Intelligent Faith
“White supremacist capitalist patriarchy (and these things can operate separately as well as in tandem) is a system of organization in which human beings are forced into boxes and categories that are constructed for the purpose of turning our bodies into machines; machines that benefit the captains of industry, robber barons, settler colonists, warmongers, Wall Street, the One Percent, and other anti-human oppressors.” — Son of Baldwin
I made friends with this white woman about 6 years ago, a half white half Jewish evangelical Christian (I was pretty naïve of what was healthy and what was not back then, if you were nice to me, chances are I’d be your friend. Obviously my bar was low due to abuse). We were church buddies. Went to conferences and Bible studies together, that sort of thing. We were pretty close. She was very kind to me and my son. At the time I didn’t know much about the racism of Evangelicalism so much of the things she said to me didn’t register as red flags. For instance, she told me that everything in the Kuran is opposite of the Bible (not true and deeply racist). At the time I was beginning to come out of Western Christianity as I had been teaching an ESL class to a predominantly Muslim community.
I wrestled with the fact that I was taught they were morally deficient people. The more I engaged with the community the more convicted I was. At the time I was attending a church where the pastor (a white man) held 24 hour prayer meetings after the San Bernardino shooting. But then I noticed the lack of alarm or urgency when Black people in our city were being killed by police. It wasn’t long before my eyes were opened.
Islamophobia was why he wanted prayer against terrorism, and racism was why he was complicit in white terrorism. Christians treat Muslims like they treat Black people.
And then Trayvon Martin happened. And then everything changed. Karen and I met for lunch as we often did and she raised a concern about me being pro Black Lives Matter. She said there were factors of BLM that were anti-Semitic. I told her I didn’t know what she was talking about.
What I later learned was that she holds a core belief based on her biblical interpretation that anyone who criticizes Israel would be punished by God. She even gave me a book about all the horrible things and disasters that have happened to the US every time it criticized Israel. Christians literally believe that holding Israel accountable would result in catastrophic consequences. It also stems from a biblical narrative that the return of Israel would bring about the second coming of Christ. Evangelicals are the main supporters of occupation in Israel. Check out these graphics by Pyaar to the People:
I decided to push back. I asked her what about Black slaves? They said nothing of Israel and experienced the worst violence known to man. She had no response for that. I say all this to say that America is indeed a death cult. It will devour itself before relinquishing control or giving anyone outside the box equal power. Christians believe that the more the playing field is leveled (equal rights and shared power) then it’s the end of the world. That’s how deep supremacy goes. Equity feels like death.
As a liberated Christian I once held some of these these beliefs. It was an addictive lifestyle to be honest. Everything I did and believed centered around the second coming of Christ, pleasing God, repentance, groveling, shame, forgiveness, and then repeat. There was so much fear embedded in how I saw God and what I believed I deserved as a child of God. It was a very toxic and abusive relationship.
Now that I am on the other side of the tunnel, I look back and grieve at how much of my life was wasted on cultish propaganda. What a terrible and hopeless way to live. How amazing it has been to look forward to the future and dream of a better world for all the children. Christians believe our world is beyond redemption, that things will get worse until God sets it on fire and a new earth emerges. “What’s the point of reducing gas emissions, or water pollution, or deforestation when our bible has told us that all these things are inevitable? The world is meant to perish”
I don’t believe that for one second.
Religion can make you lazy, and doctrine does the thinking for you so all you have to do is follow along. On the other hand, intelligent faith asks questions, demands justice, believes in science, and wrestles with the status quo and power structures that oppress and destroy humanity. What kind of faith do you have?
“The scandal is that the gospel means liberation, that this liberation comes to the poor, and that it gives them the strength and the courage to break the conditions of servitude.”
― James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed
Israel is valuable to the US because it’s our only base in that region. There’s no other real value Israel has to the US. They didn’t even get involved with WWII until much later after millions of Jews had already been slaughtered. Supporting Israel is a chess move for power.
My friend wrote something that really stood out to me, “The aliens in Independence Day are a pretty good sci-fi metaphor for how settler-colonialism actually works.”
Like when one takes over the body of that scientist and Bill Paxton is like, “Can there be peace?” and the alien’s like, “No peace.” and then Paxton’s like, “What do you want from us?” and the alien’s like. “Die.” That’s the logic of settler-colonialism in a nutshell.
“The invading population literally does not seek to peacefully coexist with the indigenous population. They want to *replace them* and in order to do that they have to kill them off. The genocide is not an accident and it’s not self-defense, it is a function of settler-colonialism and it has looked the same all over the world — here on Turtle Island, in Africa, in Australia, and in occupied Palestine.” -Onyesonwu Chatoyer
Occupation, colonization, imperialism, expansionism, settlement, gentrification, they’re all the same thing. Using power to eradicate a group to take control over a space for the benefit of another.
White people in the US are insulated from feeling the effects of these systems of power. White people need to be intentional about having a world perspective that includes understanding where our tax money goes, how it is used, and how to redirect funds.
It’s about money. It’s about maintaining power. It’s about dominance. We have a choice in this. Tell your faith to think for itself.
