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My eyes have been opened the last few weeks.

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  • #46
    One of the problems with the discussion of race in the world today is that the victims (real or imagined) have learned how to benefit from it by gaining certain privileges that are denied to the oppressors (real or imagined), and so there is a reluctance on the part of the victims to seek genuine reconciliation, because without victimhood, they paradoxically lose a source of power.

    For instance, if a black person is denied a raise by a white employer, he can yell, "Racism!" and have people rush to his defense whether or not his work performance warranted a raise. The alternative is accepting the uncomfortable notion that he didn't get a raise because he didn't deserve a raise. It's a lot easier to think of yourself as a victim than it is to accept personal responsibility.

    This isn't to say that real instances of racism don't exist, but this mentality of some that we are fighting a widespread culture war, and that they deserve recompense which they can only claim as permanent victims, is certainly not helping matters.
    Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
    But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
    Than a fool in the eyes of God


    From "Fools Gold" by Petra

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    • #47
      I have no doubt that BLM (and intersectionality, critical race theory, etc.) is actually fostering new forms of racism between races that weren't there before. Aside from the fact that it's based on false facts about police killings (that should disturb any Christian who's interested in truth), but it's obviously extremely divisive and creating animosity between races. You could call it a self-fulfilled prophecy.

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      • #48
        Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post

        We get calls from around the country so don't have a luxury of surrounding ourselves in our communities. One interesting thing I've noticed is that the "worst" calls are generally not from the South.
        Are all your calls recorded?
        Are your employees allowed to end a call if they are continuing to be be insulted?
        What is your company/service policy about callers who insult employees?

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        • #49
          Originally posted by mikewhitney View Post
          I was surprised by folks here at tweb who showed anti-Southern-white sentiments -- as sort of a reinstatement of the North-South divide. So, it is interesting (and not quite surprising) that the "worst" calls are not from the South.

          The quarantines and the burning of cities seems to be the background for creating these negative sentiments. The contribution of the quarantines would be the negative psychological effects of isolation and of fear.

          I think CPs cooperative efforts are the best option. It was interesting that a church in an LA community wanted to help the neighborhood. It was not food that the people sought help with but rather was about getting jobs. So, often the "patch" we might try (from our own modes of thought) are not the best ways of resolving issues.

          I pray the best for your co-workers -- that these negative callers would decrease and that the coworkers can be strengthened against these bad callers.
          I've been very impressed with my church's response to all this racially-centric political confrontation (and I can't take credit for it, I played no part in arranging this). We're a mostly-white congregation with some diversity, including a black man on our highest-level leadership team. Our pastor has been quick to condemn the rioting and looting, and also to frankly condemn stuff like the George Floyd incident -- from the pulpit. At the same time, one of our small groups continued with hosting a public safety thank-you breakfast (including law enforcement).

          And then we also doubled-down on a budding relationship we have with a smaller, local African-American church. We started hosting joint events with their church, like integrating their staff and congregation into a giant Fall Festival we host (for space reasons). And when I say integration, I mean as much as we could, including inviting them to send some of their members to work security for the event alongside our own security team. They invited our members for a joint prayer service on a Wednesday at their church. Our church has been pretty dialed into mission/aid projects in Haiti for years, but our congregations worked it out to send both of our senior pastors, together, to visit the area in Haiti we're working in. At our last joint festival we had both pastors jointly leading a prayer service after praise and worship. It was really cool to see their members comfortable worshipping with us and to see both pastors, black and white, talking about the friendship they've been forming. They were just very open that we're reaching out to each other because we want positive relationships between Christians of any race in our community, and I'm excited to see how this collaboration will continue to play out.
          "If you believe, take the first step, it leads to Jesus Christ. If you don't believe, take the first step all the same, for you are bidden to take it. No one wants to know about your faith or unbelief, your orders are to perform the act of obedience on the spot. Then you will find yourself in the situation where faith becomes possible and where faith exists in the true sense of the word." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

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          • #50
            Originally posted by eider View Post

            Are all your calls recorded?
            Are your employees allowed to end a call if they are continuing to be be insulted?
            What is your company/service policy about callers who insult employees?
            I don't work for this company anymore, but officially, there was a policy that you could hang up on abusive customers. Practically speaking, you were discouraged from ever doing it, and my immediate supervisor flat out said that he did not permit us to ever do it.

            I don't think anything ever happened to abusive callers. I once got a call from a drunk caller who probably cursed me upwards of 50 times, and had actually had a service technician out at his house that day who left after feeling uncomfortable. The account notes showed that he had done this dozens of times, and been reported. I reported him, of course. Then I got him again several weeks later and he did the same thing.
            "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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