Is Racism Incompatible With Christian Teaching?

¶ 5. Article V. Racial Justice

The United Methodist Church proclaims the value of each person as a unique child of God and commits itself to the healing and wholeness of all persons. The United Methodist Church recognizes that the sin of racism has been destructive to its unity throughout its history. Racism continues to cause painful division and marginalization. The United Methodist Church shall confront and seek to eliminate racism, whether in organizations or in individuals, in every facet of its life and in society at large. The United Methodist Church shall work collaboratively with others to address concerns that threaten the cause of racial justice at all times and in all places.7

--2004 United Methodist Book of Discipline, The Constitution of the United Methodist Church

 

For the past 48 years, I have lived with the reality of racism in our country.

• I saw it when the KKK staged a rally down the street in front of our home in suburban Maryland.
• I saw it when Walter Cronkite interrupted the television one night to tell us that a visionary pastor had been killed.
• I saw it when my mom and I moved to Nashville and I experienced the protests and bomb threats that followed the implementation of court mandated desegregation. 
• I saw it when all of my friends parents began to pull them out of the public schools, deciding suddenly that private education “made more sense.”
• I saw it when my relatives would talk about “good niggers and bad niggers.”
• I saw it in their faces when a multiracial couple would enter the room.
• I saw it in the churches I attended and served, experiencing the reality that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the day.
• I saw it in the poverty that continued in poor black communities and the decisions by white lawmakers that served to divide those communities.
• I see it again and again in the fear – fear of change, fear of “those people,” fear that “our way of life” is threatened.

Like many, I hoped and prayed that this past November 4 was a sign that racism was no longer the force it once had been. Of course, I knew that an election wouldn’t end the deep seated divisions and the social structures that continue to make race a dividing factor in our land. However, as I watched my children, kids who had never experienced racism in the ways that I had; kids for whom Obama was simply an exciting figure, not necessarily a black one (in their eyes), I found the possibility for hope.

In the days since, as words have been spoken by an elected leader suggesting the Obama (with no justification) is the modern personification of Hitler, I find myself more concerned than ever that we have got to quit playing around with the issue of race in our country and deal with the divisions in a clear and decisive way. That became more clear to me when I read the following story in the AP this afternoon:

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars.

 

Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

 

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.

--Election spurs 'hundreds' of race threats, crimes

What concerns me the most about this trend is that many of the folks promoting this emotional and even physical violence are people who claim faith in Jesus Christ, including those who we United Methodists claim as brothers and sisters.

For many years now, we United Methodists have been in a uproar about the issue of sexual identity and faith, a topic that has similarities to concerns about race (although several in the movement for civil rights also claim some significant differences). Throughout that argument, we have focused our language on whether homosexual practice is compatible or incompatible with Christian teaching, and our official stance has been that sexual practices between persons of the same sex fall outside the realm of compatibility. While that conversation will continue to be debated for many years, the language of compatibility with Christian teaching raises some questions for me, for if homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, then isn’t racism also similarly tainted and should be fought against with the same energy and passion that we have directed toward the sexuality issue? For that matter, don’t all the “ism’s” fall in this class, and shouldn’t the church take a prophetic witness against these sins of exclusion?

What we can say as United Methodists is that we believe that opposing racial division is important enough in defining who we are that we made this opposition part of our constitution as a denomination. This isn’t some wimpy proclamation in the Social Principles (which have been sliced and diced enough to be considered by most more suggestions and rules of life). Putting something in the constitution means that we have said “This is who we are…” and “This is so important to us that we want it to be part of our identity.” The articles of our Constitution aren’t simply laws that ebb and flow according to the will of the General Conference in a given year. No, to change these rules means that it goes to the broader body, and these articles are not easily changed.

What does this mean for us, United Methodists? Look at what the book said:

The United Methodist Church shall confront and seek to eliminate racism, whether in organizations or in individuals, in every facet of its life and in society at large.

There’s not a lot of equivocation in this statement. Either we are serious about doing all we can to eliminate racism, or (according to our organizing documents) we aren’t United Methodist.

For the past several months now, I have chosen to sit by quietly as racist propaganda was shared. While I did all I could to help set the record straight, pointing folks to places where they could obtain factual data on the background and history of the candidates, and while I called my congregation to the message of love and grace offered by Jesus Christ, I was not especially prophetic in confronting the racism around me, racism that seem especially prevalent in my homeland of the South.

God forgive me. Have mercy on my soul.

It stops right now, in the places where I do have the ability to make a difference.

I have generally kept a hands off approach to the content aggregated and the comments left on the MethoBlog,, in the desire to be seen as a censor. However, my calling to the gospel and my ordination as an elder in the United Methodist Church will no longer allow me to do so. Yes, I believe in the freedom of expression, with folks being able to express their opinions. However, those “opinions” don’t extend to speech which promotes hate and violence, for that form of speech is in my honest opinion outside the realm of Christian teaching. As such, I will be deleting and removing any content on this site that promotes hate, violence, and promotes racism in any way. A failure to do so would mean that I was failing in my vows to uphold the order and discipline of our communion together, a communion that has said clearly that part of who we are is a group opposed to racism in any form.

The lines between opinion and hate are often blurry, and I recognize that sometimes judgment calls are in order. I am willing to establish a process of review by trusted members of this community regarding the decisions I may make about content, however as the creator, editor, and owner of this site it is ultimately my responsibility to determine what I feel is responsible content, and what is not.

This is a very simple step that I am taking as a means of opposing racism in the world. I am also praying about some steps and standards congregationally, and would be interested in hearing how you work to oppose racism in the places that you serve.

The fact is, whether you agree with the political philosophy of Barack Obama or not, there is no room for racism in the body of Christ. And it shall be the standard of this site to oppose it however we may.

Sincerely,

Jay Voorhees

Editor and Publisher of The MethoBlog