As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Everyone who opposes racism agrees that people of all races are equal in virtue of their common humanity and deserving of equal respect and dignified treatment. They are also agreed that for much of our history, the dominant white population of the U.S. violated this fundamental truth….
“The alternate name, which was approved for use by SBC messengers in 2012 ‘as one fully in keeping with our Southern Baptist Convention identity,’ has been drawing a lot of interest from church leaders around the country in recent weeks” - CPost
“…as practiced, it quite often creates a virtual irrebuttable starting presumption that ‘existing power structures’ can be accurately analyzed primarily (or sometimes exclusively) through the prism of race. The end result, ironically enough, is both reductive and complex.” - The Dispatch
We might have every reason to expect, given the extraordinary attention directed to this issue, that race relations would be improving in America. But instead, they seem to be getting worse. Why are race relations not improving?
“Given these difficulties, my church’s elders decided we wanted to spend time intentionally shepherding our people to think rightly about our identity as a gospel community as well as our responsibility to one another and the world in these divided times.
“Unraveling the contemporary critical theory behind White Fragility is key to deciphering its meaning.” - C.Today
“It is built upon the rotten foundation of identity politics. It is becoming increasingly clear that identity politics is establishing itself as nothing less than a competing religion, and one that is very good at dividing but very poor at uniting.
“Close to two-thirds, 61 percent, of black Americans said they want the police presence in their area to remain the same, while 20 percent said they would like to see police spend more time in their neighborhood, according to a new Gallup poll. Another 19 percent said they would like to see the police presence in their area decrease.” - National Review
“What follows is not a review of The Third Option but rather a meditation on its central thesis, that our attitudes and behavior toward our fellow human beings must take full account of the fact that they were created in God’s image.
“In this follow-up article I want to turn to the Bible to suggest how it might help us understand issues of race and racism, for it also contains a narrative structure…. What I would like to do is compare and contrast the content of [DiAngelo’s White Fragility] story with the Bible’s.” - Challies
Discussion