American Christianity�s White-Supremacy Problem

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

That American Christianity is so deeply linked with white supremacy will no doubt affront many but the evidence has been presented and while many white Christians will publicly apologise for the history of slavery, condemn segregation, and reject the views and admissions of openly white supremacists, it is alarming that among many white Christians those underlying racist/supremacist tendencies still exist.

https://www.newyorker.com/books/unde...remacy-problem

this tacit shared commitment to white superiority and black inferiority, was a central bridge that fostered the rather swift reconciliation between southern and northern whites overall, and southern and northern white Christians specifically.New Yorker article continues:

[Reepicheep]

In his book Jones notes that the origin of the schism between Baptists in the South and their fellows in the North was precipitated over the request from Baptists in Alabama that would permit slave owners to act as missionaries. That group, led by Basil Manly, wrote a letter in 1844 to the Triennial Convention over this issue and received a blunt reply that stated under no circumstances could slave owners be appointed as missionaries. That rejection led, in 1845, to Manly and his fellows forming their own organisation, the Southern Baptist Convention [SBC]

The good news is that, just over three years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to denounce white supremacy and the alt-right movement. Baby steps, baby steps...

https://www.wglt.org/post/southern-b...-past#stream/0

Southern Baptist Pastor Confronts His Own, Church's Racial Past
June 22, 2017

The Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest denominations in the country, voted recently to denounce white supremacy and the alt-right movement, but not without controversy.

Initially, church leaders tried to table the resolution, which was proposed by a prominent African American pastor. The vote proceeded, however, following a backlash from members who condemned the alt-right movement as a "growing menace" to society and recalled the Southern Baptists' painful history of promoting and sustaining slavery.

"Any 'church' that cannot denounce white supremacy without hesitancy and equivocation is a dead, Jesus-denying assembly," tweeted one African American Southern Baptist minister...

[Gondwanaland]

That American Christianity is so deeply linked with white supremacy will no doubt affront many but the evidence has been presented and while many white Christians will publicly apologise for the history of slavery,

WHy should they have to apologize for something they were not involved in?

Have you apologized for the Nazis? That happened a hell of a lot closer to current day than slavery in the US.

Do people coming to the US from Africa have to apologize for the history of Africans selling other africans into slavery?

Do Muslims have to apologize to white people for the history of Islamic enslavement of whites?

condemn segregation,

Oh we're condemning segregation now? Last I checked that (Segregation) is the new working policy of the far left. Over in Britain they're building a blacks only university IIRC. Here in the US on universities, they are setting up 'no whites' zones/rooms.

Did that all suddenly change?

[siam]

That American Christianity is so deeply linked with white supremacy will no doubt affront many but the evidence has been presented and while many white Christians will publicly apologise for the history of slavery, condemn segregation, and reject the views and admissions of openly white supremacists, it is alarming that among many white Christians those underlying racist/supremacist tendencies still exist.

https://www.newyorker.com/books/unde...remacy-problem

...Christian who is sincerely concerned about the way the moral teachings of Jesus of Nazareth have been corrupted by white supremacy.

"...American Christianity is so deeply linked with white supremacy..."---Could it be, historic "Christian supremacy" fosters/encourages other types of supremacy such as American exceptionalism, white supremacy,...etc...? From the very birth of Christianity, an us/them attitude was built into the religion with concepts of Deicide (the whole of the Jews past and present were held responsible) Original sin (the whole of humanity---with the exception of Christians---were held responsible for Adams sin) This type of manichean duality of us=good/them=bad seems to be the inherited paradigm of understanding the world, even among those today who are no longer Christian....
...Even American Democracy needed a bogeyman of Communism/Marxism in order to validate itself.

Human nature is inclined towards tribalism because identity formation relies on degrees of exclusivity of relationships/ties to others. (Family, Community, Nation, Humanity...) Therefore tribalism is not necessarily an exclusively Christian problem.
But if a paradigm is inherently built on supremacist "morality"---for example, Hinduism has a class structure called cast system which confers privileges to the superior caste and allows (morally) for the exploitation of the inferior class.----then one needs to disown/discard such paradigm?---I don't see how it can be reformed.....?......is plugging/integrating some of the inferior class into the class/power structure of the superiors, really going to solve the core problem of the supremacist based ideology? I have doubts because a paradigm/world-view informs all aspects of life from politics, economics, law, social interactions...etc (Intersectionality)

[siam]

"Any 'church' that cannot denounce white supremacy without hesitancy and equivocation is a dead, Jesus-denying assembly," tweeted one African American Southern Baptist minister...

---Calling out harmful/toxic ideas is commendable. It is important.
But...can one create a comprehensive and consistent ethico-moral world-view without affirming all concepts of supremacy are potentially problematic? Can picking only some ideas of supremacy for condemnation while not examining others, provide wholistic solutions?

[Rushing Jaws]

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

The good news is that, just over three years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to denounce white supremacy and the alt-right movement. Baby steps, baby steps...

https://www.wglt.org/post/southern-b...-past#stream/0

Southern Baptist Pastor Confronts His Own, Church's Racial Past
June 22, 2017

The Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest denominations in the country, voted recently to denounce white supremacy and the alt-right movement, but not without controversy.

Initially, church leaders tried to table the resolution, which was proposed by a prominent African American pastor. The vote proceeded, however, following a backlash from members who condemned the alt-right movement as a "growing menace" to society and recalled the Southern Baptists' painful history of promoting and sustaining slavery.

"Any 'church' that cannot denounce white supremacy without hesitancy and equivocation is a dead, Jesus-denying assembly," tweeted one African American Southern Baptist minister...

And we [you and I] have seen posts elsewhere that have on occasion quite flagrantly demonstrated those prejudices. I have even noted some here that appear [and I use that word cautiously] to echo some of the same.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

WHy should they have to apologize for something they were not involved in?

Have you apologized for the Nazis? That happened a hell of a lot closer to current day than slavery in the US.

Do people coming to the US from Africa have to apologize for the history of Africans selling other africans into slavery?

Do Muslims have to apologize to white people for the history of Islamic enslavement of whites?


Oh we're condemning segregation now? Last I checked that (Segregation) is the new working policy of the far left. Over in Britain they're building a blacks only university IIRC. Here in the US on universities, they are setting up 'no whites' zones/rooms.

Did that all suddenly change?

I think the point you have missed is that, within the structures of US white Christianity is inherent white supremacism. Christianity was used to enforce injustice and inequality and many white Christians today retain prejudices towards ethnic and racial minorities, and generalised negative attitudes towards Black Americans [including their treatment by the police and the justice system].

The comparison between white American Christianity and Germany's Nazi past is very weak because Nazism was not a guiding principle that underpinned German society for over two hundred years, unlike white Christianity in the USA.

[shunyadragon]

WHy should they have to apologize for something they were not involved in?

Have you apologized for the Nazis? That happened a hell of a lot closer to current day than slavery in the US.

Do people coming to the US from Africa have to apologize for the history of Africans selling other africans into slavery?

Do Muslims have to apologize to white people for the history of Islamic enslavement of whites?


Oh we're condemning segregation now? Last I checked that (Segregation) is the new working policy of the far left. Over in Britain they're building a blacks only university IIRC. Here in the US on universities, they are setting up 'no whites' zones/rooms.

Did that all suddenly change?

The problem is pandemic and continues to today more than just 19th century slavery. In fact penal servitude slavery continued up into the twentieth century. Hitler very much admired the destruction and burning of black neighborhoods in the 20th century. Anglo Saxon tribal White Supremacy and Nationalism is alive and well today.

[Starlight]

The KKK did burn crosses after all.

And the US's biggest protestant denomination, the Southern Baptists, became the Southern Baptists when they split off from the other Baptists due to supporting slavery.

And the US's second-biggest protestant denomination, the Methodists, had George Whitefield as one of its founders, who successfully lobbied for the un-banning of slavery in Georgia, as he viewed the ban on him owning slaves as the cause of his financial woes.

Good times.

[Maranatha]

That American Christianity is so deeply linked with white supremacy will no doubt affront many but the evidence has been presented and while many white Christians will publicly apologise for the history of slavery, condemn segregation, and reject the views and admissions of openly white supremacists, it is alarming that among many white Christians those underlying racist/supremacist tendencies still exist.

https://www.newyorker.com/books/unde...remacy-problem

this tacit shared commitment to white superiority and black inferiority, was a central bridge that fostered the rather swift reconciliation between southern and northern whites overall, and southern and northern white Christians specifically.New Yorker article continues:

Just because you reject Christ doesn't mean anyone thinks Christ's teachings are corrupted.

That is poor critical thinking.

For instance you and your family's belief the moon is made of cheese, has no effect upon it's actual state of being.

Therefore any man or woman who hates his brother, like a white supremacist, is made of cheese.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

Just because you reject Christ doesn't mean anyone thinks Christ's teachings are corrupted.

That is poor critical thinking.

For instance you and your family's belief the moon is made of cheese, has no effect upon it's actual state of being.

Therefore any man or woman who hates his brother, like a white supremacist, is made of cheese.

Do you actually read posts before you reply? Or do you just register the contributor's pseudonym and proceed to reply to what you think they have written?

[CivilDiscourse]

I think the point you have missed is that, within the structures of US white Christianity is inherent white supremacism. Christianity was used to enforce injustice and inequality and many white Christians today retain prejudices towards ethnic and racial minorities, and generalised negative attitudes towards Black Americans [including their treatment by the police and the justice system].

The comparison between white American Christianity and Germany's Nazi past is very weak because Nazism was not a guiding principle that underpinned German society for over two hundred years, unlike white Christianity in the USA.

Ummm.....Duh?

The us is a majority christian country. It is currently 65% of the population, and was much higher not that long ago. It's no surprise that a country who was very religious when these groups formed would have that religion as part of it's beliefs. Is it any wonder that bad groups from muslim countries have an underpinning of Muslim in them?

Take any group, harmful, peaceful, tolerant, intolerant, in the US and there is a good chance that not too long ago, it held christianity as a part of it's beliefs.

[Cow Poke]

"Any 'church' that cannot denounce white supremacy without hesitancy and equivocation is a dead, Jesus-denying assembly," tweeted one African American Southern Baptist minister...

---Calling out harmful/toxic ideas is commendable. It is important.
But...can one create a comprehensive and consistent ethico-moral world-view without affirming all concepts of supremacy are potentially problematic? Can picking only some ideas of supremacy for condemnation while not examining others, provide wholistic solutions?

I hereby denounce white supremacy without hesitancy and equivocation.

Next?

[Gondwanaland]

I think the point you have missed is that, within the structures of US white Christianity is inherent white supremacism. Christianity was used to enforce injustice and inequality and many white Christians today retain prejudices towards ethnic and racial minorities, and generalised negative attitudes towards Black Americans [including their treatment by the police and the justice system].

The comparison between white American Christianity and Germany's Nazi past is very weak because Nazism was not a guiding principle that underpinned German society for over two hundred years, unlike white Christianity in the USA.

I didn't miss any point. You brought up slavery of your own volition. Not a single person alive today had anything to do with slavery in the US. There ARE still people alive today that served in the Nazi regime.

If the former need to 'apologize' for slavery they had nothing to do with (hell, many likely only immigrated after slavery was ended), then Germans like yourself sure as hell need to be apologizing for your nation's actions. And as I noted, Africans need to apologize for their part in enslaving fellow africans and selling them to various countries, and muslims need to apologize to white people for mass-enslaving them in the past. I'm sorry you don't like your silly logic extended through reality.

And the kicker: I don't think a single one of those groups/people belonging to those groups need to apologize for anything other than anything they personally have done wrong. Not their ancestors, and sure as hell not things people they're not even related to did. That's a puerile liberal SJW load of nonsense.