Miles McPherson, author of the book The Third Option, said, “Politics are like cable packages”, because you might only want the History Channel and TV Land, but you can’t just have those, you have to purchase a larger package or bundle of channels, most of which you may not like and will probably never watch. Politics are like this because you can’t stand for one thing without a whole slew of other things being assumed. For example, I can’t be Pro Life and want to welcome refugees. Well, in fact I can, but announcing such a thing will leave people very confused.
I believe that there are lots of Christ Followers who want to make good, biblical choices. I also believe that sometimes, without knowing it, we buy in to a way of thinking that is more cultural than biblical. When I say to you “I am Pro Life.”, you probably assume that I am talking about being anti-abortion. And you would be right. I am very anti-abortion. However, I believe being Pro Life means more than just being “pro birth”. Caring about life from conception to the grave is what truly being pro-life is about. It means I care about unborn babies, and I also care about supporting the (often single) mothers of unplanned pregnancies.
For example, the biggest factors when a woman is deciding on whether to have her baby or abort it are socioeconomic. Things like, does she have a place to live, medical care, access to affordable daycare, access to a job that pays enough for her to support her and her baby? So, in this instance, being pro life may look like increasing funding for Government assistance.
So here we go, that automatically puts me on the “other side” of things doesn’t it? It is interesting to note that often the very people who are die hard Pro Lifers will vote to cut funding and applaud laws passed to make it harder for people to obtain government assistance. Many of these same people are not, and never have been, in a position to need government assistance. They are more preoccupied with making sure that people who may be abusing government resources cannot get them than they are with making sure they are available to those who actually need them. Unfortunately, it is all too common among many people to vote against (or not care to vote) on laws that do not directly affect them.
I say this, because I used to be like that.
I know that this post is very political, but I want to suggest that it may seem political due to the subject and not the intent. Certain issues are labeled “political” because they are tied to the government and laws on which we might vote. What I have heard many times is that, because of heightened emotions and varying opinions, political issues should be kept “separate” in category and removed from church sermons and religious conversations for the sake of “keeping the peace” and “not distracting from the Gospel message”. But my argument is this: These are Gospel issues! In fact, they were Gospel issues long before they were ever labelled “political” issues. I think we could all agree that Jesus would be Pro Life in every sense of the word. He certainly cared about children and the unborn, and he also cared for the immigrant and the disabled. I honestly don’t know that Jesus would have fit into any political category.
Jesus valued what God valued and when we start to try to do the same thing, we might find that it puts us in a very lonely place.
I want to use an example that is not “current”, because unfortunately sometimes people are more accepting of historical facts than current ones. I love the movie The Last of the Mohicans. It has been one of my all time favorites since high school. I recently re-watched it and was rather nerdily researching some things about the making and ran across an interview with Russel Means, the actor that played Chingachgook, the wise adoptive father of Hawkeye played by Daniel Day-Lewis. He talks about how 900 Indian extras from all across the country were brought in for the film and were housed in an abandoned boy scout camp. Interestingly enough, the camp was called Camp Mohican. Russel Means says this of the camp,
“…it resembled a concentration camp. The buildings were made of cinder blocks, and six to eight people stayed in rooms designed for two. Since the camp was so isolated – 30 miles from town on a dirt road – and the extras had no transportation, they were stuck out there in the summer heat and 90% humidity. Most of the Indian extras’ scenes were at night, so they had to spend the hottest part of the day in theses hellholes with no way of getting out, buying a Coke, or even seeing a doctor.”
Apparently, one of the reasons they filmed the movie in North Carolina instead of in New York where the story is set, is because North Carolina is a “right to work” state. This means that labor union laws don’t apply. Now, in the end, the extras went on strike and their demands were met and the movie continued production. My point is that, many people I know are against labor unions. And they have logical reasons for it! However, as we see with the movie filming example, when people are already in the margins (ultimately because of White Supremacy), they are operating without a safety net. They have limited resources, education, net wealth, and social power. Therefore, things like labor unions become their safety net and ensure fairer treatment. But unfortunately, people who vote against laws that protect human rights are either not considering where they may be appropriate or they simply do not care.
In the beginning, when I first started to become aware of my White privilege, I wanted to deny it. I wanted to run from it. I didn’t want to attend my Be the Bridge group where we discussed these things. I wanted to re-affirm my previous line of thinking by seeking the council of others with whom I had, up to this point, shared beliefs. I cannot begin to tell you how crushed I was. I didn’t know how to think anymore. It completely upended my worldview. Then, as the initial shock wore off, I was reminded that God has enough grace for the depths of our depravity. I became determined within myself to learn the truth, no matter how painful it was.
“To accept one’s past—one’s history—is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought.” -James Baldwin
Knowing that Christ had already died for these things should we choose to turn to Him and accept His grace and forgiveness, gave me the necessary confidence to face head on whatever horrific truths I might uncover. So, when I first began to believe that I am privileged just because of the color of my skin and that, because I am White, benefit from racism and discrimination, I was heartbroken. I was not okay with my prosperity at the expense of another’s poverty (both in a literal and figurative sense). What’s more, I was sure the other White people around me were just unaware (as I had been) of these horrible injustices. I thought that with the information communicated to them by another White person, their perspectives would be changed.
I was met with so much disappointment.
In having conversations with many White people about racism and it’s prevalence in our country and the possibility of reparations, there is so much defensiveness (which is to be expected). But there is also a keen awareness of what actual reparations would cost them. It seems people think that if the price is too high, it reduces or completely negates the wrong committed, or it lets us off the proverbial hook. Again, so much disappointment.
I will continue to be obedient to the passion that I believe God has laid on my heart. No matter the cost. No matter how many friends I lose. No matter how unpopular I become. I refuse to go back to the ignorantly arrogant, naive, privileged white girl walking around like I was here first with no concern for that which does not have a direct impact on my life. I won’t always get it right. I won’t always have the perfect things to say. I won’t always see positive change. But I will continue to be an advocate and a voice for the marginalized and oppressed. As a Christ follower, I can do no less.
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” -Philippians 2:3-7
New Mercies 