WB Pragmatic Four 1-22-2021
Yesterday I had the privilege of celebrating MLK Day with the Chapel Hill chapter of the NAACP, with guest preacher Rev. Dr. William Barber II. Barber said, “We have serious work to do now, America. If we’re going to change this nation for the good, it’s going to require moral fusion organizing and alliances that come together in order to call the nation to repentance and restoration and reconstruction.” You can read more about what Barber means by moral fusion organizing at this website. I read a sign yesterday that said something to the effect of, “If you want to know whether you would have followed MLK then, are you following civil rights leaders now?” Barber is one such leader, and he is unashamed in calling out the white evangelical church for its complicity in systemic racism.
Last week, we explored the ways biblical literalism has led to an overly individualized worldview. This week, we continue down the rabbit hole of thought as our favorite heroes become trapped in the messages and logic of Literalville. This includes homophobia and transphobia, a refusal to accept the ongoing reality of systemic racism, a refusal to accept the scientific and historic reality of COVID-19, the blatant lies that widespread fraud compromised our election, and even the bizarre twisted conspiracies of QAnon. I know people who quite literally believe that Democrats are on the side of evil and darkness, and Republicans are on the side of God and Light.
Sure, every white evangelical does not subscribe automatically to all Fox News and Alt-Right propaganda, but sometimes it really feels like it. And I think the most frustrating part is that some of the most privileged people in the world feel like they are the ones being persecuted, even as they openly discriminate against others. But they’re not racist because they have a black friend, they’re not homophobic because they didn’t kick out their gay nephew.
I do not know how we build bridges in a society as divided as ours. I hope that the extreme rhetoric of the Trump age might begin to move into our past, but that’s unknown right now. What I do know is that our God is a God of new creation, transformation, and reconciliation. I think that the core value of the Christian is not their stance on abortion or homosexuality, or dare I say it, race. The core value of the Christian is forgiveness.
Forgiveness transforms us as individuals to no longer play the role of the victim, but to assert our human dignity and agency in the face of those who would do us harm. I think the only way forward is for Christians to look across the aisle and forgive other Christians, to restore empathy and a vision for the image of God alive and well in the other. Forgiveness does not require reconciliation, it does not mean we will magically agree, but it has the power to transform our own hearts towards greater freedom.
I am a gay Christian who was closeted for 40 years because of the homophobia of the church. The angry rhetoric against the LGBTQ community has done me real harm and led me to the brink of suicide because I believed I did not deserve to exist. I have been set free from that rhetoric, but the church continues to boldly discriminate against my people, and it is hard to forgive.
Forgiveness does not mean that I stop working for gay rights. Forgiveness does not mean that I am suddenly friends with the people who told me to my face that they are ashamed of me and that I am a selfish sinner for being gay. Forgiveness means that I do not walk around with resentment and bitterness. Forgiveness means that my anger gets transformed into energy to change the church from the inside. It also means that I see those people who hurt me as human beings in need of the transformative love of God to expand their empathy to see my humanity. Forgiveness means I can still hold onto belief and hope that God is still at work in this world, and that I can be a co-participant in that work.