The final copy of White Christians
Auburn Seminary to White Christians
It came in the form of a letter, a confessionalstatement from White America that began: Fifty fouryears ago this coming April, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote a letter from theBirmingham jail to white Christian leaders on issues of racial justice and thefuture of our nation. Then AuburnSeminary penned a letter to white Christians whose votes elected Donald J.Trump, who disparage(s) and disrespect(s) people of color, women, and a fewothers.
The letterlives off the reputation of MLK Jr. whose mark on White America heavily lacedwith guilt put Barack Obama’s family to the White House. Now threatened by its insecurity anduncertainty, Whitey chose Trump to pacify its fears. Not a smart choice, but not too hard tounderstand, though difficult to justify.
The Auburn missivewas not intended as a letter for window-dressing. With Georgian Congressman John Lewis in atiff with The Donald, the issues raised are very relevant. While it skewed the existential angst ofthose who echoed Moltman’s theology of hope 50-years ago, or the theisticthoughts of Bultmann, Bonheoffer, Niebuhr, and Tillich, it invited WhiteChristians to examine whereof they cast their votes. We shall not venture into the metaphorical death-of-godexpressions of Gabriel Vahanian, Thomas JJ Altizer, et al, whose movement sinceTime Magazine focused on it, changed Whitey’s Church life big time.
… let’s prepare ourselves for action.Let’s stop hiding the ugly and racist dimensions of our past. Instead, we can tell the truth about itopenly, with repentance and humility… The signatories were an Austin, Bass, Evans,Harvey, McLaren, Messina, Scharen, Volf, and Whitmore, all European - Latin,Teutonic, Scot-Irish, British - sounding names.
In the midstof the assault on the nebulous status of Hispanic immigration, a Denver IliffSeminary Professor penned the theology of hopelessness that is stealthily walkingthe silent halls of medieval theology schools. The Auburn letter was typically White Americaof the helping kind: Let’s get ready toprotect vulnerable people who are threatened by hate and injustice. Let’s take to the streets in protest whenevernecessary. If people are being harmed orthreatened, we should have the courage to stand with them…
Harking at theback of my mind was a female Aussie aboriginal who said: If youhave come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberationis bound with mine, then let us work together. Auburn’s help was to stand with the helplessones.
A West Texasdentist and his cowboy friends drove to Washington to join Trump’s inauguration,had a meal where the waitress was a smiling black girl who Marched, wassurprised by her $450 tip on a $72.60 receipt. A note said: “We come from different cultures, and we may disagree oncertain issues, but if everyone would share their smile and kindness like yourbeautiful smile, our country will come together as one people, not race, notgender, just American. God bless.” Thedentist must have admired the waitresses’ gleaming white teeth!
Whitey seeksno protection from the Donald. Instead,it seeks liberation from its pet racial prejudice, the illusion that America isWhite. “In White America” is a desperateholding-on to New England’s heritage, still in Whitey’s overcoats.
Trump cannotliberate Whitey, unless by a miracle, Trump acknowledges that he needsliberating from the limits of his relationships to women and minorities. When Whitey realizes that the source of itsstrength in race relations in the triumph of the Union vs. the Confederacy, andthe Emancipation Declaration of Abraham Lincoln, are also its Achilles heel,they would be like the dentist and the waitress that needed liberating to be realAmerica.
A ChineseHotel Intern in a NMC English Language Development Course I facilitated,stumbled on the transcendent perspective on humanity couched in the language ofGOD, and did not know what to do with her “belief” structure since the sociological“salvific-redemptive” nature of being part of a congregation is foreign to her. I walked out of such orientation morethan a decade ago; “Church” remains an imperial force. But there it was, the human experiencehungered for form to maintain “spirituality”.
Trump, viewedas a liberator, is a dictator. Whiteyseeks liberation by forsaking any dependency on any external force other thanits own devoid of the comforting arms of an Uncle Sam, or the dependence on adeity that assures certitude.
MLK’s letterfrom the Birmingham jail was of one refused entry into Whitey’s world. King liberated himself from the illusions of akind “America”. The Auburn letter is ofWhite Christians’ struggle with a faith that shakes its imperial orientation; liberatingthemselves is at stake.
Reality rearsits authentic head devastating comfort. I hold no hope for the immediate liberation of White Trump, but it is a delightto be proven wrong. Thanks, Auburn.
j'aime la vie
earthrise consciousness, a gift; earthbound commitment, my choice
All that was, thanks; all that will be, yes; all that is, let it be!
