Several years ago I researched a very simple question: What did Free Methodists have to say during the tumultuous decade of the 1960s? Did they weigh in on Vietnam? Did they back the civil rights movement or oppose it? I set about reading as much as I could of the literature produced by my denomination during that decade. I pored over the articles printed in the denominational magazine. And you know what I found? I found one -- ONE! -- article that even remotely questioned the legitimacy of the war in Vietnam. It was the only article (more like a short blurb, really) that reminded Free Methodists of our Christian commitment to peacemaking and hatred of violence.
I did not find a single article addressing civil rights.
Think about that. On the national level, what was taking place was unprecedented. Martin Luther King was traveling the nation, legislation was being enacted, major strides toward racial equality were taking place... and my church was largely silent.
Remember: this is a denomination that boasts of roots in (and owes its name to) the 1860's anti-slavery movement. I believe its silence, just a century later, is nothing short of tragic. It's not like the church was filled with vocal racists and bigots. Free Methodists weren't donning the white hood and burning crosses (and least, I don't think they were). But they also weren't marching with the protesters, practicing civil disobedience, and attending the rally to hear about Dr. King's dream. (By the way, if anyone who reads this knows of evidence to the contrary, please contact me. I would be delighted to be proved wrong on this).
When my grandchildren ask me about the Trayvon Martin case, I don't want to tell them that I was silent. I don't want to be found on the wrong side of history. I want to tell them with pride that my church entered into the conversation and that, in fact, we were on the front lines, demanding that our nation talk about problems of systemic injustice.
Does the gospel have anything to say about what has transpired recently? Some Christians evidently think that it does not. According to the Christianity Today poll I participated in today, over 86% of churches did not even make the slightest mention of the Zimmerman trial. That silence must be broken. The gospel DOES have something to say here. The gospel is a message of liberation, a message of hope, a message of reconciliation. I believe that if Jesus had been alive in 1963, he would have applauded Dr. King's dream and worked to see it come to fruition. And I believe that in our own day, Jesus would be standing with the family as they grieve over Trayvon's death. (He'd also be seeking to redeem Zimmerman from his violent ways. Can't you hear him say, "George, put down your gun. Those who live by the gun, die by the gun"?). I can see Jesus wearing a hoodie. It's in his nature to become like us and enter into our pain and our own struggle for justice. That's what the incarnation is.
Is it any wonder why young people are turning away from the church in droves when the witness of the church has been so silent for so long? God stands on the side of the victim, the poor, the outcast, the disfigured, the misunderstood black men of our day. He calls his church to do the same. And when we remain silent in the face of injustice, we betray the gospel. Christians need to talk about Trayvon because the whole reason Jesus came to earth was to set prisoners free, give sight to the blind, proclaim good news to the poor, and initiate the year of Jubilee (see Luke 4). He only asks that his people bear witness to that reality.
Hoodies up, y'all. Can I get a witness?
So you're saying the wrong decision was made in this trial?
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't blame the jurors. I'm sure they did the best that they could. The real blame lies in the "stand your ground law" and the prejudicial assumptions that created the altercation in the first place.
ReplyDeleteSince I'm only a 5th generation Free Methodist preacher's kid I guess my thoughts won't count much here. This screed is wrong headed since it only deals with the emotions that are fostered by sources that are not concerned with the facts of this particular case.
ReplyDelete"...I believe that if Jesus had been alive in 1963, he would have applauded Dr. King's dream and worked to see it come to fruition... YES! I agree! However, do not put Dr. King's work with what Trayvon did anywhere close to the same level.
"...And I believe that in our own day, Jesus would be standing with the family as they grieve over Trayvon's death..." Yep, of course he would. Would he blame the victim of their son's beating? No.
"...(He'd also be seeking to redeem Zimmerman from his violent ways. Can't you hear him say, "George, put down your gun. Those who live by the gun, die by the gun"?)... Your prejudiced words of "redeem" and "violent" show your bias. The loving and caring Jesus of the New Testament would be holding Mr. Zimmerman close and crying with him... Without the hateful judgement you bring to the table.
It is not only the young that are turning away from the church. Perhaps it is because we spend far more time and monies and effort helping those in need in Bango-Bango instead of next door or even in the next neighborhood.
Stop putting your bias and religious hate on a story that was never about race issues. Why are you not, instead, putting your concern for that neighborhood that was not "being silent" in the face of all the crime and was doing something about that very crime.
Where are your tears for the life that has been torn asunder by the hate, bias, greed, and bigotry of those who insist on sitting in judgement of Mr. Zimmerman? Yes, that very man who was found NOT GUILTY by a jury of his peers?
Facts are stubborn things, your dismissal of them is troubling.
That vaunted "stand your ground" law had nothing to do with the court case. Do not blame a good law that was not used or implemented here.
ReplyDeleteSince I'm only a 5th generation Free Methodist preacher's kid I guess my thoughts won't count much here. I am saddened to read this from someone who imagines to wrap himself in the Reverend B.T. Robert's robes and declare this to be as Rev. Roberts would think.
This screed is wrong headed, it only deals with the emotions that are fostered by sources that are not concerned with the facts of this particular case. And you seek to shovel distain and disgust on those pastors and church leaders for supposed stance on the Vietnam War and Dr. King's work.
You even lightly offer to acknowledge that Free Methodists could have been under the white robes of the KKK.
My heart weeps for your family if that is all you have to offer your progeny of the heritage that is the Free Methodist Church.
"... prejudicial assumptions that created the altercation..." From everything offered in the court case, the prejudice was all on young Martin's side. That does not fit into your meme however. Why?
"...I believe that if Jesus had been alive in 1963, he would have applauded Dr. King's dream and worked to see it come to fruition... YES! I agree! However, do not put Dr. King's work with what young Martin did here demeans Dr. King's efforts.
"...And I believe that in our own day, Jesus would be standing with the family as they grieve over Trayvon's death..." Yep, of course he would. Would he blame the victim of their son's beating? No.
"...(He'd also be seeking to redeem Zimmerman from his violent ways. Can't you hear him say, "George, put down your gun. Those who live by the gun, die by the gun"?)... Your prejudiced words of "redeem" and "violent" show your bias.
The loving and caring Jesus of the New Testament would be holding Mr. Zimmerman close and crying with him... Without the hateful judgement you bring to the table.
Mr. Zimmerman was trying to save his life and did so, sadly to the detriment of young Martin's future. But you conveniently forget that this would not have happened if young Martin had not gone seeking, and accosted Mr. Zimmerman physically.
This case was fraught with bias and bigotry (and political pressure) from the prosecution's side. It did not help that the media chose an fact-less issue and judged Mr. Zimmerman guilty even before the trial started.
And it does not help when "christians" pull their zealotry about themselves and decry the case, while blasting the past generations for their crimes.
It is not only the young that are turning away from the church. Perhaps it is because we spend far more time and monies and effort helping those in need in Bango-Bango instead of next door or even in the next neighborhood.
Stop putting your bias and religious hate on a story that was never about race issues. Why are you not, instead, putting your concern for that neighborhood that was not "being silent" in the face of all the crime and was doing something about that very crime.
Where are your tears for the life that has been torn asunder by the hate, bias, greed, and bigotry of those who insist on sitting in judgement of Mr. Zimmerman? Yes, that very man who was found NOT GUILTY by a jury of his peers?
Facts are stubborn things, your dismissal of them is troubling.
Thanks for the article Greg. It was thoughtful and courageous to discuss a matter that many white Christians tend to avoid-the history and practice of racism in America. Sadly, this satirical article reveals as sad truth http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-throws-hands-up-tells-black-teenagers-to-do,33125/
ReplyDeleteYou got ah witness!
ReplyDeleteGreg,
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. I think you are spot on and are one of the few white Christian voices I have heard in the wake of this trial who understands that the issue at stake here is larger questions of systemic injustice. I thought President Obama's recent remarks on this coincide perfectly with yours. For those who may not have heard, here is a sample of what Obama said about the Trayvon Martin Case:
"You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African American community at least, there's a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it's important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away.
"There are very few African American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me. There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me -- at least before I was a senator. There are very few African Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.
"And I don't want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African American community interprets what happened one night in Florida. And it's inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear. The African American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws -- everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case."
I think where the church has failed in America is being able to articulate the truth that Obama is speaking here. The church in America is failing precisely at this point of division in the black/white perspective on things. Black and white Christians should be the most united group of people in the US when it comes to understanding each other. Instead, we're the most divided. (And this a verifiable fact, as documented in the book _Divided by Faith_.) Black and white Christians are farther apart in their understanding of racial issues that black and white non-Christians. So when opportunities for dialogue and understanding turn into silence and accusations, the gospel's call to reconciliation with our fellow believers (as described in Ephesians 2) continue to elude us. I think some of the comments above demonstrate how white believers can get lost in the particulars of individual actions at the expense of recognizing structures of injustice as Obama so ably points out.
I know this is already a long comment, but the only other thing I would say about your post is that you may be too critical on the FMC's lack of involvement on racial issues in the 20th century. I've not found evidence that Free Methodists participated in any significant ways in the protests of the 1960s, but the FMC's Department of Interracial Evangelism was widely praised as early as the mid 1950s in evangelical periodicals for trying to raise awareness about racial discrimination in the US and the church's role in overcoming that. Unfortunately, I don't think many were listening!
Thanks again for your post.
Rusty Hawkins
Indiana Wesleyan University
Great to hear from you, Dr. Hawkins! I appreciate you taking the time to respond and offer those words of encouragement and admonition. I'm particularly thankful to you for pointing me to the Department of Interracial Evangelism. That is something I had not come across before, but most certainly will look up. I am proud of my heritage and am constantly looking for those elements of the church's history that serve as examples for our own day. I just recently finished a master's thesis on B. T. Roberts, one of my heroes. Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteGreg,
ReplyDeleteDidn't mention this in my previous post, but before my current sojourn with the Wesleyans I was born and raised Free Methodist (third generation; my parents and sisters all attended Spring Arbor, Greenville, and/or Central). So I usually have my radar up for mentions of FMC'ers. Incidentally, I've had several Coates's in class up here at IWU. Any chance you're related to Stephen, Jonathan, Taryn, or Kendra?
Also, don't know if you'd be willing to share, but I'd love to see your thesis on Roberts. I wrote a paper on him as an undergraduate but would love to see some serious scholarship on him. No need to post the comment - I just couldn't find an email address for you!
Rusty
rusty.hawkins@indwes.edu
To Marlin Jeff Brown:
ReplyDeleteGreetings, brother in Christ! Sorry it took me so long to respond. Thank you for taking the time to enter into conversations with me. While I am 100% in favor of dialog and welcome disagreement, I hope and pray that it will always be done in a calm, patient, and respectful manner since these are fruit of the Spirit. As brothers in Christ, we have far more that unites us than divides us. What can be more powerful than the unity brought by the same Spirit of God living in you and living in me?
The tone of your posts was quite abrasive. I'm very happy to have a dialog or debate with you over the issues that you raise, but would prefer it if you could avoid such caustic language. What is at the very heart of your objection to my post (since you raise a number of issues)?
Blessings,
Greg