Sunday, August 04, 2013

95 Theses for Christian Racial & Ethnic Unity: #7


“[E]vangelicals might consider. . .engaging in more serious reflection on race-relations issues, in dialogue with educated others. . .Evangelicals might then bring together this knowledge with Christian understanding of freedom, love, universalism, justice, unity, and community.  This could be done with the recognition that a Christian solution ought adequately to account for the complex factors that generate and perpetuate the problems, and then faithfully, humbly, carefully, and cooperatively work against them.  To do this will require attention to multiple factors—from historical forces to subcultural tools to the very organization of American religion.  [A]dressing racialization must involve replacing structural barriers—such as segregation, inequality, and group competition—with structural supports—such as equality and cooperation and mutual interdependence.”

Christian Smith and Michael O. Emerson, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 171-172.

[Read the Introduction to 95 Theses for Christian Racial & Ethnic Unity here.]

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