Written on August 30th, 2020 by The Elf from Down the Hobbit Hole Blog, This post contains affiliate ad links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Welcome to post number one in our False Unity theology series. Today we’re looking at a response to an open letter…
What About Unity is False?!
The call for unity has been so confusing lately. We’ve seen it used in so many places. As a rallying cry by so many Christian leaders. And there is so much hate and negativity that a call for peace and unity is tempting, but it still feels wrong.
Why? Because it is calling for comfort or conformity over walking into the messy work of justice, change and conversation. Unity itself is defined as combing part of a whole. So reaching to help and connect with someone who is in need is in fact a unifying action.
What we are addressing here is using the terminology of unity to distract or stop conversation and action. Specifically as it relates to social justice. It’s a false unity.
Part one of our series is inspired by an Instagram post I saw from another mom that was irritated with the responses she was seeing by other people who love Jesus to the Civil Rights protests on the streets. Calling out the keyboard warriors for weaponizing the Bible [using it to end arguments and put down people] and calling for judgement instead of love. Just like the ministers who rebuked Martin Luther King Jr.
Still Learning:
A Response to An Open Letter
When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his Letter from a Birmingham Jail it was after
a) intentionally defying a law about peaceable gatherings and
b) an open letter was published in the papers (that’s not a new thing) from white ministers calling for unity, peace, lawful process and worship.
Read more about the background in this History post.
Unity.
A word that’s been distorted recently.
‘Don’t post anything that isn’t unifying and uplifting’. ‘Are you being intentional about unity or are you being divisive?’
But I don’t believe that’s the right question.
So I decided to read Dr. King’s reply to that open letter ‘call to unity’ again.
Reading his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, like so many other things recently, it struck me as remarkable how relevant it still is fifty years later. Even more so today than it was five years ago for me. Here are my summaries of the main points. We aren’t even going to call it an analysis, just short summaries…
Dr Martin Luther King Responds to the Open Letter
-Justice requires pressure and action. It does not just happen.
–We can’t simply wait to act when we have to have painful discussions with our kids about their value and safety. When so many are “smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.” We cannot turn our eyes away.
-That yes, advocating breaking all laws would obviously lead to anarchy and that is not what we’re marching or working towards. Laws that lead to injustices are different than laws that lead to the betterment of society.
-And then a string of arguments that was SO familiar, it was off putting for me to read because I’ve read it all SO recently. Why does it still need to be explained?
Everything Hitler did was legal, aiding Jews was illegal. Early Christians practiced civil disobedience and were considered to be trouble makers, rebels, and anarchists. The civil disobedience of Socrates is why we are free to be educated, the tea party why we’re a nation, etc…
Addressing the Ministers Call to Wait:
-He says it’s particularly painful to see the white Christian moderate calling for patience, peace, law and order. That they are more of a stumbling block than a Klan member in the fight for freedom. [The minister or Christian] “who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direst action’ who paternistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a ‘more convenient season.’ Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
-He goes on to talk about how he is bothered by so many labeling their movement as extreme, but not what is being done to them. He acknowledges that of course not every Black person agrees with their movement. And there are even people of color profiting off of the oppression.
-That violence is being fed by the frustration that after all these years “the continued existence of racial discrimination” is STILL a problem. That we STILL need to move forward.
-Then sharing that he’s frustrated with churches calling for people to follow the law over loving their brother. The end of the paragraph really struck me. “In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard so many ministers say, ‘Those are social issues with which the Gospel has no real concern,’ and I have watched so many churches commit themselves to a completely other-worldly religion which made a strange distinction between body and soul, the sacred and the secular.” But how can we honestly say we love people and want to share the Good News of the Gospel message with them if we don’t care how they are being oppressed?
“I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader, but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all of their scintillating beauty. Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, M. L. King, Jr.”
Still so incredibly relevant today. And a timely reminder that the pursuit of racial justice -really any pursuit of social justice- is, in fact, pursuing unity, love and hope.
We Invite You To Join Us In A Year of Anti-Racist Learning
We at Down the Hobbit Hole Blog believe strongly in the power of education. We agree [a rare gem in of itself ] that now is a significant time in history. That you no longer need to wonder what you would have done if Martin Luther King was alive in your day, or if Dietrich Bonhoeffer asked you to aide in his fight. That you never really did need to wonder because injustice never took a night off.
Systemic oppression and racism are still a prevalent issue demanding more than just education. Education and power must be joined by proximity and action.
Below you will find our year of learning outline. A conglomeration of resources that we were considering for each month. Why a year of learning chart? Plans turn things from wishes into priorities.
What’s In the Year of Learning Document?
We decided to focus in on one topic a month, read a book and watch a movie based on that topic. (Not all the book and movie choices will line up with that topic because not all topics are equally represented in books and movies.)
From the chart we:
1) pick at least one book and movie a month to read/watch and discuss.
2) Research one charity working in that field that is reputable and use what we have available to assist them.
3) We agree to support at least 2 small businesses a month that are owned by a Black or Chinese owner.
4) We will publicly use our names by researching and signing a minimum of 5 petitions a month.
5) We will donate small talk and carve out time to discuss these topics in a personal setting.
Plans are vital. Our time is precious, we believe in the Biblical pursuit of justice as foundational and that Jesus is foundational to our lives. Just like we tithe our money we believe in tithing our time. We’re thankful that Jesus stood with the marginalized and here is how we start moving in that direction ourselves….
**Link for the PDF with a lot of links, resources and chart HERE**
What question should we ask before we post something? Probably the same things we should be asking about articles and other media we’re consuming. Who is telling the story? Who benefits? From what angle? What are the facts? Is it harmful or hurtful? [& to who? Because sharing my adoption story is going to offend and make people angry, that doesn’t mean I should not share it] Grace-filled? What’s the point of sharing?
Have you been doing your own anti-racist learning?? What resources have been helpful or eye- opening to you?
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