[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] Why Talk About Racism and Religion? | CCCU

[Cheryl Fields]

President Payne, I disagree with you. The trauma that has occured
since Monday is tremendous and it is unfortunate that you are unable
to have any compassion or empathy for members of the Ohio affiliate
that have been impacted by the usage of hateful racially charged
language verbally on the Ohio zoom platform, in a private phone call,
rude voice mail and in a text message you have copies of. My heart is
so very heavy and has been since Tuesday. Thank you Dr. Peters for
having the courage to speak up and not allow your silence tbe a sign
of consent. The information posted  and written by a great man with
the faith, confidence and strength to face injustice, offer
encouragement and hope to discounted and disenfranchised group of
people.  The blind movement has paralled the civil rights movement
since the beginning, it inspired federationists everywhere so why
should the flame be extinguished today? the message deserves to be
shared on this platform.and we, people of faith have the absolute
right to support each other by any means necessary. On 2/25/22,
Richard Payne via Ohio-Communities-of-Faith
<ohio-communities-of-faith at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> We can talk about anything it is not the subject but important that the
> conversation is fair and held without pointing fingers or using platforms
> that were not meant for that use.
>
>
>
>
>
> Richard Payne,  President
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
>
> 937/829/3368
>
>  <mailto:Rchpay7 at gmail.com> Rchpay7 at gmail.com
>
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>
>
> From: Ohio-Communities-of-Faith
> <ohio-communities-of-faith-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of carolyn peters
> via Ohio-Communities-of-Faith
> Sent: Friday, February 25, 2022 1:00 PM
> To: ohio-communities-of-faith at nfbnet.org
> Cc: carolyn peters <drcarolyn-peters at att.net>
> Subject: [Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] Why Talk About Racism and Religion? |
> CCCU
>
>
>
> Greetings Ohio Communities of faith, with the controversy of bad language
> during this week I thought I would share this article. I will not be
> censored, I realize that the leader ship would like these conversations to
> stop online and I agree yet I think we should not be afraid of what is a
> reality it deserves a conversation. So please contact me off-line.
> Blessings
> https://www.cccu.org/magazine/talk-racism-religion/
>
>
> Why Talk About Racism and Religion?
>
>
> Martin Luther King Jr. said, “There can be no deep disappointment where
> there is not deep love.” This study is not about discrediting the church or
> Christians. I love the church. My concern for the church and for the
> well-being of its people motivates my exploration of Christian complicity in
> racism. The goal is to build up the body of Christ by “speaking the truth in
> love,” even if that truth comes at the price of pain.
>
> The church has not always and uniformly been complicit with racism. The same
> Bible that racists misused to support slavery and segregation is the one
> abolitionists and civil rights activists rightly used to animate their
> resistance. Whenever there has been racial injustice, there have been
> Christians who fought against it in the name of Jesus Christ. Christianity
> has an inspiring history of working for racial equity and the dignity of all
> people, a history that should never be overlooked.
>
> The Black church, in particular, has always been a bulwark against bigotry.
> Forged in the fires of racial prejudice, the Black church emerged as the ark
> of safety for people of African descent. Preachers and leaders in the church
> saw the truth of the gospel message even as slaveholders and white
> supremacists distorted the message to make more obedient slaves. Black
> churches looked to the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt as a model for their
> own exodus from American slavery. Black Christians saw in Scripture a God
> who “sits high and looks low” — one who saw their oppression and was
> outraged by it. Through the centuries, Black people have become the most
> religious demographic in the United States. For instance, 83 percent of
> Black people say they “believe in God with absolute certainty” compared to
> 59 percent of Hispanics and 61 percent of whites. Through their religious
> heritage, Black people have passed on a tradition of struggle, liberation,
> and rejoicing to every generation. Black Christians have played a vital role
> in shaping the history of America, and they have much to share with the
> church universal.
>
> But the examples in this book do not present a positive picture. The focus
> is mainly on racist acts and actors. This emphasis is purposeful. American
> Christians have never had trouble celebrating their victories, but honestly
> recognizing their failures and inconsistencies, especially when it comes to
> racism, remains an issue. All too often, Christians name a few individuals
> who stood against the racism of their day and claim them as heroes. They
> fail to recognize how rarely believers made public and persistent
> commitments to racial equality against the culture of their churches and
> denominations. Jumping ahead to the victories means skipping the hard but
> necessary work of examining what went wrong with race and the church. That
> can lead to simplistic understandings of the past and superficial solutions
> to racial issues in the present. The Color of Compromise undoes the tendency
> to skip the hard parts of history and directs the reader’s attention to the
> racist realities that challenge a triumphalist view of American
> Christianity. …
>
> Reading The Color of Compromise is like having a sobering conversation with
> your doctor and hearing that the only way to cure a dangerous disease is by
> undergoing an uncomfortable surgery and ongoing rehabilitation. Although the
> truth cuts like a scalpel and may leave a scar, it offers healing and
> health. The pain is worth the progress.
>
> Taken from
> <https://www.zondervan.com/9780310597278/the-color-of-compromise/> The Color
> of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by
> Jemar Tisby. Copyright © 2019 by Jemar Tisby. Used by permission of
> Zondervan.  <http://www.zondervan.com> www.zondervan.com.
>
> Jemar Tisby is president of The Witness, a Black Christian collective, and
> co-host of the  <https://thewitnessbcc.com/pass-the-mic/> Pass the Mic
> podcast.
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>


-- 
Wishing You All the Best,

Cheryl E. Fields


A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
never sit.
--D. Elton Trueblood