There are white supremacy groups that are now complaining that they are victims. How ironic! The oppressor claims to be a victim.
But it is true that long term white dominance, white privilege will slowly decline. The demographics are clear. But will American whites try to repeat the white South African experience; the whites continued to dominate even as a minority. A few American whites, from 1 to 20 percent of the population, do control the wealth and wealth equals power.
Once a people has power, dominance and wealth, most will fight, even resort to violence, to protect their privileged position.
Does America have any DeKlerks or Mandelas who can negotiate a peaceful transition?
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Friday, August 25, 2017
Eugene Peterson on Evil in the Psalms
In his book Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer, Peterson asserts: "God is the primary subject in the Psalms, but evil is established in solid second place. . . . Our hate needs to be prayed, not suppressed. . . . We need to grapple with evil. . . . hate is frequently the human experience that brings us to our feet praying for justice."
"We are easily duped by evil. Evil almost never looks like an enemy in its present forms."
"But we must not imagine that loving and praying for our enemies in love is a strategy that will turn them into good friends. Love often acts as a goad to redoubled fury. . . . the enemies want power and control and dominion. The enemies that Jesus loved and prayed for killed him."
"We are easily duped by evil. Evil almost never looks like an enemy in its present forms."
"But we must not imagine that loving and praying for our enemies in love is a strategy that will turn them into good friends. Love often acts as a goad to redoubled fury. . . . the enemies want power and control and dominion. The enemies that Jesus loved and prayed for killed him."
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Historical Tidbits
The Emancipation Proclamation which was issued in 1863 should have been issued in 1775, the year before the Declaration of Independence. Then the Declaration would have been less hypocritical when it complained about British tyranny but did not end our tyranny of black slaves and Native Americans which was much worse than the tyranny of the British.
The eloquent Gettysburg Address should have ended differently; instead of "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people", to be true it should have read "a government of the rich, white, male elite, by the rich, white, male elite, and for the rich, white, male elite."
The eloquent Gettysburg Address should have ended differently; instead of "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people", to be true it should have read "a government of the rich, white, male elite, by the rich, white, male elite, and for the rich, white, male elite."
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Quitting America by Randall Robinson
In 2004, Randall Robinson wrote Quitting America: The Departure of a Black Man from his Native Land.
"Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ; everyone is included in Christ." Col. 3, The Message.
Though these United States of America often loudly proclaim that we are a Christian nation, an honest history reveals that we, the WASPs, have violated these verses countless times, both internally and externally (think Haiti).
To see ourselves as others see us. Though it will not be a pleasant experience for American whites, it is an absolute necessity for every white American to read Quitting America. Many Haitians will risk life and limb to come to America, so why would Randall Robinson, a well educated American black, choose to leave America and choose to live on St. Kitts, a Caribbean island.
In a wide-ranging historical and cultural analysis by a scholar-activist, Robinson cites a number of factors ranging from Columbus to the war in Iraq to our despicable treatment of Haiti as reasons to leave the U.S.
Quitting America is not a tactful book; it is a blunt and brash book, in the prophetic sense. I think it an accurate book. Robinson sees WASP America as ignorant, arrogant, ethnocentric and oppressive. For many years, Robinson vigorously fought these social evils; "the truth put squarely is that I am spent, having fought too many American social battles . . . preoccupied, as I have been constrained to be, with race and all the wearying baggage that trails heavily in its train."
"Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ; everyone is included in Christ." Col. 3, The Message.
Though these United States of America often loudly proclaim that we are a Christian nation, an honest history reveals that we, the WASPs, have violated these verses countless times, both internally and externally (think Haiti).
To see ourselves as others see us. Though it will not be a pleasant experience for American whites, it is an absolute necessity for every white American to read Quitting America. Many Haitians will risk life and limb to come to America, so why would Randall Robinson, a well educated American black, choose to leave America and choose to live on St. Kitts, a Caribbean island.
In a wide-ranging historical and cultural analysis by a scholar-activist, Robinson cites a number of factors ranging from Columbus to the war in Iraq to our despicable treatment of Haiti as reasons to leave the U.S.
Quitting America is not a tactful book; it is a blunt and brash book, in the prophetic sense. I think it an accurate book. Robinson sees WASP America as ignorant, arrogant, ethnocentric and oppressive. For many years, Robinson vigorously fought these social evils; "the truth put squarely is that I am spent, having fought too many American social battles . . . preoccupied, as I have been constrained to be, with race and all the wearying baggage that trails heavily in its train."
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Isaiah 61:1 (NRSV): The Oppressed Poor
The Oppressed Poor
Caution: Don't confuse symptoms for causes as most non-oppressed people commonly do including the brilliant David Brooks.
Every white, American church member, every Christian college graduate, every seminary trained pastor absolutely must have crystal clear biblical clarity on the oppression/poverty issue. Begin with oppression, not poverty.
From the Noble Revised Version:
"You will always have the poor with you, in your community---unless---your church gives highest priority to releasing the oppressed (Isaiah 58:6 and Luke 4:18), to ending systems of oppression that create and maintain poverty."
More on the Biblical Perspective:
* the traumatized poor
* the mass PTSD poor
* the broken in spirit poor
* the spirit of despair poor
* the humiliated poor
* the dehumanized poor
* the damaged poor
* the working two jobs to survive poor
* the physically enslaved poor
* the debt enslaved poor
The white American perspective:
* the lazy poor---Senator Jeff Flake's "We Need Immigrant Skills. But working hard is a skill"
Meet Manuel, a working machine, unbelievable work ethic.
* the stupid poor
* the inferior ethnic poor
* the dysfunctional poor
* the criminal poor
* etc.
The poor may be illiterate because of oppression, but they are not stupid.
Read Behind Mud Walls, an anthropological classic, covers 40 years in the lives of Indian peasant farmers, both before and after Indian independence, both before and after land reform.
Agricultural missionaries, a husband and wife team, who were culturally sensitive, worked for 20 years trying to introduce modern farming methods to the dirt-poor peasants---with little success. Conclusion: Indian peasant farmers were stupid.
But, after land reform, after the peasants owned their own land, the agricultural missionaries found out they were the stupid ones. The hadn't fully understood the impact of the landlord-peasant system of oppression. The peasants understood but did not implement modern farming methods. Why? Because the landlords would have taken the surplus production; the peasants would not have benefitted. After land reform, the peasants eagerly implemented modern farming methods. Land ownership which ended landlord oppression was the key to progress.
Caution: Don't confuse symptoms for causes as most non-oppressed people commonly do including the brilliant David Brooks.
Every white, American church member, every Christian college graduate, every seminary trained pastor absolutely must have crystal clear biblical clarity on the oppression/poverty issue. Begin with oppression, not poverty.
From the Noble Revised Version:
"You will always have the poor with you, in your community---unless---your church gives highest priority to releasing the oppressed (Isaiah 58:6 and Luke 4:18), to ending systems of oppression that create and maintain poverty."
More on the Biblical Perspective:
* the traumatized poor
* the mass PTSD poor
* the broken in spirit poor
* the spirit of despair poor
* the humiliated poor
* the dehumanized poor
* the damaged poor
* the working two jobs to survive poor
* the physically enslaved poor
* the debt enslaved poor
The white American perspective:
* the lazy poor---Senator Jeff Flake's "We Need Immigrant Skills. But working hard is a skill"
Meet Manuel, a working machine, unbelievable work ethic.
* the stupid poor
* the inferior ethnic poor
* the dysfunctional poor
* the criminal poor
* etc.
The poor may be illiterate because of oppression, but they are not stupid.
Read Behind Mud Walls, an anthropological classic, covers 40 years in the lives of Indian peasant farmers, both before and after Indian independence, both before and after land reform.
Agricultural missionaries, a husband and wife team, who were culturally sensitive, worked for 20 years trying to introduce modern farming methods to the dirt-poor peasants---with little success. Conclusion: Indian peasant farmers were stupid.
But, after land reform, after the peasants owned their own land, the agricultural missionaries found out they were the stupid ones. The hadn't fully understood the impact of the landlord-peasant system of oppression. The peasants understood but did not implement modern farming methods. Why? Because the landlords would have taken the surplus production; the peasants would not have benefitted. After land reform, the peasants eagerly implemented modern farming methods. Land ownership which ended landlord oppression was the key to progress.
Friday, August 18, 2017
Tough Ethical Questions for Christian American Historians to Ponder
Tough ethical questions for Christian American historians to Ponder.
1. Should the Emancipation Proclamation have been issued at the same time as the Declaration of Independence?
2. If Confederate flags and monuments should go, should all flags and monuments that are in any way connected to the slave trade and slavery be torn down as well?
3. Most of the slave trade was conducted by northerners, not southerners, under the Stars and Stripes (or its precursor), not the Confederate flag, so should the Stars and Stripes go as well?
4. Should the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial be torn down? Both Washington and Jefferson owned slaves and promoted white superiority, Anglo-Saxon superiority. White privilege goes way back at least as far as the founding fathers.
1. Should the Emancipation Proclamation have been issued at the same time as the Declaration of Independence?
2. If Confederate flags and monuments should go, should all flags and monuments that are in any way connected to the slave trade and slavery be torn down as well?
3. Most of the slave trade was conducted by northerners, not southerners, under the Stars and Stripes (or its precursor), not the Confederate flag, so should the Stars and Stripes go as well?
4. Should the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial be torn down? Both Washington and Jefferson owned slaves and promoted white superiority, Anglo-Saxon superiority. White privilege goes way back at least as far as the founding fathers.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Trickles or Torrents of Justice
In my humble opinion, the typical white Christian thinks their occasional trickle of justice actually is a torrent. So they need to read John Perkins' latest (2017) book, Dream With Me. Along with many biblical principles such as love and reconciliation, I found justice to be the most important theme. Kingdom justice, Jubilee justice, not shallow American ideas of justice. Even in the church I find most American Christian ideas of justice to be small-minded.
A friend told me recently that John laments that many of his closest disciples have compromised on biblical justice. They have been strong on reconciliation but comparatively weak on justice. Read a related book, Dear White Christians.
In Perkins chapter titled Real Justice, all of his Scriptures on justice are from the OT. No NT verses are quoted. In the KJV of the NT, there are no references, not one, to justice. In the NIV, there are only 16 references to justice. To my knowledge, there is no NT theology on kingdom justice in English. Yet in a Greek NT, there are approximately 300 'dik' stems (justice stems). In a Spanish, French or Latin NT, there are about 100 references to justice. The English NT has been "dejusticized."
On the surface, justice seems to disappear when one moves from an English OT into an English NT. I know of a Bible scholar who actually taught that in the NT justice was replaced with personal salvation. But if we translate 'dikaiosune' as justice in the Sermon on the Mount:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice . . . "
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice's sake. . . . "
"Set your mind on God's kingdom and his justice. . . ." (NEB)
From Dream With Me, page 206:
"The title of my first book is Let Justice Roll Down. . . . Amos didn't tell the people that God wants justice to trickle through their society. The New Living Translation uses the phrase 'mighty flood of justice,' (Amos 5:24) to describe what God wants to see."
But for God to move in America, the white church must deeply repent and massively restitute; then a flood of justice could flood the land, releasing the oppressed poor.
Isaiah describes the nature of the coming NT kingdom of God in his six Messianic passages---Spirit, Kingdom, justice; a justice that releases the oppressed poor.
A friend told me recently that John laments that many of his closest disciples have compromised on biblical justice. They have been strong on reconciliation but comparatively weak on justice. Read a related book, Dear White Christians.
In Perkins chapter titled Real Justice, all of his Scriptures on justice are from the OT. No NT verses are quoted. In the KJV of the NT, there are no references, not one, to justice. In the NIV, there are only 16 references to justice. To my knowledge, there is no NT theology on kingdom justice in English. Yet in a Greek NT, there are approximately 300 'dik' stems (justice stems). In a Spanish, French or Latin NT, there are about 100 references to justice. The English NT has been "dejusticized."
On the surface, justice seems to disappear when one moves from an English OT into an English NT. I know of a Bible scholar who actually taught that in the NT justice was replaced with personal salvation. But if we translate 'dikaiosune' as justice in the Sermon on the Mount:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice . . . "
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice's sake. . . . "
"Set your mind on God's kingdom and his justice. . . ." (NEB)
From Dream With Me, page 206:
"The title of my first book is Let Justice Roll Down. . . . Amos didn't tell the people that God wants justice to trickle through their society. The New Living Translation uses the phrase 'mighty flood of justice,' (Amos 5:24) to describe what God wants to see."
But for God to move in America, the white church must deeply repent and massively restitute; then a flood of justice could flood the land, releasing the oppressed poor.
Isaiah describes the nature of the coming NT kingdom of God in his six Messianic passages---Spirit, Kingdom, justice; a justice that releases the oppressed poor.
"He's Good" or "That's Evil?"
There are two radically different opinions of A. W. Tozer, a spiritual giant of the last century; some
might say a Protestant saint. The first opinion, "He's good," was expressed by Bryan, a white disciple of John Perkins. Bryan was gifted and passionate about racial reconciliation. He came all the way from Seattle to Jackson, MS to do reconciliation in the state where the historical enmity between black and white ran very deep. Reading Tozer has deepened Bryan's spiritual life so he was a fan of Tozer.
Years ago, my wife Dixie had read The Pursuit of God and found it inspiring. But recently she read a favorable biography about Tozer and found a deeply disturbing nugget of information. As poor and dysfunctional blacks moved into the community surrounding Tozer's church in the south side of Chicago, Tozer and his church engaged in white church flight out to the safer suburbs. Why? According to their beliefs, the community was "irreparably damaged."
Tozer and his church chose not to stay and minister, but to fear and flee. What had happened to the Almighty God, the God of love and justice, he supposedly served?
Dixie shared this tragic and telling story with a visiting mission group; she shared it gently, not defaming Tozer. Bryan was there. Later he told my wife, he was deeply offended.
Later she shared the same Tozer story with John Perkins. He also was once a fan of Tozer's, but when he heard "irreparably damaged" he slammed his fist on the table and loudly proclaimed, "That's evil!"
What do you think? Was Tozer good or evil? Is there anything good about a spirituality without justice? Read and reflect on Amos 5 and Isaiah 58.
might say a Protestant saint. The first opinion, "He's good," was expressed by Bryan, a white disciple of John Perkins. Bryan was gifted and passionate about racial reconciliation. He came all the way from Seattle to Jackson, MS to do reconciliation in the state where the historical enmity between black and white ran very deep. Reading Tozer has deepened Bryan's spiritual life so he was a fan of Tozer.
Years ago, my wife Dixie had read The Pursuit of God and found it inspiring. But recently she read a favorable biography about Tozer and found a deeply disturbing nugget of information. As poor and dysfunctional blacks moved into the community surrounding Tozer's church in the south side of Chicago, Tozer and his church engaged in white church flight out to the safer suburbs. Why? According to their beliefs, the community was "irreparably damaged."
Tozer and his church chose not to stay and minister, but to fear and flee. What had happened to the Almighty God, the God of love and justice, he supposedly served?
Dixie shared this tragic and telling story with a visiting mission group; she shared it gently, not defaming Tozer. Bryan was there. Later he told my wife, he was deeply offended.
Later she shared the same Tozer story with John Perkins. He also was once a fan of Tozer's, but when he heard "irreparably damaged" he slammed his fist on the table and loudly proclaimed, "That's evil!"
What do you think? Was Tozer good or evil? Is there anything good about a spirituality without justice? Read and reflect on Amos 5 and Isaiah 58.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Could The Donald be Right?
Rarely do I agree with D.T. on most anything, but here's one area I might agree on. If Americans are going to tear down anything having to do with slavery, ALL such monuments should be torn down. Some questions:
1. Does this mean if we tear down Robert E. Lee monuments, we should also tear down the Washington Monument?
2. Does this mean if we take down the Confederate flags, that we should also take down the Stars and Stripes? Think northern slave trade.
3. If we apply this principle to Indian genocide, should we destroy the St. Louis Arch?
4. Are there any monuments to the slaveholding preacher Jonathan Edwards? If so, who will tear them down? Any volunteers?
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
A Greater Than John Wesley is Here
A Greater than John Wesley is here in America. 87 years of age he is alive and kicking and has just published his memoir, Dream With Me.
I am a proud Wesleyan. In my opinion, John Wesley was the greatest Christian leader since NT times. Greater than Calvin and Luther in that he led a remarkable religio-social movement that reached the masses, especially the poor.
John Wesley's greatest strengths were:
1. An intense biblical focus on and practice of LOVE.
2. Evangelism focused on the poor.
3. A new style of church, including class meetings, that created strong disciples.
4. A Spirit-filled movement.
Wesley's greatest weaknesses were:
1. Weak on kingdom justice; his strong emphasis on love did not include an equally strong biblical emphasis on justice. Justice and love must be combined like Siamese twins.
2. His strong emphasis on the poor did not include an equally strong emphasis on the biblical teaching on oppression, the primary cause of poverty. He did not understand how political and economic systems often became systems of oppression. Howard Snyder, an expert on Wesley, concludes that John Wesley does not make a good guide in political and economic matters. Wesley believed in the divine right of kings; therefore Christians should obey kings. Period.
More speculation on why Wesley was weak on the extensive biblical teaching on justice. The KJV, likely Wesley's primary English Bible, was a catastrophic failure in its translation of justice. Whereas the typical Spanish, French or Latin translations of the NT had around 100 references to justice, the KJV had zero references to justice. Even the KJV OT was deeply flawed on justice. The Hebrew mishpat was almost always translated as judgment, not justice. So Amos 5:24 read "Let judgment roll down like waters."
John Perkins is one a few Americans who has a deep understanding of justice. Being born in raised in Mississippi as a poor, oppressed black, he was keenly aware of the need for justice. Perkins realized that only a Jubilee justice could end oppression and produce justice.
In some important ways, John Perkins went further than Martin Luther King. He developed and practiced a remarkable method to rebuild poor communities which he called Christian Community Development. Perkins implemented King's 'beloved community.'
I assert that in some important ways Perkins was superior to both Wesley and King. I say this only to draw attention Perkins unique ideas and practice of biblical Christianity. John Perkins himself would reject these types of comparisons as idle talk by scholars.
Do Black Lives Matter?
In white America, black lives don't matter, never have, and still don't matter in 2017. 350 years of unending oppression must stop now, today. Urgency is the word; no longer business as usual. White Christian persons, white Christian churches, white Christian colleges must give highest priority to repentance, restitution and rebuilding---or repairing the oppression damage that has been done and is currently ravaging black communities across our nation.
To be more specific, I am referring to white generated systems of oppression, such as slavery, segregation, and mass incarceration. In more detail, from slavery to segregation (including economic sharecropping, prison gangs, and lynching) to current racial and class segregation, current racial profiling and mass incarceration, current huge racial wealth gap.
I recommend that Greenville University give priority to three issues:
1. Creating a theology of the kingdom of God that includes a comprehensive biblical analysis of oppression and justice based on both the Old and New Testaments, a theology that releases the oppressed.
2. Adding a Christian Community Development component to the existing social work curriculum.
3. Developing a long term partnership with an existing CCD organization in East St. Louis or St. Louis.
Under theology, GU could think in the following ways:
1. Completing the Wesleyan Revolution: Adding Justice to Love.
2. A Second Reformation: Adding Jubilee Justice to Justification by Grace.
PS to Love and Justice, Grace and Justice
More on justification and justice, spirituality and justice, freedom and justice, love and justice, grace and justice.
The abolitionists were strong on freedom but weak on justice. How? Few freed slaves were provided with their own plot of land which Jubilee justice required. So most freed slaves were homeless, foodless, and landless as soon as they crossed the slave plantation property line. As a result, they died like flies from starvation and disease. One historian estimates that nearly a million freed slaves died. More freedom and death than freedom and justice.
Ethnocentrism and oppression run rampant while far too often the church sits on the sidelines, comfortably religious, practicing a spirituality without justice.
The poor in spirit, those broken in spirit, those so badly traumatized by oppression that they are in a spirit of despair are only blessed in the presence of kingdom of God justice. See Matthew and Luke's Sermon on the Mount. In the absence of kingdom justice, "Blessed are the poor" is only a pious platitude.
Love and Justice, Grace and Justice
Just as the Bible teaches that we must combine grace AND truth (John 1:14), faith
AND works (James two), so I think we must combine:
* justification AND justice, Romans in a Spanish NT.
* spirituality AND justice, Amos 5 and Isaiah 58.
* freedom AND justice, failure of abolitionist movement.
* love AND justice, Sermon on the Mount.
* grace AND justice, Ephesians 2:8-10 ( think works as justice)
* reconciliation AND justice, John Perkins.
* reconciliation AND justice, John Perkins.
Because justice seldom occurs in English New Testaments (zero times in the KJV, 16 times in the NIV), English speaking people seldom think of justice as a basic and required part of the NT gospel. Since justice is found around 100 times in a Spanish, French or Latin NT, all English speaking people should learn Spanish, French or Latin. German is almost as good so German will do. The NEB makes an excellent translation of Matthew 6:33: "Set your mind on God's kingdom and his justice."
Stan Key has written a tract/booklet titled "The Most Important Word in the Bible"; he referring to the AND in John 1:14 "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Key asserts "Grace without truth is sentimentalism. Truth without grace is a sledge hammer."
* Justification without justice is half the gospel.
* Spirituality without justice is a self-deceptive pious platitude.
* Freedom without justice is illusory because quickly oppressors will reinvent, redesign a new system of oppression and freedom will again be lost. Think from slavery to segregation.
* Love without justice is shallow, not much more than charity which will not end systems of oppression. Think Methodism.
* Grace without justice is only half the gospel.
* Reconciliation without justice is only half the gospel; it may satisfy whites but not blacks.
Half a gospel allows oppression to go on and on and on, crushing, humiliating, animalizing, impoverishing, enslaving and killing human beings created in the image of God.
Scripture Interpretation and American Application
I will give an interpretation of the following Scripture passages and a sample American application. Then you fill in the rest of the American applications.
1. Exodus, chapter 1
Interpretation: first biblical description of a system of oppression---Hebrew slavery; causal factors: Egyptian ethnocentrism and unfounded fears of the ethnic Other.
American application: Anglo-Saxon ethnocentrism combined with economic greed created the basis for numerous systems of oppression such as Indian genocide and black slavery, theft of Mexican land, killing of 1,000,000 Filipinos etc. Black slavery was later legitimated by a flawed racial justification.
2. Exodus 6:9
Interpretation: description of oppression damage; mass PTSD or PTSS
American application:
3. Leviticus, chapter 25
Interpretation: radical steps required to end oppression, to prevent lifelong systems from becoming deeply entrenched, to release the oppressed.
American application:
4.Deut. 15
Interpretation: same as Lev. 25
American application:
5. Nehemiah, chapter 5
Interpretation: with Nehemiah's bold leadership, radical steps were taken to end oppression; how to move from oppression to justice.
American application:
6. Isaiah 58
Interpretation: 1-5 spirituality without justice
6ff spirituality with justice
American application:
7. Isaiah 61:1-4
Interpretation: description of ministry requirements to release the oppressed poor; deliverance of those with a spirit of despair.
American application:
8. Messianic passages from Isaiah: 9:7; 11:1-4; 16:5; 28:16-17; 42:1-4; 61:1-4.
Interpretation: the ministry of the Spirit-anointed Messiah is justice.
American application:
9. Matthew 6:33 (NEB)
Interpretation: the essence of the kingdom of God here on earth is justice.
American application:
10. Acts 1:1-8
Interpretation: ties Spirit and kingdom together.
American application:
11. Acts 4:32-35
Interpretation: generosity of Spirit-filled rich meets the needs of the poor.
American application:
12. James 1:27 through chapter 2
Interpretation: about oppressed widows and orphans; rich oppressed the poor; to end oppression, the church must combine love and works, faith and works; this combination produces justice.
American application:
Two Misinterpreted Verses Regarding the Poor
There are two widely misinterpreted, misunderstood Bible verses regarding the poor:
1. "You will always have the poor with you, in your midst, in your community." This is an unfortunate fact of life that you cannot change. The poor deserve your love and charity, but since most poor are lazy or ethnically inferior there is not much that can be done to change things.
2. "Blessed are the poor" . The poor are God's favorites; he will take care of them, now or in eternity.
But "Blessed are the poor" is only a meaningless pious platitude if the church ignores, fails to preach and practice, the following related Bible verses.
God asserts that the poor are at the center of his kingdom, that the church should give high priority to ministering among the oppressed poor. The church should specialize in the following ministries:
1. Exposing the rich oppressor and certainly not honoring the rich in church. See James two. Also Luke 1:53; 3:10-14; 6:24; 8:14; 12:13-34; 16:13-31; 18:18-30; 19:1-10; 19:45-47. There are far more Bible verses on the dangers and deceit of riches, wealth, possessions, than on demon possession.
2. Releasing the oppressed, see Isaiah 58:6ff and Luke 4:18-19.
3. Loving poor, ethnic neighbors as much as God. See Luke 10.
4. Incarnating the kingdom of God as justice, Jubilee justice. See Matthew 6:33 (NEB). Also Isaiah's six Messianic passages which highlight justice.
Then and only then are the poor blessed; from pious platitude to actual reality.
Irreparably Damaged or Fatally Flawed?
Are our black ghettos "irreparably damaged" (Tozer) or are America's white churches "fatally flawed' (Noble)? Is spirituality without justice cultic Christianity? Is love without justice cultic Christianity?
A.W. Tozer was a well known spiritual giant of the past century who would spend hours in prayer and worship before his Almighty God. But Tozer, his church, his gospel failed a crucial test and he and his church fled the scene, in fear and failure.
Tozer and his church were located on the south side of Chicago. Poor blacks moved in. Tozer and his church saw these blacks as "irreparably damaged." So Tozer and his church moved out into the safer spiritual suburbs.
In my opinion, Tozer and his Americanized gospel was fatally flawed, incapable of releasing the oppressed poor, incapable of rebuilding poor communities, unwilling to repent and restitute, incapable of doing kingdom justice. Tozer's gospel was spirituality without justice, a cultic Christianity.
The three "f'"s---fear, flee, and failure---characterized his white American gospel. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of times the above pattern has repeated itself in American church history. White church flight. According to a Lutheran church pastor (Arthur Simon, Faces of Poverty), over a 40 year period, 40 out of 44 Lutheran churches fled Detroit.
John Perkins has a more biblical gospel that doesn't flee, but instead engages; it is a spirituality with justice, love combined with justice. It is based on relocation in the community of need--- poor oppressed ethnic communities, reconciliation between black and white, rich and poor, also redistribution of resources or Jubilee justice.
Over the years many whites, including my wife and I, have relocated, reconciled and redistributed to help repair and rebuild poor communities. Google CCDA for more information on Christian Community Development; then read John Perkins latest book Dream With Me for a more excellent way, a more biblical way than fleeing in order to maintain white privilege.
Opposing, exposing hate groups is the right thing to do, but it is only a beginning. The white church must release, restitute and rebuild; tokenism is not enough.
The American church is skilled at putting on bandaids (charity), but not surgery (justice). Surgery requires people with training, skills, dedication. Christian colleges and seminaries are not training community development surgeons, only amateurs.
A.W. Tozer was a well known spiritual giant of the past century who would spend hours in prayer and worship before his Almighty God. But Tozer, his church, his gospel failed a crucial test and he and his church fled the scene, in fear and failure.
Tozer and his church were located on the south side of Chicago. Poor blacks moved in. Tozer and his church saw these blacks as "irreparably damaged." So Tozer and his church moved out into the safer spiritual suburbs.
In my opinion, Tozer and his Americanized gospel was fatally flawed, incapable of releasing the oppressed poor, incapable of rebuilding poor communities, unwilling to repent and restitute, incapable of doing kingdom justice. Tozer's gospel was spirituality without justice, a cultic Christianity.
The three "f'"s---fear, flee, and failure---characterized his white American gospel. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of times the above pattern has repeated itself in American church history. White church flight. According to a Lutheran church pastor (Arthur Simon, Faces of Poverty), over a 40 year period, 40 out of 44 Lutheran churches fled Detroit.
John Perkins has a more biblical gospel that doesn't flee, but instead engages; it is a spirituality with justice, love combined with justice. It is based on relocation in the community of need--- poor oppressed ethnic communities, reconciliation between black and white, rich and poor, also redistribution of resources or Jubilee justice.
Over the years many whites, including my wife and I, have relocated, reconciled and redistributed to help repair and rebuild poor communities. Google CCDA for more information on Christian Community Development; then read John Perkins latest book Dream With Me for a more excellent way, a more biblical way than fleeing in order to maintain white privilege.
Opposing, exposing hate groups is the right thing to do, but it is only a beginning. The white church must release, restitute and rebuild; tokenism is not enough.
The American church is skilled at putting on bandaids (charity), but not surgery (justice). Surgery requires people with training, skills, dedication. Christian colleges and seminaries are not training community development surgeons, only amateurs.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Woe to the Rich, the Pharisees, and the White Supremacists
Woe to the rich, the Pharisees, and the superior whites!
Jesus was quite specific when he spoke about social evils, social oppression. In his day, the rich were the bad guys who oppressed the poor, the self-righteous Pharisees who exploited widows, the corrupt priests who ran the Temple as a den of robbers.
Trump, when he condemned the violence in Virginia, did not identify the bad guys---white nationalists, white supremacists, the radical domestic terrorists. He could not, would not because he himself was one of them and was politically supported by them.
Trump, if were ethically honest, should have started his statement by saying, "I, in my campaign, appealed to white nationalists thereby giving them legitimacy. I confess, I repent, I will stop endorsing evil. I will fire all white supremacists on my staff. After that, I will fire myself."
Of course, we all excel in confessing the sins of others, but not our own. Self-righteous conservatives are experts at identifying the sins of liberals, and vice-versa. This pattern goes way back to our founding fathers, the signers of the Declaration of Independence. They excelled at pointing out the tyranny of the British while hypocritically ignoring their own enormous tyranny---Indian genocide and black slavery. Many of the signers demanding their own freedom were, at the same time, denying freedom to their slaves. Hypocrisy of hypocrisy!!
Today self-righteous northerners are pointing out the Southern sin of slavery, the evils associated with the Confederate flag while convenienately ignoring the extensive Northern sin of the slave trade conducted under the Stars and Stripes. And most abolitionists did not invite freed slaves who were immediately homeless, foodless and landless north to live next to them. Freed slaves were still regarded as inferior beings.
Jesus was quite specific when he spoke about social evils, social oppression. In his day, the rich were the bad guys who oppressed the poor, the self-righteous Pharisees who exploited widows, the corrupt priests who ran the Temple as a den of robbers.
Trump, when he condemned the violence in Virginia, did not identify the bad guys---white nationalists, white supremacists, the radical domestic terrorists. He could not, would not because he himself was one of them and was politically supported by them.
Trump, if were ethically honest, should have started his statement by saying, "I, in my campaign, appealed to white nationalists thereby giving them legitimacy. I confess, I repent, I will stop endorsing evil. I will fire all white supremacists on my staff. After that, I will fire myself."
Of course, we all excel in confessing the sins of others, but not our own. Self-righteous conservatives are experts at identifying the sins of liberals, and vice-versa. This pattern goes way back to our founding fathers, the signers of the Declaration of Independence. They excelled at pointing out the tyranny of the British while hypocritically ignoring their own enormous tyranny---Indian genocide and black slavery. Many of the signers demanding their own freedom were, at the same time, denying freedom to their slaves. Hypocrisy of hypocrisy!!
Today self-righteous northerners are pointing out the Southern sin of slavery, the evils associated with the Confederate flag while convenienately ignoring the extensive Northern sin of the slave trade conducted under the Stars and Stripes. And most abolitionists did not invite freed slaves who were immediately homeless, foodless and landless north to live next to them. Freed slaves were still regarded as inferior beings.
Trump and the Founding Fathers
Please don't be too hard on my good friend Donal T. who couldn't or wouldn't utter the words white supremacy, neo-Nazi, or KKK. Not even radical domestic terrorism. After all, he has a lot in common with our revered Founding Fathers. By the way, Donal, you can choose from only one of the four names if you can't bring yourself to say all four at the same time.
There is good historical precedent for NOT doing so. George Jefferson, Thomas Washington and John Madison displayed the same lack of moral courage. In their famous Declaration of Hypocrisy, they couldn't or wouldn't utter the words:
colonial tyranny,
colonial slave trade,
colonial slavery.
After all, all of them, D.T., G. J., T.W., and J.M., were only deists, not theists so you can't expect a deists to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Had they been Judeo-Christian theists, they would have courageously and honestly said:
colonial tyranny,
northern slave trade.
PS
Did you know that Washington married well? Exceedingly well! Rumor has it that he owned only 123 slaves while Martha brought 153 dower slaves into the marriage. During their wedding ceremony, as Martha marched down the aisle, her retinue of 153 slaves followed her. I certainly hope that no rebellious slave disrupted this prestigious colonial wedding of two wealthy colonialists; when the two became one, they created a multi-billionaire couple. How impressive!
I guess the moral of this story is: you can't trust a filthy rich, slaveholder to 'do right.'
There is good historical precedent for NOT doing so. George Jefferson, Thomas Washington and John Madison displayed the same lack of moral courage. In their famous Declaration of Hypocrisy, they couldn't or wouldn't utter the words:
colonial tyranny,
colonial slave trade,
colonial slavery.
After all, all of them, D.T., G. J., T.W., and J.M., were only deists, not theists so you can't expect a deists to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Had they been Judeo-Christian theists, they would have courageously and honestly said:
colonial tyranny,
northern slave trade.
PS
Did you know that Washington married well? Exceedingly well! Rumor has it that he owned only 123 slaves while Martha brought 153 dower slaves into the marriage. During their wedding ceremony, as Martha marched down the aisle, her retinue of 153 slaves followed her. I certainly hope that no rebellious slave disrupted this prestigious colonial wedding of two wealthy colonialists; when the two became one, they created a multi-billionaire couple. How impressive!
I guess the moral of this story is: you can't trust a filthy rich, slaveholder to 'do right.'
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
A Christian Community Development Solution to Homelessness
From the book What Difference do it Make? By Ron Hall, a rich white man and Denver Moore, a poor, black homeless man. Setting: Fort Worth, Texas streets and the Union Gospel Mission.
Traditional mission ministry to the homeless: provide a meal, a bed and a sermon.
Deborah a remarkable white lady who loved the homeless with unusual depth and insight, led a movement that ended up transforming the mission's ministry, adding "a memorial chapel, a new men's center, a women's center, and a free medical clinic."
The medical clinic included a mental health division: "70 percent of homeless people suffer from varying degrees of mental health issues. Before the clinic, the Union Gospel Mission lacked the capacity to offer these folks any meaningful on-site help. Now volunteer counselors and psychologists can intervene directly and also refer those with chronic mental conditions to agencies that can get them on the path to healing."
John Perkins would call this more holistic approach to the homeless Christian Community Development.
Denver, the homeless guy was giving his rich white friend, Ron Hall, a guided tour of the 'streets.' Ron saw a guy that appeared to be dead drunk. Ron was not about to give this drunk any 'blessing' money because it would go to more liquor, but grudgingly he did. Denver explained, "That man you just gave that money to---his name is Jose. And he ain't drunk. He's a stroke victim. And he's one of the hardest workin men I ever knowed." Denver went on to tell me that before a stroke got him, Jose had been a bricklayer and a rock mason who worked hard, lived cheap, and sent all his money home to Mexico to support his family.
"He don't even drink, Mr. Ron. He depends on people like you to eat."
"You know what you did? You judged a man without knowing his heart. If you gon' walk these streets with me, you gon' have to learn to serve these people without judging them. Let the judgement be up to God."
Another word of wisdom from Denver:
"I always did believe in Jesus. Most of the people on the streets know Jesus loves them. But they figure nobody else loves them but Jesus. . . . Tellin us about Jesus is one thing. . . . Whose gon' stick around and show us Jesus."
Some of us need to relocate and live among the homeless or at least do some deep listening to them.
Traditional mission ministry to the homeless: provide a meal, a bed and a sermon.
Deborah a remarkable white lady who loved the homeless with unusual depth and insight, led a movement that ended up transforming the mission's ministry, adding "a memorial chapel, a new men's center, a women's center, and a free medical clinic."
The medical clinic included a mental health division: "70 percent of homeless people suffer from varying degrees of mental health issues. Before the clinic, the Union Gospel Mission lacked the capacity to offer these folks any meaningful on-site help. Now volunteer counselors and psychologists can intervene directly and also refer those with chronic mental conditions to agencies that can get them on the path to healing."
John Perkins would call this more holistic approach to the homeless Christian Community Development.
Denver, the homeless guy was giving his rich white friend, Ron Hall, a guided tour of the 'streets.' Ron saw a guy that appeared to be dead drunk. Ron was not about to give this drunk any 'blessing' money because it would go to more liquor, but grudgingly he did. Denver explained, "That man you just gave that money to---his name is Jose. And he ain't drunk. He's a stroke victim. And he's one of the hardest workin men I ever knowed." Denver went on to tell me that before a stroke got him, Jose had been a bricklayer and a rock mason who worked hard, lived cheap, and sent all his money home to Mexico to support his family.
"He don't even drink, Mr. Ron. He depends on people like you to eat."
"You know what you did? You judged a man without knowing his heart. If you gon' walk these streets with me, you gon' have to learn to serve these people without judging them. Let the judgement be up to God."
Another word of wisdom from Denver:
"I always did believe in Jesus. Most of the people on the streets know Jesus loves them. But they figure nobody else loves them but Jesus. . . . Tellin us about Jesus is one thing. . . . Whose gon' stick around and show us Jesus."
Some of us need to relocate and live among the homeless or at least do some deep listening to them.
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Was John Wesley Right in Opposing the American Revolution?
Was John Wesley Right in Opposing the American Revolution?
1. From the August 2, 2017 issue of Christian Century:
"Although many American evangelicals consider John Wesley a hero of the faith, they'd be chagrined to know he opposed the American Revolution, says historian David Swartz. Wesley, the founder of Methodism, considered it hypocritical for the colonists to protest against what they considered to be subservience to the [tyrannical] King of England while they approved of [the tyranny] of owning slaves."
2. From the August 2, 2017 issue of Christian Century; a review of A Colony in a Nation.
"Everyone knows the United States has a broken justice system when it comes to race, right? Wrong, says MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes. . . . We have TWO justice systems---one for the [black] colony and one for the [white] nation---and they're both broken. Our colony is not in some land far away: it exists within the nation. We have two classes of people, one with the rights of citizens and the other at the mercy of the whims of the state. And the lines are most clearly drawn along race. [Read The New Jim Crow]." Or the lines are drawn by tyranny/oppression.
"Hayes thinks the inequities in our country are nothing new. We are living out a pattern that began BEFORE we were a nation, and we drag our old colonial wounds and abuses into the present day with us. When America became a nation, revolutionaries made a colony of the slaves and their descendants, establishing a two-tiered justice system that continues to this day."
In other words, the deep problems we have haunting America's past and present are much more than a few bad apples---cops or a president. Our deep problems are because of planned imperialism, tyranny, systems of oppression, not just the results of a few accidents of history. Our political and economic systems are rigged by the rich to favor the rich and exploit the poor. James two is a blunt and sharp warning for the church not to do the same.
The oppressed black colony within the white oppressor nation is in bad shape---dysfunctional, but not because of the inferiority of blacks as is commonly supposed by most whites. The tyranny of the rich, white, male American elite is far worse than the tyranny by the British elites against the colonies. Bacon's Rebellion, 1676, was more justified morally than the American Revolution. Though part of Bacon's Rebellion was unjustified, the attack against Indians, the "alliance between [white] indentured servants and African [slaves] disturbed the ruling class [white elites] who responded by hardening the racial caste of slavery in an attempt to divide the two races." Rich white landowners who grew tobacco as a lucrative cash crop badly needed cheap labor to grow and harvest labor-intensive tobacco. This is how America's slave system was created.
3. From the August 2, 2017 Christian Century; a review of The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel, reviewed by Walter Brueggemann:
"The book's title, The Beginning of Politics, recognizes Samuel as a new kind of literature within the Bible. Here human agents are primary, in contrast to the antecedent books in which God is decisive."
"Halbertal and Holmes show how both kings come to power in order to protect their people but soon display their willingness to abuse their people for the sake of maintaining power. Focusing on Saul's frenzied massacre at Nob (1 Sam. 22) and David's murder of Uriah (2 Sam. 11), the authors probe the violence that marks both kings---so much that I could almost hear the theme music from The Godfather sounding in the background. While Saul's violence is undisciplined and paranoid, David's violence is shrewd and calculating in the service of his bold self-indulgence."
The behavior of the American tyrannical rich, white, male elite seems to resemble the misuse of power by Samuel and David. So why do so many white evangelicals so easily sanctify this evil behavior, past and present?
4. From an interview with black lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, in the SPU Response magazine:
"We know why there are kids that are struggling. And I think it has to do with an EPIDEMIC OF TRAUMA (emphasis added). We've got too many kids that are born into violent families. They live in violent neighborhoods. They go to violent schools. By the time these kids are 4 and 5 years of age they have trauma disorder [PTSD or PTSS]."
Could this epidemic of trauma be traced way to the 1600s when a tyrannical white elite established slavery in this budding nation?
1. From the August 2, 2017 issue of Christian Century:
"Although many American evangelicals consider John Wesley a hero of the faith, they'd be chagrined to know he opposed the American Revolution, says historian David Swartz. Wesley, the founder of Methodism, considered it hypocritical for the colonists to protest against what they considered to be subservience to the [tyrannical] King of England while they approved of [the tyranny] of owning slaves."
2. From the August 2, 2017 issue of Christian Century; a review of A Colony in a Nation.
"Everyone knows the United States has a broken justice system when it comes to race, right? Wrong, says MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes. . . . We have TWO justice systems---one for the [black] colony and one for the [white] nation---and they're both broken. Our colony is not in some land far away: it exists within the nation. We have two classes of people, one with the rights of citizens and the other at the mercy of the whims of the state. And the lines are most clearly drawn along race. [Read The New Jim Crow]." Or the lines are drawn by tyranny/oppression.
"Hayes thinks the inequities in our country are nothing new. We are living out a pattern that began BEFORE we were a nation, and we drag our old colonial wounds and abuses into the present day with us. When America became a nation, revolutionaries made a colony of the slaves and their descendants, establishing a two-tiered justice system that continues to this day."
In other words, the deep problems we have haunting America's past and present are much more than a few bad apples---cops or a president. Our deep problems are because of planned imperialism, tyranny, systems of oppression, not just the results of a few accidents of history. Our political and economic systems are rigged by the rich to favor the rich and exploit the poor. James two is a blunt and sharp warning for the church not to do the same.
The oppressed black colony within the white oppressor nation is in bad shape---dysfunctional, but not because of the inferiority of blacks as is commonly supposed by most whites. The tyranny of the rich, white, male American elite is far worse than the tyranny by the British elites against the colonies. Bacon's Rebellion, 1676, was more justified morally than the American Revolution. Though part of Bacon's Rebellion was unjustified, the attack against Indians, the "alliance between [white] indentured servants and African [slaves] disturbed the ruling class [white elites] who responded by hardening the racial caste of slavery in an attempt to divide the two races." Rich white landowners who grew tobacco as a lucrative cash crop badly needed cheap labor to grow and harvest labor-intensive tobacco. This is how America's slave system was created.
3. From the August 2, 2017 Christian Century; a review of The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel, reviewed by Walter Brueggemann:
"The book's title, The Beginning of Politics, recognizes Samuel as a new kind of literature within the Bible. Here human agents are primary, in contrast to the antecedent books in which God is decisive."
"Halbertal and Holmes show how both kings come to power in order to protect their people but soon display their willingness to abuse their people for the sake of maintaining power. Focusing on Saul's frenzied massacre at Nob (1 Sam. 22) and David's murder of Uriah (2 Sam. 11), the authors probe the violence that marks both kings---so much that I could almost hear the theme music from The Godfather sounding in the background. While Saul's violence is undisciplined and paranoid, David's violence is shrewd and calculating in the service of his bold self-indulgence."
The behavior of the American tyrannical rich, white, male elite seems to resemble the misuse of power by Samuel and David. So why do so many white evangelicals so easily sanctify this evil behavior, past and present?
4. From an interview with black lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, in the SPU Response magazine:
"We know why there are kids that are struggling. And I think it has to do with an EPIDEMIC OF TRAUMA (emphasis added). We've got too many kids that are born into violent families. They live in violent neighborhoods. They go to violent schools. By the time these kids are 4 and 5 years of age they have trauma disorder [PTSD or PTSS]."
Could this epidemic of trauma be traced way to the 1600s when a tyrannical white elite established slavery in this budding nation?
Friday, August 4, 2017
Review of The Market as God
The Market as God by Harvey Cox is reviewed in the July 19 issue of Christian Century.
Following Pope Francis, Cox talks about "the return of Golden Calf idolatry to our world today, in the form of the worship of money and the deification of the market." "American society is fully encompassed in the market and every individual's life depends on the market."
For me, the Market in America plays the same idolatrous role as the Holy Temple played in Jesus' time.
Though the market and the economy are thought of as secular, Cox argues that the Market's influence and impact is so large and comprehensive that is has an evil function. The rich rig the Market in their favor.
"Health care in the United States is a for-profit industry, like petroleum speculation or automobile manufacture. It's a few people making a lot of money off of sick people, and after so many years of this being the status quo, they have the political system wired to keep it that way." William Pitt
Following Pope Francis, Cox talks about "the return of Golden Calf idolatry to our world today, in the form of the worship of money and the deification of the market." "American society is fully encompassed in the market and every individual's life depends on the market."
For me, the Market in America plays the same idolatrous role as the Holy Temple played in Jesus' time.
Though the market and the economy are thought of as secular, Cox argues that the Market's influence and impact is so large and comprehensive that is has an evil function. The rich rig the Market in their favor.
"Health care in the United States is a for-profit industry, like petroleum speculation or automobile manufacture. It's a few people making a lot of money off of sick people, and after so many years of this being the status quo, they have the political system wired to keep it that way." William Pitt
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