There are a multitude of reasons for my recent disavowal of evangelicalism. It has been a long time in coming, and I could spend hours discussing it.
But one of the driving reasons is my own coming to grips with the racism that still exists in this country. The right refuses to acknowledge it, the evangelical church refuses to acknowledge it, but the income inequality numbers across racial lines make it painfully clear.
To be honest, it has taken me a long time to acknowledge it as well. But I have read far beyond the articles on the death of Michael Brown; I have read the comments below. And the comments show a glaringly ugly side of the racist attitudes in America.
One cannot help but wonder if the children housed at Ft. Sill Oklahoma had been refugees from Eastern Europe, would the response have been the same? Somehow, when I hear words like "wetback" used, and hear the children accused of being MS13 gang members, I don't think so. And yet, five of the kids we sent back (at LEAST five) are now dead. I cannot help but think a God who charged us to care for the "least of these" WILL hold us responsible for those deaths.
And I am CERTAIN that He will hold us responsible for the deaths of Michael Brown, Kajieme Powell, or the others who die in officer involved shootings every year. I am equally certain that He will hold us responsible for pushing the socioeconomic problems of income inequality that we push off into the inner city and poverty pockets. And He will absolutely, without question hold us accountable for the racist words that spew out of our mouths. Matthew 5:22 should certainly not be construed to be an all inclusive list of things that we can say that count us guilty of murder:
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be
subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister,
'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!'
will be in danger of the fire of hell.
The conservative "response", of course, is blame. We create a system of inequality, then we blame those who struggle under the thumb of that inequality for their plight. We justify the murder of minorities in the inner city for minor offenses because we inherently accept that it is somehow deserved because they are "different".
And by claiming they are different than us, we are proving our own racism.
I could throw up numbers, but ultimately, the right is and remains in denial.
Whites who lived in the Deep South during the Jim Crow era didn't believe they were racist either. In fact, slave owners thought they were being benificent. And that hasn't gone away; Tea Party darling Michelle Bachmann even stated that blacks were better off as slaves:
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2011/07/bachmann_black_families_better_under_slavery_obama.php
But let's not stop at Bachmann; here is a list of TEN conservatives who have praised slavery:
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2011/07/bachmann_black_families_better_under_slavery_obama.php
But the same people who support these conservatives insist that racism doesn't exist.
Historically, in times of unrest, the mainstream church has been on the wrong side of history. Slavery, the genocide of the indigenous peoples in this and other nations, labor reform, Nazism in Germany, the list goes on. And I believe this era is no different.
We cannot continue to ignore racism; it is very real, and it's effects are literally killing people as we speak. While the conservative community demands we "withhold judgment" on Officer Wilson, they continue to blast every news piece that they feel indicts Michael Brown. They've ignored the Powell killing as cideo evidence is not in their favor. And even as they peddle their survival wares under the fear that the US will fall under martial law, they seem quite content with that martial law in the inner city.
My voice, unfortunately, does not have a very broad reach. But I will do the few things I can, starting with pulling any and all support for those who insist on remaining in denial.
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