again I say Paul’s metaphor of the many “parts” (or members) of the body is one of the most powerful in scripture. The diversity of the body is something beyond debate. No two parts of the body are identical, not only are your hands and feet different but your left hand and right hand are different. I have a cousin who has one blue eye and one brown eye. Yet it easy if not natural for us to see in our mind’s eye the picture of a body working in perfect harmony. The ears listening to the sounds as the eyes take in the surroundings. The brain processes the information, while the hand writes—taking notes, and the mouth speaks, sharing the experience.<br />
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And that, says Paul, is how the body Christ works, too. Each member with all of its parts working together. Each part being fully aware of the Spirit that holds us together and directs our work; guiding us to use our gifts for the “common good.” The Church is to be the place where, together, we learn how to be God’s genuinely human beings. Worshiping God and serving God by reflecting God’s diverse image into the world and to one another!<br />
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In today’s world it is a beautiful image that that cannot be realized without intention. God created a great physical body and an opportunity for us to an indispensable part of a spiritual body. God invites us through Christ to all be heading in a common direction. Able to face this paradox of being so dramatically different, while seeing ourselves the same in the marvelous light of Christ. <br />
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Here at the Church for All People we know keeping the Body of Christ as diverse as possible keeps on the path of experiencing the fullness of God. The only way to dance with God through this life into the other is with each other. And there are many others to invite to the dance be it a waltz or the Hokey Pokey. We know there are others who are the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104189.Same_Kind_of_Different_as_Me">same kind of different as us</a>. Let’s invite them to the dance. BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-48937663158071513542017-07-23T23:07:00.000-04:002017-07-23T23:31:02.822-04:00Implicit Bias vs Explicit Bias<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNeYTDLZUJA"><img alt="Image result for Implicit Bias" border="0" height="177" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tNeYTDLZUJA/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNeYTDLZUJA">Deciderata Explains Implicit Bias</a></td></tr>
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For most of U.S. history, racism has been overtly on display and at a conscious level. Signs designated separate seating. Slurs were common designators. Racially-targeted violence went unchallenged. Laws unabashedly identified people of color as less than human.<br />
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After the Civil Rights Movement, the <i>explicit bias </i>of previous eras largely gave way to the more subtle, but still pernicious, era of '<a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/11/why-being-colorblind-is-impossible.html">colorblind racism</a>'. With its being no longer socially acceptable to display blatant bigotry, racism had to evolve, surviving and thriving amidst a strategy of ignoring race all together. It was this <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/colour-blind-racism/">colorblind era</a> that gave us <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/11/war-on-drugs.html">mass incarceration</a>, <a href="http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices">stop-and-frisk</a>, <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-school-to-prison-pipeline-part-1.html">the school-to-prison pipeline</a>, <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014/07/children-at-border-have-we-forgotten.html">children at our border</a>, <a href="https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/issues/detention-101">detention centers</a>, and <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2013/01/that-mascot-doesnt-honor-anyone.html">racist mascots</a>.<br />
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These systems emerged and expanded largely due to <i>implicit bias</i>. <a href="http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/research/understanding-implicit-bias/">Implicit biases</a> are the "judgments and/or behaviors that often operate at a level below conscious awareness and without intentional control." We all have them, and they develop out of our brain's beneficial ability to identify patterns. But it goes awry when we inappropriately affix significance to social identities resulting in adverse outcomes for others.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EivX77ORIIs">It affects us all</a></td></tr>
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Racial implicit bias manifests itself in everything from assumptions about <a href="http://www.science.smith.edu/exer_sci/ESS200/Raceh/Raceh.htm">sports prowess</a>, to who we hire/fire, to who we are afraid of as we walk down the street. To combat our implicit biases, we must first become aware of their existence (<a href="https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/canada/takeatest.html">try an IAT test!</a>), so that we can consciously combat their effects on our thought processes and actions. Implicit bias can’t be fixed with colorblindness, in fact colorblindness makes it worse.<br />
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While overt racism never really went away, over the years implicit bias was allowed to take root and fester, unexamined and unchecked. The result has been decades of accumulated disparity, often perpetuated by unwitting '<a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2011/08/basically-good.html">basically good</a>' people. Resumes were overlooked, mortgages and leases were declined, school applications were denied--indeed <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2012/03/bias-matters.html">innocent people were shot</a>. All because largely well-meaning people, acted on their implicit biases, often without even realizing they are contributing to systemic racism in our society.<br />
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<a href="http://www.accidentalhayseed.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/airport-moving-sidewalk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for moving sidewalk racism" border="0" src="http://www.accidentalhayseed.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/airport-moving-sidewalk.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a>We each have the opportunity to confront our own biases and begin to combat their effects on our lives adn the lives around us. <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2010/04/tatum.html">Dr. Beverly Tatum</a> describes racism as a moving sidewalk in society--even if we are standing still we are still moving with the system and allowing racism to persist. Changing the situation requires actively turning around, indeed <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2014/05/29/what-is-repentance-bible-definition-of-repent-and-repentance/">repenting</a>, and walking against the way things are currently set up. Let us each identify and walk against the many moving sidewalks on which we find ourselves.<br />
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Most recently, explicit bias has made comeback. We've observed a resurgence in overt fear and hate in ways we largely haven't seen since the Civil Rights Movement. If we’re not careful, this dynamic will lower the bar for racial progress, and allow well-meaning individuals to rest in the comfort of knowing that at least we’re not like those ‘bad apples.’ But let us not be lured into thinking explicit racism is its only form. Instead, we must continue to uncover and counteract our own implicit biases, understanding the profound role they play in perpetuating systemic injustice around us.BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-80437739607916763292017-06-26T21:29:00.001-04:002017-06-26T21:29:43.259-04:00Looked with Compassion<a href="http://wellnessresearcher.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for bad eyesight" border="0" src="http://wellnessresearcher.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/v2.jpg" /></a><i>The following a sermon from <a href="https://twitter.com/grennifer">Pastor Greg Henneman</a> that he preached based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2014">Matthew 14</a> after Officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted for shooting of Philando Castile.</i><br />
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I was born with bad eyesight.<br />
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I have one eye that is not horrible, it is around 20/80, but in my other eye I am legally blind. However, I have lazy eye in the good eye so my body primarily uses the bad eye. Basically, I am blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other.<br />
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All of my life I have had to wear glasses in order to see the world clearly. In fact, three out of four people in the United States wear some kind of corrective lenses, whether glasses or reading glasses or contact lenses. The vast majority of us need some help to see the world around us more clearly.<br />
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While most of us need glasses to improve our physical vision, all of us need help to learn how to see the world as God sees the world. We all need to learn how to see one another like Jesus.<br />
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In <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2014">Matthew 14</a>, Jesus had just learned that his cousin, John the Baptist, was brutally executed through the influence of the king’s sister in law. John, a faithful, religious man, the one who baptized Jesus, was beheaded.<br />
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<a href="http://pup.net.au/gallery/large/ARRahmanConcertCrowd%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for crowd" border="0" height="213" src="http://pup.net.au/gallery/large/ARRahmanConcertCrowd%20.jpg" width="320" /></a>Jesus hears the tragic news and decides to get a break from it all and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He gets on a boat, crosses the sea, but when gets there and who is waiting for him?<br />
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The crowd.<br />
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Crowds of people made it around the lake and got there before Jesus, looking for a healing miracle, listening for a teaching, wanting for something to eat.<br />
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Jesus just wanted to get away from it all, and there was the ever-present crowd, just wanting more from him.<br />
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Have you ever been in a situation like that when you just need a break and the phone keeps ringing or people keep calling your name or the kids ask from you or the boss wants from you and life just won’t give you a break?<br />
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When we are there, it is easy to begin to look at the people around us as a drain, as a source of stress, as someone else wanting something from me, taking my time and my energy.<br />
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We begin to look at the people around us as obstacles to be overcome.<br />
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Jesus doesn’t do that.<br />
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Despite the fact that he is stressed out and the crowd wants from him he doesn’t look at them as if they are a burden, he looks at them with compassion.<br />
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He doesn’t see them as needy, he sees them with compassion.<br />
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Through the eyes of compassion he provides for them, he heals the sick, teaches, and feeds.<br />
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He does all of that, because he starts from a place of compassion. Jesus looks at people through the eyes of compassion.<br />
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How do we look at people?<br />
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We start by observing the outside.<br />
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A Harvard University study found that brain scans show that the first things we notice about someone when we look at their face is their race and their gender. We look at a person and the first thing we notice is the color of the skin and whether it is a man or a woman.<br />
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This is a natural, evolutionary response.<br />
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But then from there, our brain not only makes this initial observation, but assigns meanings to the observation. We make assumption about people based on whether the person is a man or a woman. I know that if I go to get my car worked on, I will often get a different response than my wife. That kind of stuff drives me crazy and I hate it, but that is the world that we live in.<br />
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And we not only make assumptions about someone because of their gender, but because of their race.<br />
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We saw it again this week in the exoneration of the police officer who killed <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2017/06/who-killed-philando-castile.html">Philando Castillo</a>. Castillo was not only brutally shot in front of his family and killed, but he had been pulled over 52 times in his life for minor traffic violations.<br />
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52 times.<br />
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This is someone who was a model citizen, who worked at a school, who had a quiet and unassuming personality, who was described by the students of the school as “Mr Rogers with dreadlocks”.<br />
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But because of the color of his skin he was pulled over 52 times and killed.<br />
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This is how the world looks at people. We look at someone and judge them as a threat by their appearance.<br />
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The world has conditioned us to look at each other as opposites and to categorize. Rich and poor, black and white, male and female, gay and straight.<br />
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While this is how we look at the world, this is not God’s design.<br />
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On the first page of the Bible, in Genesis, Chapter 1, it says “God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”<br />
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Every person is created in the image of God. Every face you see in this room reflects something different about who God is.<br />
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The person who is different from you is not a category to be labeled or feared, but is a sister or brother in Christ who has been created in God’s image. It is in the diversity of humankind that we see a little more clearly who God is.<br />
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The invitation we have is to begin to see one another not as our culture and society teach us to see where we divide people by race, color, creed, sexuality, and national origin, but to see each other as God sees us, to see Christ reflected in the eyes of the stranger, to look with the eyes of compassion.<br />
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So how do we do that, how do we get compassionate eyes? How do we learn to see each other as God sees us?<br />
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Unfortunately it is not as easy as going to the eye doctor and getting a new pair of glasses with compassion lenses.<br />
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Often, the way we begin to see others differently is when we go through some struggle and suffering ourselves.<br />
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Remember, that this scripture follows right after Jesus has learned of the execution of John the Baptist. Jesus has lost a cousin in a horrific way. He is mourning, he is grieving, so when he comes upon this crowd of people who are hurting, Jesus is hurting himself. It is the fact that he is going through some stuff himself that he is able to have compassion for others who are going through some stuff.<br />
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This compassion that Jesus shows is deep.<br />
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The Greek word for compassion, splagchnizomai, means to be moved at the very depth of our being. It is a gut-wrenching compassion. Splagchnizomai is not looking at someone from a distance and having pity for them. It is not about looking down on someone and saying how unfortunate they are, to look with compassion is to connect their struggle with your own and know that we are all united together in Christ.<br />
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In the world’s eyes we are very different. One of the things that makes us special as the Church for All People is our diversity. And yet, one thing that we have in common is that we all have been through some stuff.<br />
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We have all mourned the loss of someone we loved.<br />
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We have all faced addictions of one kind or another, whether to a chemical substance or to our pride and ego.<br />
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We all know what it feels like to be rejected and to have experienced a broken relationship.<br />
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We all know what it is like to just have a bad day.<br />
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When we are able to be honest with ourselves and recognize our own brokenness, then we can be compassionate about the struggles of someone else.<br />
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However, our temptation is to forget where we have come from. We look at the other with judgmental eyes, not remembering that we were there 10 years ago or recognizing how much God’s grace has changed us.<br />
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What would it look like to see a person behaving badly through the eyes of compassion?<br />
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It would mean seeing the person for who they are and not defining them by their behavior.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixFWjfqQoOt6GmBsxqz_EQIzSXfOSIZQvCNRPDKENJ_s6UWG0X6nQ9n4whOehJEsLyc1WlM6jgRwY1CoAbfntUQYzUk3qXhCAPn3yLSnutMF4JdnXxHJZR60SAj9XeFenkPBAYikHcmZc/s1600/Jesus5000-735184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for splagchnizomai" border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixFWjfqQoOt6GmBsxqz_EQIzSXfOSIZQvCNRPDKENJ_s6UWG0X6nQ9n4whOehJEsLyc1WlM6jgRwY1CoAbfntUQYzUk3qXhCAPn3yLSnutMF4JdnXxHJZR60SAj9XeFenkPBAYikHcmZc/s320/Jesus5000-735184.jpg" width="320" /></a>When you see the person behaving in a way that you would consider wrong, that person is not their behavior. That person is a child of God and their behavior comes from a place you probably know nothing about. We all share a lifetime of pain and struggle and abuse and suffering.<br />
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And we have all been hurt.<br />
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When we can see our hurts and can be understanding of another person’s hurts, than we can begin to look at one another through the eyes of compassion.<br />
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And when we can do that, amazing things can happen.<br />
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The rest of this scripture is the familiar story of the loaves and fishes.<br />
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The disciples see the hungry crowd and instead of looking at them through the eyes of compassion they look and see mouths that need to be fed. They ask Jesus to send them away, but instead Jesus says you feed them. They argue that they don’t have enough. But our God is not a God of scarcity but a God of abundance. There is more than enough. From the five loaves and two fish thousands are fed with 12 baskets of leftovers.<br />
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But the full miracle here is not only the miracle of abundant food, but the miracle of abundant compassion.<br />
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Our fear of scarcity is not limited to having enough money or food or stuff, we also often think we may not have enough love or kindness or generosity or compassion. o much so that we try and protect our pride by putting limits on how much forgiveness we are willing to show or understanding we are willing to extend.<br />
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But our God is not a God of scarcity, but is a God of abundance!<br />
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The more we show love, the more we receive love in return.<br />
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The more we offer forgiveness, the more we are forgiven.<br />
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The more we extend compassion, the more compassion spreads like a ripple effect across our community and our world.<br />
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The more we look at one another and see God in the eyes of the other, even in the person who makes us most uncomfortable, the more we are a part of God’s work of creating a world where people are seen for the content of their character instead of merely for the color of their skin.<br />
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My prayer for us today is that we will all get some new glasses, that we will see each other differently, that we will look at each other with eyes of compassion.BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-84423211886369850652017-06-22T21:27:00.004-04:002017-06-22T21:27:56.935-04:00Friday Fruit (06/23/17)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2G3_lpQMsBMIcGF-ODMjRItzqjpOSadcoI1IW-dFaXcffEPaia5zDhyfabOUdg8DWluUfZlQYXw_TSuSWA36tGyycbj03A3fAaD8RgIwEd9a0Q32H9rs6pWA6imwVFruSt3qcGFbHXGQ/s1600/marymatsudagruenewald01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2G3_lpQMsBMIcGF-ODMjRItzqjpOSadcoI1IW-dFaXcffEPaia5zDhyfabOUdg8DWluUfZlQYXw_TSuSWA36tGyycbj03A3fAaD8RgIwEd9a0Q32H9rs6pWA6imwVFruSt3qcGFbHXGQ/s320/marymatsudagruenewald01.jpg" width="320" /></a>On Fridays, BTSF offers links to other discussions about race & Christianity. It's an opportunity for you to read other perspectives, and for me to give props to the many voices leading the way...<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>Weekly Round Up:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/seattle-police-kill-pregnant-charleena-lyles">Seattle Police Kill Pregnant Mother Charleena Lyles</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://pastordanielhill.com/2017/05/02/the-biblical-imperative-for-intercultural-ministry/">The Biblical imperative for Intercultural Ministry</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/economic-inequality/524610/">Escaping Poverty Requires Almost 20 Years With Nearly Nothing Going Wrong</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blackgirlinmaine.com/race-and-culture/what-is-the-role-of-white-people-in-racial-justice/">What is the Role of White People in Racial Justice?</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2017/04/12/does-less-policing-lead-to-more-crime-a-natural-experiment-says-no/">Does less policing lead to more crime? A natural experiment says no</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://remezcla.com/lists/culture/central-american-women/">This Twitter Account Highlights Inspiring Central American Women Who Broke Barriers</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blog.angryasianman.com/2017/06/92-year-old-former-internee-receives.html">92-Year-Old Former Internee Receives High School Diploma</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://popculturephilosopher.com/wiley-reconsidered-toledo-art-museum-retrospective/">Wiley Reconsidered</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.4allpeople.org/allpeopleconference/"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcj8CdLRhaq2YNbuUerWZluLxc2foSnVbI_plh6VCjZY_ZWn6zhW3tdAIqSNHNWXdHlD0DeGdsJhD_mdgm8S7a7LqQ0a8BqvKyrl6KB23qC6yYmw_rD1RJpdnWR2bXlnPaemEAXlzN-pJx/s1600/APC+discount.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged.</div>
</div>
BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-35536345220974699902017-06-18T21:17:00.001-04:002017-06-18T21:54:34.949-04:00Who killed Philando Castile?<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DCoM5vEUAAILunA.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DCoM5vEUAAILunA.jpg:large" width="320" /></a><br />
Philando Castile's death was ruled a homicide. But no one killed him.<br />
<br />
On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile was shot by Jeronimo Yanez, in St. Paul, Minnesota. On June 16, 2017, Yanez was acquitted of all related charges (one count of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm).<br />
<br />
Castile was shot while stopped for a traffic violation. It was the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/philando-castile-stopped-cops-52-times-14-years-article-1.2705348">53rd time he had been pulled over in 14 years</a>. Apparently, 52 is the limit to the number of times you can tempt fate by driving while black in a racist society.<br />
<br />
When asked for his license and registration, Castile told the officer he was licensed to carry a weapon and had one in his pants pocket. Shortly thereafter he was <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36732908">shot seven times</a>.<br />
<br />
Castile has been lauded as a family man, a caring role model, a dedicated school worker. But even if he wasn't, <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2016/09/logical-fallacies-no-angel-and-tyre-king.html">should he be dead</a>?<br />
<br />
Where is the NRA for someone like Philando Castile? Were not his 2nd Amendment right violated in the extreme?<br />
<br />
How many hours of videos have we seen? And how many countless times do they represent when there was no video?<br />
<br />
How many of these deaths will it take until we've had enough? How many until the Church at large will acknowledge a pattern and its own responsibility?<br />
<br />
Philando Castile's death was ruled a homicide. If Jeronimo Yanez didn't kill him, maybe we did. BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-33718759905403029342017-06-11T21:57:00.000-04:002017-06-11T21:59:28.926-04:00DAMN. and the Crucified Christ<a href="https://images.genius.com/039eed0758eb3aa30f050c77e7bbdc1e.1000x1000x1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for Kendrick Lamar's new album, DAMN" border="0" height="200" src="https://images.genius.com/039eed0758eb3aa30f050c77e7bbdc1e.1000x1000x1.jpg" width="200" /></a>This week, <a href="https://twitter.com/grennifer">Rev. Greg Henneman</a> <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2015/08/justice-in-hands-of-all-people-part-1.html">returns</a> to <a href="http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2017/04/hesed-god-of-mutuality.html">BTSF</a>, partnering with his son, Noah, as they review Kendrick Lamar's new album, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwjEtqvnlp7UAhWd14MKHUBkCr8QFggnMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Falbum%2F4eLPsYPBmXABThSJ821sqY&usg=AFQjCNGYQ05Y1wO0ulHRgLd4pKWq8DTWcw&sig2=-76hQn0rcjycsrcnN2wNXw&cad=rja">DAMN</a>.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>So I was takin' a walk the other day, and I seen a woman—a blind woman—pacin' up and down the sidewalk. She seemed to be a bit frustrated, as if she had dropped somethin' and havin' a hard time findin' it. So after watchin' her struggle for a while, I decide to go over and lend a helping hand, you know? "Hello, ma'am, can I be of any assistance? It seems to me that you have lost something. I would like to help you find it." She replied: "Oh yes, you have lost something. You've lost... your life." </i>[sound of a gunshot]</blockquote>
This is the story of Good Friday.<br />
<br />
Christians remember Good Friday as the day that Jesus was executed. Fully divine and fully human, Jesus entered human history amongst its struggle and sought to lend a helping hand by modeling a new way to live centered around love of neighbor. Jesus offered assistance. For this, Jesus was killed.<br />
<br />
On Good Friday, 2017, these words introduced the release of Kendrick Lamar’s newest album, DAMN. Lamar’s normally aggressive and quick words are countered with softness as the song BLOOD. serves as the album’s preface. At the end of this metaphor, the man offering assistance is killed.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-30-at-6.55.41-PM-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Related image" border="0" src="http://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-30-at-6.55.41-PM-1.png" height="179" width="320" /></a>Throughout this album, Kendrick aligns himself with the Crucified Christ. In the song, DNA, Kendrick is both “Yeshua’s new weapon” and seen as “an abomination”. His very DNA places him amongst a minority culture, thus making him a threat, described by the soundbite voice of Geraldo Rivera as being a part of hip hop music which has done “more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years.” Ironically, the song Rivera criticized, Alright, is one in which Kendrick offers hope and encouragement, that against the struggles of life he repeats “we gonna be alright.” “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY">Alright</a>” has become an anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement. Yet, despite the song’s claim of assurance, Black DNA makes him a threat to dominant American culture, just as Jesus’ words of inclusion threatened the political and religious powers of the Roman Empire.<br />
<br />
Within popular music, there may not be a more powerful voice in 2017 than Lamar. When Beyoncé had to cancel her Coachella music festival appearance, it was Kendrick that replaced her with a lauded performance. A recent survey of music reviews came to the conclusion that Kendrick is the <a href="https://relevantmagazine.com/slice/kendrick-lamar-is-the-best-reviewed-artist-of-the-21st-century/">highest rated performer of the 21st Century</a>.<br />
<br />
Despite all of the critical and commercial success, Kendrick does not exalt himself in praise, but places himself amongst struggle. He does not see himself as exalted, but views himself from his Compton roots. He aligns himself more with the Crucified Christ than Glorified God. He wonders if success will last and asks in the song FEAR., “All this money, is God playin' a joke on me? Is it for the moment, and will he see me as Job?”<br />
<br />
<a href="https://goodvibrationsmusicblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/longform-original-22214-1422911594-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for kendrick lamar" border="0" height="218" src="https://goodvibrationsmusicblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/longform-original-22214-1422911594-3.jpg" width="320" /></a>Just as Jesus found disciples asleep in the garden and found himself abandoned on the cross, Kendrick’s repeated cry echoes across multiple songs on the album “aint nobody praying for me.”<br />
<br />
But while Kendrick often feels trapped within his Compton roots and culturally alienated, he finds unity with God.<br />
<br />
The song GOD. unites God’s and Kendrick’s shared perspectives. The song begins with God saying, “this what God feel like.” Kendrick responds that “ever since a young man” God has been watching over him for his whole life. After describing the behaviors Kendrick used to and is still doing Kendrick says “don’t judge me”. and God responds “who are you talking to, do you know who you are talking to”. And then he says all of the things that God says like “everything I touch is a gold mine.” The song finishes with both God’s and Kendrick’s perspective talking with each other.<br />
<br />
Kendrick’s struggle, unified with that of the Crucified Christ, is powerful, but is not a lone voice.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lyricallemonade.com/wp-content/uploads/Chance-the-Rapper-Will-Star-In-Suspense-Thriller-MusicSnake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for Chance the Rapper" border="0" src="http://lyricallemonade.com/wp-content/uploads/Chance-the-Rapper-Will-Star-In-Suspense-Thriller-MusicSnake.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a>The most noteworthy winner at this year’s Grammy’s was Chance the Rapper who despite being a self-published artist without a record label won best new artist, best rap album, and best rap performance. Chance’s lyrics mix unashamed praise for God with the reality of his experience growing up in Chicago. In the midst of singing about praises and blessings, Chance makes the same connection as Kendrick between contemporary struggle and the Crucified Christ with the statement, “Jesus black life ain’t matter.”<br />
<br />
The latest album by Logic, “Everybody” is also filled with theological questions. The album includes an exchange with the voice of Neil deGrasse Tyson as the voice of God in which the meaning of life is explored. But as noted in Kendrick Lamar and Change the Rapper, these are not mere philosophical wonderings, but connect to modern life. In the song “Confess” Logic asks: “Dear God, I just wanna know why, Why do you put us here? Why do you put us below? Why do you put us subservient?”<br />
<br />
Across the spectrum of modern rap music, questions of where God can be found are being asked. Most often, God is found amongst the struggle. God’s voice is speaking from the streets. The prophetic voice is not only coming from the pulpit, but from the microphone.BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1475128319218423248.post-55032486548876579392017-05-25T22:57:00.001-04:002017-05-25T22:57:04.312-04:00Friday Fruit (05/26/17)<a href="http://www.colorlines.com/sites/default/files/styles/embedded_image/public/images/articles/2017/05/tyre-king-independent-autopsy-9-20-16.png?itok=px5QZcJc&timestamp=1495473661" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Black boy" border="0" height="209" src="http://www.colorlines.com/sites/default/files/styles/embedded_image/public/images/articles/2017/05/tyre-king-independent-autopsy-9-20-16.png?itok=px5QZcJc&timestamp=1495473661" width="320" /></a>On Fridays, BTSF offers links to other discussions about race & Christianity. It's an opportunity for you to read other perspectives, and for me to give props to the many voices leading the way...<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>Weekly Round Up:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2017/05/08/theres-way-worse-videos-todays-students-on-the-la-riots-and-rodney-king/">“There’s way worse videos”: Today’s students on Rodney King</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/grand-jury-no-charges-cop-who-killed-tyre-king">Grand Jury: No Charges For Cop Who Killed Tyre King</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://scottwoodsmakeslists.wordpress.com/2017/05/13/oh-now-you-want-to-talk-about-gentrification/">Oh, NOW You Want To Talk About Gentrification</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/dakota-access-pipeline-sees-its-first-spill">Dakota Access Pipeline Sees Its First Spill</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/40413-the-gentrification-to-prison-pipeline">The Gentrification-to-Prison Pipeline</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/watch-militarized-police-raid-j-coles-house-neighbors-video">WATCH: Militarized Police Raid J. Cole's House in 'Neighbors' Video</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://lookedwithcompassion.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/turning-maslow-upside-down/">Turning Maslow Upside Down</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/social-justice-2/an-interview-with-nikki-toyama-szeto/">Transformative Conversations: Nikki Toyama-Szeto at ESA</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.4allpeople.org/allpeopleconference/"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcj8CdLRhaq2YNbuUerWZluLxc2foSnVbI_plh6VCjZY_ZWn6zhW3tdAIqSNHNWXdHlD0DeGdsJhD_mdgm8S7a7LqQ0a8BqvKyrl6KB23qC6yYmw_rD1RJpdnWR2bXlnPaemEAXlzN-pJx/s1600/APC+discount.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged.</div>
</div>
BTSF:http://www.blogger.com/profile/02553697351488297764noreply@blogger.com0