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Think Global, Act Local on Racism, Sexism
Someone who genuinely desires deeper insight and increased knowledge regarding the issues posed for religion in America by the “isms’ of sexism and racism must begin by thinking locally, focusing upon the unique situation of a particular congregation in a single religious tradition, in one local community in one region of the nation.
This statement is based upon two assumptions. The first assumption is that while Scripture and the tradition of the Christian Church are replete with demonstrations of support for sexism and racism, Christians do not have to accept these illustrations of the culture of past centuries as principles to be emulated or obeyed. Christians can reject the sexism in St. Paul’s writing without rejecting his admonishment “to prove what is good and acceptable” in the never-ending quest to love God and neighbor. Christians are obligated to work to overcome sexism and racism. The second assumption is that the best way to discover and decide how to address these “isms” is by a careful, pragmatic, honest examination of the situation in which one lives, works, and worships. Racism and sexism are imprecise nouns which point toward a wide array of often hidden, behaviors, forces, factors and situations.
In the many years I was fortunate enough to work in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, we were among the first in the Episcopal Church to break through some of the bounds of racism and sexism. We elected John T. Walker, an African-American man, as a Bishop and Jane Holmes Dixon, a white woman, as a Bishop. Among the almost 100 congregations in the Diocese and its 40,000 members, there were many unfortunate incidents of racism and sexism in response to the leadership of Bishop Walker and Bishop Dixon. Just as Senator Obama’s presence as a leading contender in the presidential race has placed racism firmly on the national agenda, so the presence of Bishop Walker and Bishop Dixon confronted Episcopalians in Washington with hitherto hidden issues of racism and sexism. I know that I learned a great deal about both “isms” due to the actual working presence of these two remarkable bishops. Racism and sexism were no longer intellectual abstractions. Throughout the Diocese, we learned in a good way of the difficult, messy, and sometimes conflicted nature of actually confronting the issues where we lived, worked, and worshipped.
Hands-on experience and involvement are very necessary. I crept out of retirement in 2002 to participate in the election of a new Bishop for the Diocese of Washington. I noticed a subtle change in the election process from the one in which we elected Bishops Walker and Dixon. In the past we had created an election process which encouraged and supported political caucus activity by allowing space and time for interest groups to work throughout the entirety of the election. The Convention is the one time and place in which all voting delegates, clergy and laity, are assembled and are subject to the influence and possible inspiration of those who may have a different agenda. We believed that our experience in electing a black man and a white woman during those decades had shown the value of this political free-for-all in moving beyond the bounds of tried and true white male Episcopal leadership. Removed and missing from this latest Convention was the opportunity for electioneering. It had been replaced by time for guided spiritual reflection. The guided reflection was beautiful and I am sure the intent arose from piety. The result, however, was that the minority voices at the Convention were denied the opportunity to question, relate to, cajole, and move off center, the other delegates. How much did this matter? I don’t know, but I do wonder.
By
James Anderson
|
March 29, 2008; 6:35 AM ET
| Category:
Religion & Leadership
,
Religious Conflict
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Posted by: garyd | March 31, 2008 1:22 PM
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Well, Gary, isn't that just all manner of equations for dysfunction, you speak, there.
If the 'spirit' is at 'war' with the 'flesh,' why you all kinds of hung up about defining my 'spirit' based on my 'flesh' and expressing it with material political power in the name of 'Spirit,' and of course, 'war?'
While of course being paranoid that someone having a different view of 'spirit' means they're interested in *your* 'flesh' and thus an imminent threat to your 'spiritual' 'God-Ordained' corporate capitalism and 'book authority' for some reason.
Or that the point of life is to have your name written in a book so that you can be found 'guilty' of 'sins' you didn't *do* and be 'forgiven' in the name of 'Justice' for 'original sins' that, ...Eh, Gods, it doesn't even come close to making sense, never mind justify what you want to do with temporal power.
If you're so wound up on the idea the Universe was 'Intelligently Designed,' why you always in such a twist insisting the 'design' was so *bad?*
Gods. People been saying the same things you have a *long* time and ain't been 'right' yet.
How many more freebies you *want?*
Posted by: Paganplace | March 30, 2008 7:56 PM
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The actual vs in the Old Testament Scriptures Possum. In some respects it is a macrocosm of the individual Human relationship. Justification is an immediate occurrence the minute Your name was written in the Book of life you were judge found guilty and pardoned by the Blood of Christ.
Sanctification however is a life long process by which God takes you where you are at at the moment you discover that you have been saved to the ultimate time when you enter into heaven. It is Spiritual warfare The battle between the Flesh which every human inhabits and the Spirit that inhabits each believer. We don't always win the battle but we are as Christians guaranteed to win the war.
Posted by: Garyd | March 29, 2008 11:08 AM
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Garyd
"God saw the situation as it was and attempted to move it forward not by leaps and bounds which he knew would never work given the material he had to work with but incrementally"
I have to ask, what is the source for this interpretation? I thought the hole idea was that the word was unchanging....
(Yet Anderson tells us to ignore Paul's sexism?)
Posted by: Possum | March 28, 2008 4:42 PM
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Bgone God saw the situation as it was and attempted to move it forward not by leaps and bounds which he knew would never work given the material he had to work with but incrementally. We've come a very long way in the 1500 years since Christianity first began and God has been there ever step of the way nudging and cajoling making things better a little at a time first here then there. He started out with human societies in which women were little better than slave and female slaves were little more than unwilling prostitutes and moved us slowly but surely to the point where we had to essentially redefine slavery in order for it to be meaningful.
Posted by: Garyd | March 28, 2008 12:21 PM
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Fr James Anderson:
You don't suppose there's a problem with scriptures do You?
You wrote, "While Scripture and the tradition of the Christian Church are replete with demonstrations of support for sexism and racism, Christians do not have to accept these illustrations of the culture of past centuries as principles to be emulated or obeyed." I am left to assume that God sure did a sloppy job getting His word out.
Maybe it wasn't God? How about http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul If you were on the jury which way would you vote? Was that God in the burning bush? Can't God do a little better on the ism front than you note in your essay?
Devil is a different story altogether isn't He? Would God even allow Devil to get the story straight? Wouldn't you expect God to give us some clues so we'll know it's Devil behind scripture? Looks to me like God did for scripture tells on itself.
Now all that's left for us to decide is what effect calling Devil God has on isms. There is that matter of having to explain all this prejudice to God too and saying God is behind it. Don't you think?
Posted by: BGone | March 27, 2008 6:22 PM
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Nice assumptions pagan but they are just that assumptions. And in this case incorrect.
All Christians have the same Spirit - the Holy spirit. They also have a soul which is unique to them and is what animates the flesh they occupy. It is what makes the flesh you currently occupy you. The flesh is what you occupy and it has all sorts of cravings needs and desires because it is animal in nature and imperfect as is the soul.