Like so many others, I have been both anguished and furious as I watched the video of a white policeman with his knee on the neck of a black man. As I told my wife, George Floyd could have been our African-American son-in-law. But I did not think I had anything special to say. So many people like the African-American mayors of St. Paul and Atlanta and Senator Cory Booker, among many others, were saying so well what needed to be said.
Your article was interesting until it turned into the usual "hate Trump" diatribe that comes from the Left, which calls anyone who doesn't agree with them a "racist." I don't know of any policies of Trump that are racist, but I do know he is on the side of the pro-life movement and is appointing Justices accordingly. Abortion disproportionately kills blacks, so we ought to opposing abortion since "black lives matter" even in the womb. I'm writing this from the perspective of a Catholic. It's very confusing to me to divide a denomination according to race, since there is no "white Catholic church."
WWJD? I submit that He would be leading the marches. The key line in this candid assessment is ...”-white evangelicalism loses whatever credibility it still retains.” The so-called white evangelical leaders don’t seem to understand or care that they are hurting the cause of Christ. In the words of Andy Rooney they have a good product but terrible salesmen. America is a great country but she will never reach her true potential until and unless she deals with her original sin: racism.
Please take the time to view the video that was withheld at the time, of the time period immediately preceding Floyd's death for a slightly different view of this"hero." Did his life matter more than the thousands of blacks killed by other blacks? Did it matter more than the children, and innocent blacks who were killed during BLM "peaceful" protests? Why didn't Barack Obama do more to empower black people of today instead of reminding them constantly of their past victimhood and elevating those who profit from that victim mentality. Their view appears to be give a victim a fish and he eats from your hand the rest of his life. Teach him to fish and he might just climb out of that victimhood and think for himself... and pull others up with him! No matter what you think of Trump personally, facts already show far more positive, empowering results for law-abiding black human beings than his predecessor ever accomplished in 8 years. Black unemployment is far lower than during Obama's culture of victimhood and blame. And the Criminal Reform Act gave thousands of blacks (and whites) a second chance to become productive and law- abiding members of society again. Victimhood and blame only obscure real problems that can only be addressed by identifying them... not dangling an all-you-can eat fish buffet. Let's stop the pc-ness and solve the root problems.
Racism IS a very real thing. I think it is part of our sinful nature that we need to guard against always. We always need to guard against hatred of the "other" whomever that "other" happens to be.
I also have to agree that SOME of the history of the Christian Evangelical and race has been horrid. When I watched "Malcom X" I was in agony watching some of the early scenes because I knew they were all too true.
OTOH, to say there has not been dramatic changes is not true. It would have been "Damning with faint praise" saying "made some progress in recent decades" but you went far beyond that. In the very next paragraph you went into serious slander. David Letterman didn't invent "The Top
Ten" That was the Creator's doing. "Bearing False Witness Against your Neighbor" is a very serious thing. Trump and those who support him have been routinely lied about, called racists consistently.
Now I'm sure that SOME racists voted for Trump, but I don't think racial considerations is even a minor factor in most peoples voting decisions. There are a host of reasons why people of good will voted for a flawed but highly effective man for President. We are all flawed, lets not invent flaws.
The lying has to stop.
Every black life is precious and needs to be protected, but the movement that calls itself "Black Life Matters" is NOT a force for unity and healing. They are a part of the problem. You become part of the problem if you help to feed that beast.
Ron, I just read the book you edited on "The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump." Thank you and the other authors for such a humble and passionate warning to the Church. More grease to your elbows. We need more principled and bold leaders like you. I hope we all listen.
Sadly, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 429 civilians having been shot, 88 of whom were Black, as of June 4, 2020.
I appreciate the blog entry, but when you say “the news of Dr. King’s assignation came to the white Los Angeles Baptist College” I think you meant “assassination”.
I could not agree more. I suspect though that we are seeing what Evangelicalism has become, and it is not anything that I choose to be associated with. Evangelicals hate Jesus, although they say the opposite. They have sold their soul to a political ideology and and elitist ideology that is the antithesis of everything that Jesus stood for. According to Franklin Graham, his dad loved Trump, so I have to disagree with your final statement. But thank you for taking this stand... a breath of fresh air coming from the evangelical camp.
i am furious by what the evangelical church perpetrates in the name of God and Jesus. It is completely the opposite of the teachings of Jesus Christ and is harmful to our fellow humankind. It has also made things much harder for people outside the faith to understand that living for Christ is a life of humility not judgement, rejections of materialism not prosperity or greed, grace and open arms to the refugee, the poor, those in prison, respect and a love of creation.
Your article was interesting until it turned into the usual "hate Trump" diatribe that comes from the Left, which calls anyone who doesn't agree with them a "racist." I don't know of any policies of Trump that are racist, but I do know he is on the side of the pro-life movement and is appointing Justices accordingly. Abortion disproportionately kills blacks, so we ought to opposing abortion since "black lives matter" even in the womb. I'm writing this from the perspective of a Catholic. It's very confusing to me to divide a denomination according to race, since there is no "white Catholic church."
Satan smiles when he sees this article - devisive- full of hate - definitely not from any evangelical perpective
WWJD? I submit that He would be leading the marches. The key line in this candid assessment is ...”-white evangelicalism loses whatever credibility it still retains.” The so-called white evangelical leaders don’t seem to understand or care that they are hurting the cause of Christ. In the words of Andy Rooney they have a good product but terrible salesmen. America is a great country but she will never reach her true potential until and unless she deals with her original sin: racism.
Please take the time to view the video that was withheld at the time, of the time period immediately preceding Floyd's death for a slightly different view of this"hero." Did his life matter more than the thousands of blacks killed by other blacks? Did it matter more than the children, and innocent blacks who were killed during BLM "peaceful" protests? Why didn't Barack Obama do more to empower black people of today instead of reminding them constantly of their past victimhood and elevating those who profit from that victim mentality. Their view appears to be give a victim a fish and he eats from your hand the rest of his life. Teach him to fish and he might just climb out of that victimhood and think for himself... and pull others up with him! No matter what you think of Trump personally, facts already show far more positive, empowering results for law-abiding black human beings than his predecessor ever accomplished in 8 years. Black unemployment is far lower than during Obama's culture of victimhood and blame. And the Criminal Reform Act gave thousands of blacks (and whites) a second chance to become productive and law- abiding members of society again. Victimhood and blame only obscure real problems that can only be addressed by identifying them... not dangling an all-you-can eat fish buffet. Let's stop the pc-ness and solve the root problems.
Racism IS a very real thing. I think it is part of our sinful nature that we need to guard against always. We always need to guard against hatred of the "other" whomever that "other" happens to be.
I also have to agree that SOME of the history of the Christian Evangelical and race has been horrid. When I watched "Malcom X" I was in agony watching some of the early scenes because I knew they were all too true.
OTOH, to say there has not been dramatic changes is not true. It would have been "Damning with faint praise" saying "made some progress in recent decades" but you went far beyond that. In the very next paragraph you went into serious slander. David Letterman didn't invent "The Top
Ten" That was the Creator's doing. "Bearing False Witness Against your Neighbor" is a very serious thing. Trump and those who support him have been routinely lied about, called racists consistently.
Now I'm sure that SOME racists voted for Trump, but I don't think racial considerations is even a minor factor in most peoples voting decisions. There are a host of reasons why people of good will voted for a flawed but highly effective man for President. We are all flawed, lets not invent flaws.
The lying has to stop.
Every black life is precious and needs to be protected, but the movement that calls itself "Black Life Matters" is NOT a force for unity and healing. They are a part of the problem. You become part of the problem if you help to feed that beast.
Ron, I just read the book you edited on "The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump." Thank you and the other authors for such a humble and passionate warning to the Church. More grease to your elbows. We need more principled and bold leaders like you. I hope we all listen.
I am reading:. Out of 429 civilians having been shot, only 88 of whom were black ---
The odds are much much higher for the white man -- much less then half actually it is 5 times greater for a white man.
Sadly, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 429 civilians having been shot, 88 of whom were Black, as of June 4, 2020.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/
This statistic does not match your assertion.
I hope you will take the time to watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtPfoEvNJ74&feature=youtu.be
I appreciate the blog entry, but when you say “the news of Dr. King’s assignation came to the white Los Angeles Baptist College” I think you meant “assassination”.
Grateful for your latest post and your call to the evangelical community to truly live out Jesus' call in word and deed.
Thank you for writing this...may Jesus bless you as you continue to open our eyes to the truth.
Excellent piece.
I could not agree more. I suspect though that we are seeing what Evangelicalism has become, and it is not anything that I choose to be associated with. Evangelicals hate Jesus, although they say the opposite. They have sold their soul to a political ideology and and elitist ideology that is the antithesis of everything that Jesus stood for. According to Franklin Graham, his dad loved Trump, so I have to disagree with your final statement. But thank you for taking this stand... a breath of fresh air coming from the evangelical camp.
i am furious by what the evangelical church perpetrates in the name of God and Jesus. It is completely the opposite of the teachings of Jesus Christ and is harmful to our fellow humankind. It has also made things much harder for people outside the faith to understand that living for Christ is a life of humility not judgement, rejections of materialism not prosperity or greed, grace and open arms to the refugee, the poor, those in prison, respect and a love of creation.
these are the kind of men that need to be leading. thank you.