Oppression and injustice happen when a person or a group of people is deprived, usually by law or by force, of basic and equal rights that are allotted to others. Often oppression and injustice use categories of people to afflict their damages. For example, our country was founded and built on laws that allowed for the brutal killing and enslavement of blacks and Native Americans, with many laws explicitly benefiting white people by name. This is oppression and injustice. Refugees are oppressed by something going on in their home country that they are fleeing from in order to save their lives. This is often religious or ethnic persecution and is often related to wars or guerrilla warfare dangers. The oppressed are the ones under the boot of those with power. We get less comfortable talking about oppression and injustice when we start looking at the vast inequities in the United States between whites and people of color. It’s a lot easier to talk about oppression of biblical times and the distant past, but much more uneasy when it’s right under our nose and we may or may not even be aware of it or acknowledge it.
Ep. 36: Interview with David Swanson on Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity
Noah interviews Pastor David Swanson on his book Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity.
David W. Swanson is the pastor of New Community Covenant Church, a multicultural congregation in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. He helps lead New Community Outreach, a nonprofit that collaborates with the community to reduce sources of trauma, and speaks around the country on the topics of racial justice and reconciliation.
All Lives Matter vs. Black Lives Matter
It prompted me to write this post about what Black Lives Matter (or “black lives matter”) means and doesn’t mean, looking at the values of Black Lives Matter & All Lives Matter and say-it-ain’t-so, actually finds some common ground between the two.
The Babylon Bee Gets Defunded by Christians Who Love Black Lives #DefundTheBee
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Defunding is all the rage these days. After consistently mocking the concern for black lives, Christians finally rallied their efforts to defund The Babylon Bee, a popular satire website ran by politically conservative white guys who use a lot of words from the Bible.
The Bee made its name years ago with genuinely funny articles poking fun at the quirks of being Calvinist or Baptist, repetitious Chris Tomlin choruses, and smoke machines used in worship sets.
Racism 101 – First Steps – Defining Racism
Want to take some steps beyond your #GeorgeFloyd social media post but don’t know where to start?
Racism 101 – First Steps – Defining Racism
Ep. 30: George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Police Brutality, Riots, Racism, the Church
In episode 30, we dive head first into the recent riots over George Floyd’s death and the national stories of Breonna Taylor and Ahmuad Arbery’s deaths. This episode covers these events, police brutality, racism, and the Church.