It’s not just the Corona virus — bad theology is killing us
by Elouise
During the last few months I’ve been listening to/reading what Black church leaders are saying. It isn’t pretty. We here in the great USA have made our bed. Now we’re sleeping and dying in it (especially if you happen to be black or brown) whether we like it or not.
I’m a theologian and a follower of Jesus Christ. I care about the so-called guiding principles of government, AND the guiding heart of our government and its citizens. Especially, though not only those citizens who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ.
The current disaster has been building ever since our forefathers and foremothers arrived or were forcibly brought to this country. Bad theology didn’t cause the Corona virus. Rather, the reality of living and dying in the USA with the Corona virus makes clear what’s been at stake from the very beginning. White supremacy. And, in particular, well-to-do white wealth and access to healthcare, housing, jobs…. This didn’t happen overnight.
The title at the top is from a statement by Reverend William H. Lamar IV, Pastor of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. Whether you’re a follower of Jesus Christ or not, please read his clear, bold statement. Well worth the few minutes it will take to read it. Just click on his opening line:
There comes a time when being nice is the worst kind of violence.
Praying you’ll have a fruitful day with moments of peace, plus strength to do what’s right.
Elouise♥
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 23 July 2020
Photo of Rev. William H. Lamar IV found at nbcnews.com
Telling the Truth 
Elouise. Oh my goodness me. You white southern Christian You. What an amazingly brave woman you are to stand there, you 75 year old white Christian you. Oh how I wish I was in America now so I could drive across the country to where you are and fling my arms around you and kiss you and hug you and cry with you. Why have you been silent for so long. I love you now as I have never loved you before. Australia is too far away but please tell me you feel my arms around you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, John! I have at least a little tear in my eye. Thank you for your friendship, your questions and challenges, your encouragement, and most of all, for telling things like they are. Yes! I got your Great Big Aussie Hug and loved it!
Just two other things:
1. I’m now 76, thank you, going on 77!
2. Why silent? That’s a tough one. I know one of my survival strategies as a woman has been to communicate indirectly rather than directly. Hoping, of course, that the other person/s will get it, and still like me. I’ve known for years that we’ve not looked into our national history, especially with regard to our shameful treatment of Native Americans and what we now call African-Americans. We’ve been in a trance. Living in a pretend universe that was destined to come apart. The Coronavirus is making painfully clear the true nature and sad outcomes of promises never kept/taken back/thrown in the trash or buried under a pile political rhetoric about why “we” can’t do this or that.
Onward!
LikeLike
And I had to go and pour another whisky.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 Cheers!
LikeLike
Excellent stuff here… the sermon (extract?) from William H Lamar IV that you link to is fabulous. As Walter Brueggeman says (and I paraphrase outrageously), we baptise our own greed and pretend that it is Christianity, when all we have really is wet, fallen, selfishness.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like your “outrageous” paraphrase of Brueggeman! I don’t know whether Reverend Lamar’s piece originated as a sermon–though for me, it was a sermon. Painfully to the point. Thanks for reading and commenting. I don’t know whether you’re preaching regularly. I think this is a challenging time for preachers. Especially if they have mixed congregations, politically as well as mixed race/class/culture/etc.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
LikeLike
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Marilyn! 🙂
LikeLike
Elouise, thank you for speaking out and sharing this article. I have a lot of ties with Duke and folks with ties to the Divinity School.
I don’t want to take anything away from what is being said about white supremacy – we need to call it what it is, repent of it, and seek to root it out with God’s help. I’m on board.
I also don’t want to take anything away from what is being said about white Evangelicalism. It is often Phariseeism at its finest, including the part about being completely blind to that fact. I’m on board.
And, we see the rich and powerful abusing the poor and powerless in situations where whites and Christianity are not any part of the equation.
To start addressing the heart issues around white supremacy and white Evangelicalism, we need to reach the hearts of whites and white Evangelicals. Lamar’s message will resonate with the already-converted, but I worry that it will fall short of converting anyone.
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts about this.
Grace and peace to you…
dw
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi, dw!
Thanks for your fulsome, thoughtful response. Your last paragraph caught my eye. Yes, we do need to get everyone we can on board with what it means today to be a bold, faithful follower of Jesus. My personal struggle has been whether to spend time hoping to convert white Evangelicals who believe they are doing the will of God, or to give that up and join the open resistance. Not as a non-Christian, but as a re-converted white follower of Jesus Christ.
With you, I don’t know whether Reverend Lamar’s message will change the hearts of any white supremacists or Evangelicals. I do hope it will (as it did for me) give courage to those of us who want to become part of long-needed change, yet aren’t sure how to think about it, especially as followers of Jesus who grew up in white, conservative Christianity.
Sadly, many (not all) Evangelical churches now preach a watered-down version of the Gospel that fails to address social issues. The church is not a political institution. It must, however, live within and deal with political realities. This includes helping parishioners think about these things. Which brings me back to Reverend Lamar’s crystal clear statement about following Jesus. It isn’t about being nice when it avoids dealing with painful realities faced daily by persons of color. Nor is it about watering down or avoiding hard truths about the history of Christianity in order to stay on the good side of The White House.
Thanks again for your comment–which invited me to say more than I’d planned to say! 🙂
Peace and grace to you as well,
Elouise
LikeLiked by 1 person