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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA Quiet Exodus: Why Black Worshipers Are Leaving White Evangelical Churches
Is God racist or is it my church? While a certain segment of the left would respond, there is no god, others will remember how religion and faith could also be a force for justice. Unfortunately, too often, the left yields the field to the right on faith, as well as patriotism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/09/us/blacks-evangelical-churches.html
In the last couple of decades, there had been signs, however modest, that eleven oclock on Sunday morning might cease to be the most segregated hour in America. Racial reconciliation was the talk of conferences and the subject of formal resolutions. Large Christian ministries were dedicated to the aim of integration, and many black Christians decided to join white-majority congregations. Some went as missionaries, called by God to integrate. Others were simply drawn to a different worship style short, conveniently timed services that emphasized a personal connection to God.
The fruits could be seen if you looked in the right places, particularly within the kind of nondenominational megachurches that gleam from the roadsides here in the sprawl of Dallas-Fort Worth. In 2012, according to a report from the National Congregation Study, more than two-thirds of those attending white-majority churches were worshiping alongside at least some black congregants, a notable increase since a similar survey in 1998. This was more likely to be the case in evangelical churches than in mainline Protestant churches, and more likely in larger ones than in smaller ones.
Then came the 2016 election. Black congregants as recounted by people in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Fort Worth and elsewhere had already grown uneasy in recent years as they watched their white pastors fail to address police shootings of African-Americans. They heard prayers for Paris, for Brussels, for law enforcement; they heard that one should keep ones eyes on the kingdom, that the church was colorblind, and that talk of racial injustice was divisive, not a matter of the gospel. There was still some hope that this stemmed from an obliviousness rather than some deeper disconnect.
Then white evangelicals voted for Mr. Trump by a larger margin than they had voted for any presidential candidate. They cheered the outcome, reassuring uneasy fellow worshipers with talk of abortion and religious liberty, about how politics is the art of compromise rather than the ideal. Christians of color, even those who shared these policy preferences, looked at Mr. Trumps comments about Mexican immigrants, his open hostility to N.F.L. players protesting police brutality and his earlier birther crusade against President Obama, claiming falsely he was not a United States citizen. In this political deal, many concluded, they were the compromised.
TlalocW
(15,389 posts)To White people leaving? (Or Hispanics, etc.) I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers might be surprising (huh? ).
I'm atheist, but I'd like to believe that churches generally have good people in them - even evangelical super-churches. And while a lot of the congregation might be, these others aren't that political, might not be too deep of thinkers, and like the easily digestible sermons you get from such places.
But when the church seemingly does a 180 and starts propping up Donald Trump, and these nice people see how not nice he is, they're not going to enjoy going to church anymore. Some might start going to other churches; some may decide to sleep in, etc.
In any event, it's Trump and his supporters being assholes who are to blame.
TlalocW
Garrett78
(10,721 posts)We shouldn't just assume a qualifier or simply understand that the qualifier is implied. At least that's what folks say when a headline leads with "white people." When the subject is white people, there must be a qualifier (such as "some" or "many", or else it's assumed that the author is referring to *all* white people, regardless of what the article itself says).
Funny how that only applies to "white people" headlines. Funny how people get defensive and demand a qualifier only in the case of "white people" headlines.
True Blue American
(17,988 posts)Black and White Worshippers walk away from Churches that became more right wing as the group aged, turned more Political and actually called out for the Parishioners to vote against Obama it is not surprising the young are turning away in droves.
Many of them are now trying to change as they realize their mistakes but outside of the Mega Churches that have become Entertainment Centers small Chuches are closing all over.
Catholics are having trouble getting Priests, they are closing,combining becoming older. No Church can survive without the young.
I now attend a small Church where the two young Pastors are changing the direction of the Church,teaching love and friendship. No negatives at all.
yortsed snacilbuper
(7,939 posts)videohead5
(2,181 posts)These people are. Jesus was born in the middle east. he was not white and Jewish.
TeamPooka
(24,248 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)MarcA
(2,195 posts)Everything and Government too is for the rich, god intended the
plantation masters to rule us, afterall we get pie in the sky bye and bye.
get the red out
(13,468 posts)Are a subsidiary of the Republican Party. They are also a breeding ground for vile conspiracy theories.
Raster
(20,998 posts)...white evangelicals use to appeal to their "faithful."
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Most black Christians weren't members of mixed congregations, of course. Especially black conservatives. I haven't seen statistics, but my strong guess is those who joined and are now leaving integrated congregations average more liberal overall. Many were willing because differences weren't important, and as said many integrated on a mission for god and society, probably most both.
Such a shame that those advances, part of a period of many large changes, sparked this backlash of resurgent racism, which seems inevitable now.
But so does the next period of advance. Strangely enough, even a lot of Trump voters don't really want this. Only some.