Link: Why Social Justice Matters
Jan. 6th, 2021 11:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaI haven't seen the Perdue/Ossoff race in Georgia officially called yet (ETA: now called for Ossoff, yay!), although I have seen some cautious celebration. (Fuck yeah, Stacey Abrams and everyone who worked with her! Now THERE is an example to follow!)
Why Social Justice Matters bysiderea.
A friend of mine in Missouri who is Black and a Reverend gave me the link to a segment he preached recently at his Black Christian church. It was about Paul's letter to the Galatians. I have not deeply studied the Christian Bible and mostly think of Paul as that sexist jerk who has been used as the justification for a lot of oppression down the ages. I wasn't aware of this anti-semitic bit.
In his preaching, my friend leaned hard on how Peter was trying to tell the Galatians they weren't good enough by telling them to follow Jewish practices, and Jesus says we're all already good enough. I like the "already good enough" message, and can see how someone preaching to a Black congregation would talk about enemies having unfair expectations. I was squirming because it felt like the whole message was (unintentionally?) soaked in "Jews are the enemy."
I feel like I should have some sort of conclusion here, and I don't. I suppose becoming more aware of the problem is a step? I don't know what to do with the information. I mentioned to my friend that I was uncomfortable watching his preaching because Jews are cast as the bad guys. I don't know whether to discuss it further. I can hope that he will reflect on my response.
Why Social Justice Matters by
siderea.Meanwhile, the remaining race, between Perdue and Ossoff, is too close to call.
Meaning the fate of that senate seat, and therefore the fate of the whole US Senate, and therefore the fate of the entire USA, and quite possibly the fate of the entire world, hangs on the willingness of Georgians, particularly Black Georgians, to vote for a Jew.
It would not be a terrible thing to reflect on all the antisemitism you might have run across. The whole Jews-secretly-control-the-world conspiracy theory. The whole I-don't-mind-Jews-but-I-don't-think-it's-for-the-best-to-have-them-in-office-in-a-Christian-Nation thing. The whole all-Jews-are-genocidal-Zionists thing. The whole Jews-are-trying-to-replace-white-men thing that the marchers at Charlottesville were chanting. The whole hating-Jews-is-okay-when-you're-Black thing. The whole Christ-killer thing. The whole Jews-are-thieves-and-murderers thing.
It would not be a terrible thing, most especially if you're not Jewish, to reflect on what role any of that might have in what transpires in this race. To reflect on how this could turn out because those ideas are loose in the populace.
A friend of mine in Missouri who is Black and a Reverend gave me the link to a segment he preached recently at his Black Christian church. It was about Paul's letter to the Galatians. I have not deeply studied the Christian Bible and mostly think of Paul as that sexist jerk who has been used as the justification for a lot of oppression down the ages. I wasn't aware of this anti-semitic bit.
In his preaching, my friend leaned hard on how Peter was trying to tell the Galatians they weren't good enough by telling them to follow Jewish practices, and Jesus says we're all already good enough. I like the "already good enough" message, and can see how someone preaching to a Black congregation would talk about enemies having unfair expectations. I was squirming because it felt like the whole message was (unintentionally?) soaked in "Jews are the enemy."
I feel like I should have some sort of conclusion here, and I don't. I suppose becoming more aware of the problem is a step? I don't know what to do with the information. I mentioned to my friend that I was uncomfortable watching his preaching because Jews are cast as the bad guys. I don't know whether to discuss it further. I can hope that he will reflect on my response.
