I have a true confession, of sorts, I must make. In this time of health crises, I find myself becoming more and more fearful of being in crowds. Let me be more specific: a group of more than five. What is so sad is that I used to love being in groups, at church, the amusement park, restaurants. I enjoyed the energy from others enjoying similar activities. Well, those days seem to be gone. At least for the foreseeable future.
Maybe what I miss the most is my church. Even though my church services have moved online, but it just isn’t the same. Better than nothing, but still, not quite the same.
This led me to consider the two most pressing issues facing this society today: the renewed effort to expose the racial injustices in this country and the COVID-19 induced health crises. One issue has deep roots and the other is so new this country’s best minds are still trying to comprehend just what it is. Either way, I’ve started noticing that the nation’s clergy have been relatively silent on both.
I’m surprised that as a collective, religious leaders have not been vocal about this pandemic that is devastating entire communities across this nation. One would think clergy would exhort their parishioners to adhere to safe health practices in public and private. No one wants to be sequestered at home, but too often the recent alternative includes hospitalization, ventilators, and make-shift morgues.
However, I’m not surprised that, as a collective, religious leaders have said little about the racial unrest following the killing of George Floyd and others. Again, let me be more specific: I’m referring to white clergy. This is the same group that Martin Luther King, Jr. assailed more than fifty years ago for ignoring their moral obligations when they criticized him for demonstrating for Black rights.
I’m sure these clergymen believe they are fulfilling God’s purpose for their lives. But, as a group, these are the same men who often make excuses for Donald Trump’s continued lack of morality. The idea of separation of church and state no longer exists. The church has definitely influenced this country’s political landscape for generations. In 2016, for example, Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for the presidency at Liberty University in Virginia. Cruz is a US Senator from Texas, and he chose to make a monumental political announcement in Virginia? Not the University of Texas, Texas A&M, or even Rice. Nope.
Cruz made this announcement at Liberty University. The institution of higher learning established by Jerry Falwell. The same Jerry Falwell credited with starting the Moral Majority, a political force of white Christian conservative evangelicals who, in the 1980s, supported the Republican Party’s attacks on the Black community masquerading as the war on crime. A 2015 Washington Post article explained that Liberty University was the go-to place for Christian conservatives who now formed the basis for the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party (otherwise known as we-can’t-have-a-black-man-as-president coalition).
Even though Cruz attempted to show his Christian conservative credentials for political gain, this group eventually supported Trump. I hope Cruz was sincere in the profession of his Christian faith because in the end, his race may have been too much of an albatross to overcome. But I digress.
Christian conservatives have merged church and state and feel comfortable supporting conservative political ideologies. These ideologies will never support Black folks demanding equity and equality in this society. Apparently, they feel as though Black folks have been “given” enough by liberals in government. So, publicly, I don’t expect them to support this round of Black protests. So I hear their silence and its deafening in what’s not being said. And this from professed believers in Christ. I guess they forgot he preached love and patience but didn’t mind turning over a few tables to bring attention to those doing wrong.
While I now feel uncomfortable in groups, my hearing is just fine. The hypocrisy and silence from the pulpit is upsetting. I’m not expecting perfection, just love for one another.
Later.