Auburn to White Christians
It came in the form of a letter, a confessional
statement from White Americans that began:
Fifty
four years ago this coming April, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote a letter from
the Birmingham jail to white Christian leaders on issues of racial justice and
the future of our nation. … Auburn
Seminary … pen(ned) a letter to white Christians. The white Christian vote was
crucial to the election of Donald J. Trump, who … disparage(s) and
disrespect(s) people of color, women, and many others.
The
letter lives off the reputation of MLK Jr. whose mark among Whiteys put Obama
to office, though heavily laced with guilt.
Threatened and defensive, Whitey chose Trump to pacify its fears. Not a very smart choice, understandable but
hardly justifiable.
This
missive was not intended as a window-dressing letter. With John Lewis finding himself in a tiff
with The Donald, the issues raised are very relevant. While it did not exhibit the language of the
existential angst of those who echoed Moltman’s half-a-century old theology of
hope, or the theistic thoughts of Bultmann, Tillich, Bonheoffer and Niebuhr, it
did invite White Christians to examine whereof they cast their votes. We shall not even venture into the
metaphorical death-of-god expressions of Gabriel Vahanian, Thomas JJ Altizer,
et al, whose movement since Time Magazine focused on it, changed Whitey’s
ecclesiology 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 it
openly, with repentance and humility. Let’s get ready to protect vulnerable people
who are threatened by hate and injustice. Let’s take to the streets in protest whenever
necessary. If people are being harmed or
threatened, we should have the courage to stand with them… (underlining
added). The signatories were Austin,
Bass, Evans, Harvey, McLaren, Messina, Scharen, Volf, and Whitmore, all
European-sourced (Latin, Teutonic, Scot-Irish, British) sounding names.
In
the midst of the assault on the numinous status of Hispanic immigration (The
Donald justified the building of a wall as a prerogative of a nation to set
boundaries; there are no visible barriers or walls between Canada and the US),
an Iliff Seminary Professor penned the theology of hopelessness that is
currently in the silent halls of medieval theological schools. It reflects today’s mind and behavior as earthbound
in significance and meaning, not the infinite and eternal wonder of Santa in
the Sky.
During
the Women’s March after Trump’s inauguration, a colleague used a quote from a
female Aussie aboriginal: If you have come to help me, you are wasting
your time. But if you have come because
your liberation is bound with mine, then let us work together.
Whitey
is not seeking help or protection from the Donald. It is seeking liberation from the illusion
that “America is White”, its pet racial prejudice. Yes, “in White America” is a desperate
holding-on to New England’s heritage, packaged well by the Kennedys and their
cohorts but nonetheless, still in Whitey’s overcoats.
Trump
cannot liberate Whitey, unless by a miracle, Trump himself acknowledges that he
needs liberating from the limits of his relationships to women and minorities,
and when Whitey realizes that the source of its strength in race relations in
the triumph of the Union vs. the Confederacy, and the Emancipation Declaration
of Abe, is also its known Achilles heel.
A
Chinese Hotel Intern who participated in an NMC English Language Development
Course I facilitated, stumbled on the transcendent perspective on humanity in
the language of G-O-D, 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
remember walking out of such orientation more than a decade ago; “Church”
remained an imperial force. But there it
was, the human experience that hungered for form to contain and maintain its
spirituality.
Trump,
viewed as a liberator, will be a dictator.
Whitey seeking liberation by forsaking any dependency on any external
force other than its own enlightenment shall be greatly served to walk proudly
into the future, and will be devoid of what has so far been the comforting arms
of an Uncle Sam, or the theoretical dependence on a deity that assured
certitude. Any minority group seeking
another MLK, Jr. to hold its hands will be grossly disappointed.
MLK’s
letter from the Birmingham jail was of one refused entry into Whitey’s world. He was liberating himself from the illusions
of “America”. The Auburn letter is of
White Christians struggling with a faith that shakes its imperial orientation;
if it is a liberation of themselves that is at stake, the work ahead is full.
Reality
rears its authentic head often, devastating comfort. I hold no hope for the liberation of White
Christians and Trump, but it is a delight to be proven wrong. Thanks, Auburn. Your turn, Whitey!
wangzhimu2031
earthrise consciousness, a gift; earthbound commitment, my choice
yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate! in all, celebrate!
-----Original Message-----
From: via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>
To: oe <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Fri, Jan 27, 2017 4:50 am
Subject: OE Digest, Vol 58, Issue 37