Baptist Convention 2017: Racism Enshrined in Ideology
In 2017, it would seem like a no-brainer to come out against white supremacy and racism—especially if you’re a religious organization. But it’s bias, not brains, that define today’s Evangelical movement. Unlike your typical Christian, Evangelicals have always walked hand-in-hand with racism. It was the southern Baptist Church who embraced the ideology that black people were cursed with the curse of Ham, therefore making them inferior, and making it okay to own them as slaves. But that’s so last century.
Turns out, it’s not, and Evangelicals are still not prepared to distance themselves from their racist past. Their inherent racism has become profoundly obvious this week thanks to the Southern Baptist Convention. When the story broke that committee leaders refused to even consider—let alone vote—on a resolution to condemn the alt-right and white supremacy, the entire convention was thrown into turmoil.
It wasn’t until the overwhelming backlash that the committee reversed course and agree to put the resolution forward. This is the most important part of the story: they only reversed course after significant backlash. Not because it was the “right” thing to do. Not because it was the “moral” thing to do. Not even because it was the “Christian” thing to do.
For most observers, this seems shocking. What Christian organization wouldn’t want to distance themselves from the dregs of humanity, especially since that’s exactly what Jesus would do. Followers of religion and politics, however, weren’t surprised. They’ve been watching and commenting on the growing distance between Jesus and Evangelicals for years. This is just another fissure in that infrastructure.
The Christianity of the Evangelicals has almost no connection with Jesus. It hasn’t for years. Christianity itself has less to do with Jesus than you might think. Paul, the founder of Christianity, barely acknowledged Jesus as he built his ideology. I have written about this and the differences between what Jesus taught, and what Christ taught, and you can read about that here.
As a species, racism seems to be our default status as it goes back as far as humans kept records. The Bible itself is built upon the racist ideology—that there’s a special race (Israel) and that their superiority gave them license to kill anyone who wasn’t them. Nowhere is this more self-evident than in the book of Joshua where the Israelites enter Canaan and go on a killing spree. Jesus himself experienced a moment where he also expressed his own xenophobia. Matthew 15 tells us about a visit Jesus had from a Canaanite woman:
A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
Let’s not mince words or religion this up. What Jesus said to this woman was appalling—and profoundly xenophobic. This is exactly what we would expect to hear from our local Israelite of that day—let alone your typical Evangelical. Essentially, the Southern Baptist Convention could use this section of Matthew as their reason for refusing the vote against racism… except for what happens next. Jesus gets schooled by the Canaanite woman.
“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
And this is the major difference between Jesus and your average Evangelical. When the woman wisely (and gently) pointed out that even the dogs get scraps, Jesus was willing to look at his xenophobia and correct his behavior. He didn’t call her a hater or attack her because she challenged his bigotry. He didn’t even call her a reverse racist. Instead, he took her rebuke to heart and fixed his ideology—right there on the spot.
But unlike the Southern Baptist Convention, Jesus did it because it was the RIGHT thing to do. There would have been no backlash had he continued on his current course. His disciples were already on that page. Canaanites were very unpopular in Judah, and Jesus had the “scriptural backing” to hold his position. However, Jesus saw himself as a son of God, and as such was determined to live UP to the mercy of God who created all. He told his followers “I and my father are one.” And then went on to say, “These things are more you will do…” Jesus saw himself as loved by his father in the exact same way this Canaanite woman was loved by his father. What was true of Jesus, was true of this women. They were no different. And when she pointed it out, he adjusted his beliefs.
It could be easily said that he boiled his entire doctrine down to one concept: humanity. He defined the law as:
"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Luke 10:27
And then he went on to tell the story of the Good Samaritan. Now the story of the Good Samaritan is so much more than we think. To today’s reader, this story has been so whitewashed that we don’t even consider the implications Jesus story or the affect it would have had on his listeners. A few years ago I wrote a “modern-day” version of the story that does help to bring out the real political and religious issues Jesus was trying to address.
This was ultimately Jesus’ teaching. You’re not special in the eyes of God. Your color, your social status, your income... none of those matter to God. In fact, it’s those that you despise that are going to have a greater say about your relation to God than those who you love. You are “the least” of these. Baptists are the very color they fear in God’s eyes.
You would think this would be obvious to Evangelicals—and it would be if they valued Jesus and his teachings. Christ, on the other hand, is profoundly uncomfortable with this teaching.