Articles for tag: Systemic Racism

February 1, 2021

Bronwyn Jones

Racism in the Bible: What Esther and Mordecai Can Teach Us

The book of Esther is an example of how to biblically respond to racism, especially in America today. Esther used her privileged position as queen to speak up against racism and genocidal laws, even though it was against the law for her to do so. Her relative Mordecai protested against racist laws, told the truth of what was happening to the Jews, and developed a plan to address it. Together, their actions saved the Jews from genocide. As Christians, the Bible is our guidebook for how to live our lives. Christians can follow Esther and Mordecai’s example, educate ourselves, and use our

October 24, 2020

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Ministry in Post-Christian England

Leslie sat in the dorm lobby on her Christian college campus thinking about the last question on the get-to-know-you survey she and the rest of the girls in her dorm were completing. Her sophomore year had just begun, and Leslie had been considering where God was leading her. The last question asked, “What is something you have dreamed of doing?” She scribbled her answer in the blank: “missions in Europe.” Leslie Hall had been learning about the decline of Christianity in Europe, and she wondered what God might be doing there. “I guess God paid attention to what I wrote,”

June 14, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Just a Beginning

By Mark A. Taylor We know at least two things about our posts about racial justice at this site this month. First, we know they are inadequate. They do not convey the scope or the whole burden of the race problem in America. “¢ They only hint at the fact that America”s fortunes were built and wealth was created on the backs of those enslaved in a land that abused them while proclaiming “All men are created equal.” “¢ They barely mention the long history of egregious statements from both church and state claiming that Africans and African-Americans are somehow

June 13, 2016

Christian Standard

Read More About Religion, Racism, and Practical Steps Forward

Compiled by Travis Hurley Divided By Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, by Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) “” Despite its age, this remains essential reading for anyone looking to get a grasp on evangelical religion and the problem of race in America. There are helpful historical summaries of the church and race in America in early chapters, and once you understand their explanation of the “white evangelical tool kit,” you”ll start to see how using these tools actually hinders reconciliatory progress before it even begins. Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical”s

October 29, 2015

Christian Standard

Choosing the Best Story

By Joe Boyd The world is a dangerous place. Issues like extremist terrorism, systemic racism, and constant political backbiting seem insurmountable. As a Christian, I believe there is a way through God to a better future. But how? Where is that way? And how do I walk in it? I”ve come to believe that the kingdom (the Way of Jesus) comes in only one form: story. The problems I see associated with the world today all boil down to the big stories, the metanarratives we all live within. For many people, the biggest story they live inside is their personal

February 8, 2006

Christian Standard

More Than One Month

By Mark A. Taylor Hollywood star Morgan Freeman is against the idea of Black History Month. Interviewed on CBS TV’s 60 Minutes, the African American Academy Award winner said, “We don’t have White History Month or Jewish History Month.” Why not include the role of black Americans whenever American history is studied? But Denzil Holness, minister with Central Christian Church in Atlanta, does not agree. In his four page quarterly paper, A Voice in the Wilderness*, he wrote, Black History Month (February), a time set aside to tell the story of African Americans and to highlight their achievements, presents our

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