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

Sat Feb 26 03:13:17 UTC 2022


Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 25, 2022, at 9:55 PM, Richard Payne via Ohio-Communities-of-Faith <ohio-communities-of-faith at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I am ok with you disagreeing with me and we will talk about this but  you told me that you were not talking about this We can   and will stop post like this thanks  if it continues.
> 
> 
> Richard Payne,  President
> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
> 937/829/3368
> 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.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cheryl Fields <cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com> 
> Sent: Friday, February 25, 2022 6:52 PM
> To: rchpay7 at gmail.com; Nfb of Ohio Communities of Faith Mailing List <ohio-communities-of-faith at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] Why Talk About Racism and Religion? | CCCU
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> 
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> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-communities-of-faith_nfbnet.org/dr.carolyn.peters%40gmail.com I ended it by telling people to contact me off line, and yes I do disagree with you Gr greatly, and I will support my division members this has put a stain on the communities of faith division and no I do not like it, but I’m not interested in carrying on all these negative conversations but it’s a conversation that needs to be held and they can contact me I will talk them through it and pray them through it and hopefully they can pray for me. 
I feel the same way about things that are festering in the Miami Valley Chapter and I shared that with you as well this is the same kind of situation no different we’re dealing with people who are hurting. Cheerfully, Carolyn Peters