Racism: the man behind the curtain
Racism need not be intentional or malicious for it to be.
Monica Harrold, Coordinator of the the Race and Culture Task Force, African Heritage Network of the Free Methodist Church.
Recently, Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist, Billy Graham openly and publicly questioned President Obama's professed faith. He has since apologized for his questioning and backed off his critique of the President quite a bit. He adds his voice to the hundreds of pastors, talk show hosts, and politicians who seek more to discredit and diminish this president that encourage or build up Christian people in their faith and in their mission.
Ronald Reagan, who is hailed by conservative Christians as the "Holy Grail" of presidents, never confessed to be an evangelical Christian. Yet, few Christian conservative leaders took the time to question his beliefs, his alignment to classical Christianity, or the authenticity of his brief and relatively few statements regarding his personal faith.
I want to say something that many will find unsettling. It may seem hard for some to swallow. Here goes:
Many of the faith criticisms of President Obama have nothing to do with his politics, faith, program directives, or strategies, but are simply veiled expressions of racism.
Christian author Lisa Harper writes a brilliant blog looking at the failure of many White Christians to be able to see the authentic expressions of that are culturally different while being Biblically based. Using the framework of Sociologists Emerson and Smith (Divided by Faith, 2001), she eloquently describes how many conservative evangelicals lack the ability (Emerson and Smith call it the cultural "tool kit") to understand how Biblical values are manifest in anything other than individualized, personal salvation. There is an inability to understand the broad Biblical themes of justice, equity, and peace on systemic levels.
President Obama has confessed an evangelical faith, been part of an evangelical community of faith, and has espoused values consistent with that. Now, in saying that, I am not saying that he, nor any person is perfect or that their faith is without blemish. Only by the grace of God am I! However, I am saying that the criticism of his faith, by Christians is based upon something else more insidious and ugly. It stems from a desire to discredit him. Why discredit him? Its not just his politics, as Jimmy Carter was a devout Christian whose policies were disliked by the conservative movement. The movement spent very little time trying to discredit President Carter's faith.
You see, to attack his faith, is to attack his credibility, his identity, his being. It is the same reason that a recent Federal Judge in Montana sent out racists emails about Obama. He admits, he does not like Obama personally. Not his politics, not his programs, not his strategies or appointments, but him personally. That dislike manifest itself in racism, the belief that the President's race makes him undeserving of the dignity and authority of the office.
I am ashamed of the Christian leaders who can not see their own complicity in the perpetuation of racism. I believe that all Americans have the right to critique and challenge his policies, procedures, and strategies, but it is unprecedented that Christian people who persistently and maliciously seek to malign his name in this way.
I recognize that some people will read this a vehemently disagree but I think its time that healing begins within the family of God, and it begins by first pointing out disease and disorder.
I pray (Using David Platt's phrase from "A radical Ideal") that the people of God, in the spirit of God, equipped with the word of God, would impact this nation for the Glory of God, and that extends to my President as well.
Praying for healing today,
Pastor M Traylor
Monica Harrold, Coordinator of the the Race and Culture Task Force, African Heritage Network of the Free Methodist Church.
Recently, Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist, Billy Graham openly and publicly questioned President Obama's professed faith. He has since apologized for his questioning and backed off his critique of the President quite a bit. He adds his voice to the hundreds of pastors, talk show hosts, and politicians who seek more to discredit and diminish this president that encourage or build up Christian people in their faith and in their mission.
Ronald Reagan, who is hailed by conservative Christians as the "Holy Grail" of presidents, never confessed to be an evangelical Christian. Yet, few Christian conservative leaders took the time to question his beliefs, his alignment to classical Christianity, or the authenticity of his brief and relatively few statements regarding his personal faith.
I want to say something that many will find unsettling. It may seem hard for some to swallow. Here goes:
Many of the faith criticisms of President Obama have nothing to do with his politics, faith, program directives, or strategies, but are simply veiled expressions of racism.
Christian author Lisa Harper writes a brilliant blog looking at the failure of many White Christians to be able to see the authentic expressions of that are culturally different while being Biblically based. Using the framework of Sociologists Emerson and Smith (Divided by Faith, 2001), she eloquently describes how many conservative evangelicals lack the ability (Emerson and Smith call it the cultural "tool kit") to understand how Biblical values are manifest in anything other than individualized, personal salvation. There is an inability to understand the broad Biblical themes of justice, equity, and peace on systemic levels.
President Obama has confessed an evangelical faith, been part of an evangelical community of faith, and has espoused values consistent with that. Now, in saying that, I am not saying that he, nor any person is perfect or that their faith is without blemish. Only by the grace of God am I! However, I am saying that the criticism of his faith, by Christians is based upon something else more insidious and ugly. It stems from a desire to discredit him. Why discredit him? Its not just his politics, as Jimmy Carter was a devout Christian whose policies were disliked by the conservative movement. The movement spent very little time trying to discredit President Carter's faith.
You see, to attack his faith, is to attack his credibility, his identity, his being. It is the same reason that a recent Federal Judge in Montana sent out racists emails about Obama. He admits, he does not like Obama personally. Not his politics, not his programs, not his strategies or appointments, but him personally. That dislike manifest itself in racism, the belief that the President's race makes him undeserving of the dignity and authority of the office.
I am ashamed of the Christian leaders who can not see their own complicity in the perpetuation of racism. I believe that all Americans have the right to critique and challenge his policies, procedures, and strategies, but it is unprecedented that Christian people who persistently and maliciously seek to malign his name in this way.
I recognize that some people will read this a vehemently disagree but I think its time that healing begins within the family of God, and it begins by first pointing out disease and disorder.
I pray (Using David Platt's phrase from "A radical Ideal") that the people of God, in the spirit of God, equipped with the word of God, would impact this nation for the Glory of God, and that extends to my President as well.
Praying for healing today,
Pastor M Traylor
Comments
i've personally known Christians who were pro-choice and who did support gay marriage but i definitely believe they are misled. i love these friends and family members but i would work HARD to make sure that they would NEVER be elected president of our country. and this has absolutely NOTHING to do with race or racism.
on a personal level, whenever i meet someone who is pro-choice or supportive of gay marriage, i automatically PAUSE & try to find out if the person is a bible believing evangelical Christian. this has nothing to do with race. people use the word "Christian" in our country to mean 2 different things. one definition: a person who is a disciple of Christ & believes the bible is truth. the 2nd definition: good people who think the bible is a nice book to read---not really true but nice.
many liberal churches in the united states believe that "Christians" are good people who think the bible is a great book. many of the pastors & members of united methodist, methodist and presbyterian churches in michigan believe that the bible is a great book full of very nice stories---not TRUE stories but myths. i grew up with lots of people who attended these churches. the people called themselves "Christians" but they were NOT disciples of Christ & would never have said that they were. so when i hear that a person says they are a Christian and that they are pro-choice or pro-gay marriage union i automatically question which definition of "Christian" he/she uses.
the majority of evangelicals i know who have questioned the president's Christian faith have done so based on his beliefs on marriage and abortion and NOT because they were racists. these same people would definitely have voted for obama last election had he been pro-life & against gay marriage and had mccain been pro-choice & supportive of gay marriage. (in fact, the majority of Christians i know who vote republican these days, do so based on the abortion issue~~they would vote for whomever was pro-life, no matter the party, the race, the sex of the candidate)
and while i'm writing about "Christians".....i'd like to address another issue that i find to be extremely disturbing. i hear people talk about slavery days when white "Christians" owned & abused black slaves. i hate it when i hear this--just hate it. any white person who abused/raped/beat a slave was NOT a CHRISTIAN. i don't care if the person attended church, read the bible 24/7 and was a pastor~~we are NOT stupid people. we ALL know in our hearts that people are all the same. we all know that the shade of a person's skin color is as important as the shade of their hair. anyone who said they were "Christians" during slavery days and hurt slaves? those people were NOT Christians and they knew it.....and they knew they were going straight to hell. i detest it when people use the word "Christian" to describe hypocrites~~let's call white people who were cruel to slaves what they really were...hypocrites, monsters, terrible sinners who were hell-bent.....Christ deserves better! let's not use the word "Christian" to describe those who are obvious sinners!
okay, i'm done for today. :)