President Obama, Tavis Smiley & Racial Politics
This past week I spoke about white men’s deficiencies. This week it is Back men that are on the hot seat. I want to use Milissa Harris-Lacewell’s article to initiate the discussion. Tavis Smiley will be here in Indianapolis at Clowes Hall on the Butler campus on June 2, 2009 @ 7PMto debut his film “Stand.” The main media coverage is all about the situation in Iran. White men in the United States House and the United States Senate want President Obama to get involved in Iran’s affairs. Mike Pence a congressman from Indiana has joined the chorus of voices. As much as I respect Congressman Pence we are going to disagree on our positions concerning Iran. The United States is not the world’s police. Getting involved in Iran will only let America become the issue. America being the issue will not help Iranians work out their internal affairs. Therefore, as I would counsel the President to leave Iran, I am going to follow my own advise. Therefore, let’s talk about the issue that seems to exist between President Obama and Tavis Smiley. Thank you for listening to AjabuSpeaks.
Commentary: Don't hold Obama to race agenda
•· Melissa Harris-Lacewell: Some have said Obama should be held to racial agenda
•· She says nostalgia for the old days of protest obscures last election
•· Black politics has come of age, and African-Americans are equal partners, she says
By Melissa Harris-Lacewell
Special to CNN
Melissa Harris-Lacewell is associate professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University. She is the author of the award-winning book "Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought," and wr= ites a daily blog titled The Kitchen Table.
PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN) -- It seems Tavis Smiley has been irritated with Barack Obama for a long time. Smiley is perhaps the most recognizable African-American journalist in the country. He is a fixture on radio and television, and has authored several books that are best-sellers among black readers.
One might suspect that Smiley would be enthusiastic about the opportunities presented by America's election of a black president.
Instead, Smiley seems annoyed.
In February 2008, Smiley denounced then-candidate Obama for failing to make a personal appearance at Smiley's annual State of the Black Union. His continuing criticism of Sen. Obama during the fall campaign produced substantial outcry from listeners of the Tom Joyner Morning Show, a popular radio program where Smiley had been a well-liked regular.
After Obama's election, Smiley published a text titled "Accountable" and has repeatedly indicated his intention to hold President Obama "accountable" to an explicitly racial agenda.
The specific policies suggested by Smiley's books are not substantially different from those of the Obama administration, but Smiley insists on explicit and repeated acknowledgement of race, while Obama typically seeks to address inequality within a racially neutral frame.
Despite writing about race in both of his books, addressing race in the historic Philadelphia speech during the Democratic primary and repeatedly acknowledging that racial inequality endures, Smiley's critique implies that Obama's approach to race is both inadequate and inauthentic.
On May 24, TV One aired the latest installment of Smiley's accountability campaign: a two-hour documentary titled "Stand." Recycling Spike Lee's Million Man March film, "Get On the Bus," Smiley assembled a group of prominent black male public figures for a bus ride through the South.
Ostensibly, this bus trip would provide Smiley, professors Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson, Dick Gregory and others an opportunity to reflect on the meaningful upheavals in American society and politics in the summer of 2008. "Stand" was an enormous disappointment.
Its low production value, wandering narrative, flat history and self-important egoism did little to reveal the shortcomings of the Obama phenomenon. Instead, the piece exposed and embodied the contemporary crisis of the black public intellectual in the age of Obama.
The film and its participants (two of them my senior colleagues at Princeton University) appropriated the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to implicitly claim that they, not Obama, are the authentic representatives of the political interests of African-Americans. They used King's images and speeches, gathered on the balcony where King was assassinated, and explicitly asserted their desire to play King to Obama's LBJ, and Frederick Douglass to Obama's Lincoln.
On its face, this is not a bad model. Presidents are deeply constrained by the structural and political limitations of their office. A robust administration needs an active and informed citizenry to engage, push, cajole, criticize and applaud its efforts.
But this appropriation misrepresents rather than preserves King's legacy. King was a powerful questioner and, at times, ally of President Johnson because he was at the helm of a massive social movement of men and women who were shut out of the ordinary political process. It was not King's intellectual capacity or verbal dexterity that made him an effective advocate for racial issues; it was his own accountability to that movement.
This is not true of Smiley and his "soul patrol," who are mostly public personalities and tenured professors largely unaccountable to the black constituency. King's meager income, though supplemented by the lecture circuit, was grounded in the voluntary contributions of black churchgoers.
Smiley is backed by powerful corporations, like Wal-Mart and Nationwide, that have troubled relationships with these communities. The college profs on the bus are comfortably supported by well-endowed universities. This does not invalidate their views on race, but it does make the analogy with King a poor fit.
Further, Smiley and his "soul patrol" seemed to have missed the intervening 40 years between the era of King and the election of Obama. African-Americans are no longer fully disfranchised subjects of an oppressive state.
African-Americans are now citizens capable of running for office, holding officials accountable through democratic elections, publicly expressing divergent political preferences and, most importantly, engaging the full spectrum of American political issues, not only narrowly racial ones. The era of racial brokerage politics, when the voices of a few men stood in for the entire race, is now over. And thank goodness it is over. Black politics is growing up.
The men of "Stand" yearned for an imagined racial past. By their accounting, this racial past had better music, more charismatic leaders and a more-involved black church.
Their romanticism ignores the cultural contributions of contemporary black youth, forgets the dangerous limitations of charismatic leadership and revises the fraught, complicated relationship of black churches to struggles for racial equality. And these men ignored the democratizing effect of new media forms, which revolutionized the 2008 election.
Black people were not duped by some slick, media-generated candidate. African-Americans were co-authors of the Obama campaign. Through social networks, YouTube videos, political blogs and new-media echo chambers, black people were equal partners in shaping the candidate and his campaign. There was no need for the entrenched pundit class to tell black voters what to think or how to behave; they figured it out for themselves.
Still, there is plenty to criticize in the young Obama administration: the refusal to prosecute those implicated in the torture memos, civilian casualties caused by drone attacks, bank bailouts and inadequate defense of gay rights to name a few. But black communities are already engaged in these critiques and many others. Black local organizers, elected officials, bloggers, pundits and columnists have taken substantive, specific positions on a broad range of issues.
In black communities, nonprofit organizations continue to work for justice, and charities still try to fill the gap during tough economic times. African-Americans are engaged as mature citizens ought to be: in both discourse and action.
This political maturity is precisely the source of the black public intellectual crisis: What do Smiley and the Soul Patrol add to this process? Their bus never stopped at a Habitat for Humanity site to build a home or at a soup kitchen to serve the hungry. Their dialogue centered more on the relative merits of Aretha vs. Beyonce than on meaningful political issues.
Though they spoke with elders, their self-congratulatory revelry never paused to engage any elected officials, issues specialists or local activists. And while they talked a great deal about women, they never spoke to a woman.
"Stand" was sad because I still believe in a role for black public intellectuals. Scholars and journalists often have a particular capacity for curiosity, questioning and issue synthesis that has real value in public discourse. It was painfully clear that this particular accountability crusade is not informed by any of those skills. Instead, it seems determined to stand in the way of the maturation of African-American politics in order to maintain personal power.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Melissa Harris-Lacewell.
Rev. Ajabu
85 Comments
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (85)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,522684,00.html
Multiracial Americans Fastest Growing Demographic Group
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Read it and weep, Reverend, the rest of us have moved on. Reparations will not be coming. The races are becoming one. And only you and John will be left outside. Come on in.
Get a real service job. The one you are working on is drying up quickly.
"I have talked to Black women who know you and they tell me that they don't see eye to eye with you."
This, everyone is a complete and total lie. A total fabrication by a man who has no shame.
Dawn (Our Conservative Christian)
You still sound confused!! You are the one that said Black women and you see eye to eye. Don't put your words in my mouth. Personally, I would not ever make such a statement. I know better. No one that I know see eye to eye on all things. Why are you making this so personal. We started out talking about the history of white men and now you want to talk about inter-ratial baby making, gender issues, and how what people told me about you is false. Quit it. You are exposing yourself as having a very hard time dealing with the truth. If you tear me down it will not build you up. Your words make you appear to be really confused. Hold in there my sister. Hold in there. The truth will set you free. God bless.
"I have talked to Black women who know you and they tell me that they don't see eye to eye with you."
This was a lie. I am not confused.
Apologies are nice when they are warranted.
The United States reserves for itself the right to say what and when the world should be watching. “People who work for peace and justice must show skepticism when the media tell them who deserves their attention and advocacy efforts.” The world, as defined by U.S. Corporate media, turned its head when “1,400 Gazans were killed so that Israel might inflict collective punishment on a civilian population.” The U.S. Feigns great concern for the human rights of Iranians, but continues threaten a military attack. Real human rights proponents “must always keep in mind that warfare is the worst human rights abuse of all.”
Margaret Kimberley
(25 June 2009, LARNACA) - This is not the statement we in the Free Gaza Movement intended to release today. We had hoped to announce that our two ships, the Free Gaza and the Spirit of Humanity, departed from Larnaca Port on a 30-hour voyage to besieged Gaza, carrying human rights activists who have travelled to Cyprus from all across the world for this journey, 3 tons of medical supplies, and 15 tons of badly needed concrete and reconstruction supplies.
Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire, returning for her second trip to Gaza aboard one of our ships, said “[The people of Gaza] must know that we have not and will not forget them.”
That was our hope, but that is not what happened.
Instead, our ships were not given permission to leave today due to concerns about our welfare and safety. Our friends in Cyprus tell us that the voyage to Gaza is too dangerous, and they are worried we will be harmed at sea.
Cyprus has been a wonderful home for the Free Gaza Movement over these last 10 months. Cypriots know first hand the terrible consequences of occupation. They too know what it is to suffer from violence, injustice, and exile. Since our first voyage to break through the siege of Gaza, the Cypriot authorities have been extremely helpful and understanding of our goals and intentions.
The journey to Gaza is dangerous. The Israeli navy rammed our flagship, the Dignity, when we attempted to deliver medical supplies to Gaza during their vicious assault in December/January. Israel has previously threatened to open fire on our unarmed ships, rather than allow us to deliver humanitarian and reconstruction supplies to the people of Gaza.
The risks we take on these trips are tiny compared to the risks imposed every day upon the people of Gaza.
The purpose of nonviolent direct action and civil resistance is to take risks - to put ourselves “in the way” of injustice. We take these risks well aware of what the possible consequences may be. We do so because the consequences of doing nothing are so much worse. Anytime we allow ourselves to be bullied, every time we pass by an evil and ignore it - we lower our standards and allow our world to be made that much harsher and unjust for us all.
In addition to the concerns expressed by our Cypriot friends today, the American consulate in Nicosia warned us not to go to Gaza, stating that:
“…[T]he Israeli Foreign Ministry informed U.S. officials at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv that Israel still considers Gaza an area of conflict and that any Free Gaza boats attempting to sail to the Gaza Strip will “not be permitted” to reach its destination.”
Former U.S. Congresswoman & presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney responded to this warning by pointing out that, “The White House says that cement and medical supplies should get into Gaza and that's exactly what we are attempting to take to Gaza.”
“Instead of quoting Israel policy to us,” McKinney continued, “…the U.S. should send a message to Israel reiterating the reported White House position that the blockade of Gaza should be eased, that medical supplies and building materials, including cement, should be allowed in. The Free Gaza boats should be allowed to reach their destination, traveling from Cyprus territorial waters, through international waters, and straight into Gaza territorial waters.”
“The State Department has chosen to advise us to take the Israeli notification seriously. Our question is, ‘Can we take President Obama seriously?’ Will he stand by his own words and allow us to provide relief for Gaza or will he back down?”
Tomorrow we will deliver a waiver, signed by all going to Gaza, that we absolve Cyprus of all responsibility for our safety. We would like to tell our friends here in Cyprus that though we understand and appreciate their concerns, we will not back down to Israel’s threats and intimidation.
###
www.FreeGaza.org
Dawn (our Conservative Christian)
I wonder if Magaret and Cynthia see eye to eye with you? Your words. Not mine. "I see eye to eye with Black women." Your words not mine. It truly is not about you. It really insn't. If you think it is then you are confused. God bless.
My brother,
Once again, you have stirred up a hornets nest. The two issues of the day you have raised seem to point to one theme - a failure to study history means you are condemned to repeat it.
Iran is not our problem. I am not sure if America through it's covert operations is helping to stir the pot over there, but I am sure that Obama is making the wise choice. Personally, I really believe there is a mixture of motives to America's seeming need to rule the world - misleading 'manifest destiny' and an insane urge to tell others how to live.
As for Mr. Smiley and company, they seem to have been caught in a time warp and cannot get out of it. When this nation decided to send Barack Obama to the White House, it was and is a seminal event in this nation's history. America is so desperate for change that they are willing to put a bright, untainted African-American in charge of that change.
Our new President is modeling that new America - an America that is rapidly becoming one of color, highly diverse and young, open to new ideas and concepts. Mr. Smiley and company seem to have failed to recognize this change.
It could be that they are too close to the trees to see the woods. Eventually they will get it and change or lose what little credibility they have left.
Continue speaking truth to power my brother. It is a new day. Your brother, Wes
Dawn
Just as the Jewish victims and their descendants of the Holocaust say repeatedly, "Never again, never again," we Blacks have pain too that you and your blood thirsty Republican Conservative Klans do not want to acknowledge. The Jewish people go even further and will demolish anyone who questions the actions of the Jewish people.
They constantly remind the world what happened to them at the hands of the Nazis. As Blacks, we have suffered continuosly in this country. We are still the victims of some of the worst racism and genocide on this planet.
As a Cherokee Indian descendant, you should be joining us in the denunciation of the behavior of America against the most loyal supporters of this country, Black people.
Our people are so brainwashed in their loyalty to a nation that repeatedly kicks us in the teeth. We fought in all of her wars, we worked for much less money than Whites doing the same work, Black college grads make less than White high school grads, we struggle on even though we were asked to go to the back of the bus, go to the back of restaurants, walk by the segregated public library, non admission to state universities without a bloody fight. And yet we still pay taxes and are treated like dogs. If you [Dawn] do not understand our pain and long suffering, then you need to leave this blog.
I have seen how you give cover and defend George W Bush even though you know he is the one who has devastated this country's economy. He did his damage with the help of Conservative Christian Republicans like yourself who re elected that idiot. He got back into the White House and sent this nation down a spiraling hole that will take years to overcome. Now, you want to lecture President Obama on what we need to do to rescue us from your Conservative crowd. Don't you think it is foolish to take advice from proven idiots.
You Conservatives are most angry and vicious when it comes to proposals like the healthcare bill which will save so many lives in America. You did not say a word about the $Billions spent on that stupid war in Iraq and Afghanistan that was coupled with a big tax cut for the rich. You can see so much fault in the Obama plan but you supported the Bush idiocy of fighting two wars and a big tax cut.Clinton left a huge surplus that Bush squandered in three months.
I trust the genius of Obama and his team to rescue us from you and your Klan. You lost the election and the people are allowing Obama and the Democrats to correct the stupid decisions of an ignorant president Bush and the equally ignorant Conservative Republican dominated Congress of the United States. Stop trying to direct President Obama and his team, you are not an expert on the economy and you have proven by your association with the worst leaders this nation has ever known. Republican Conservatives have led this great nation into an economic tsunami, a wasteful war of money and lives, a world that hates the name America, an education system that is down to 36 in the world, poverty levels that rival the Great Depression, homelessness, and so many Americans who are dying because they do not have access to health care in this rich nation. If you are not ashamed of this type of America that was produced by your Conservative and Neo Con crowd then something is wrong with your mind. You are hopelessly lost in a sea of denial and fluffy adoration of a nation that has lost its way. Dawn, you need to get off of this blog and spend more time with God in prayer. You have very little compassion for the suffering in your own nation. Everything in this country is not bad but there is too much suffering to be so cavalier and lighthearted as you come across on the blog.
I close with a discussion we had about the mothers and children who are turned away from shelters and are left out in the streets to survive; and I recall you stating how you worked in a shelter. Well, it is great that you worked in a shelter but what are you doing to close down the need for the shelters. You offered nothing but that the Conservatives give more than any other group to charities. The problem with that type of thinking is that as long as you Conservative throw crumbs to the suffering while they remain in their condition is not solving the problem. And you can sleep peacefully at night. The difference is that those of us who are Liberal Democrats fight to eradicate the poverty and sick among us with legislation that impact the masses instead of pretending to deal with the problems with token gestures. The Medicare and Medicaid Bills saved lives, the school lunches saved children, the Social Security System has saved many, and the healthcare plan will also save millions of lives. As a physician on the frontline watching so many die needlessly because they do not have access to medical care is so shameful for a so called rich nation like America. Dawn, you need to get off of this blog because someone might agree with your sick reasoning and phony erudition. Get off and stay off.
john
Wes,
The dialogue on this website is so important to have. People on this blog are actually having candid exchanges that I pray will breed genuine understanding. On another matter, but in the same vane, I am praying for your friend in India Pastor David Mock. For those who don't know some Hindu's have accused Christians of getting in their business and are now burning down churches and killing indegenous people who profess the faith. The situation in India is a good example of what some Iranian government officials are trying to pull off in Iran. President Obama is taking the right stance to stay out of Iranian's business.
John,
You are definitely straight and no chaser. Your history is showing in your very strong words to Dawn. You have seen first in Georgia the tragedy heaped upon our people by some white peope who were unashamed to publicly and openly claim their racism by wearing their Klan robes in down Atlanta. You have also seen first hand those racists who were more than likely public figures who decided that they couldn't openly show their proclivity towards racism so they spoke in coded language and called themselves conservative. You all so know that conservatives with these racist tendacies, especially in the south, were in both the democrat and republican parties. So I understand your harshness because you think that you see these same qualities in Dawn's exchanges. The preacher in me says that we must not that conclusion too quickly. I think, and pray that Dawn is just lost and truly trying to find her way to the path of truth. She has shown to me that she is confused, but I think really their is a good person under all that confusion. So, my brother, temper your remarks. Don't dilute them, but yes, temper them. If Dawn wants to walk away from the dialogue then that is her choice and her loss. However, don't run her away, let her walk if she chooses. There is alot of truth that is straight with no chaser being espoused on this website and being read daily by hundreds of people. The truth will set us free, even Dawn. God bless you. God keep you. And may heaven smile upon us all. Our efforts should be to decrease the hate, and increase the love. Love will overcome hate. We should love Dawn while letting her clearly know that we do not, and will not buy into her so-called conservative Christian worldview. God bless.
Pray, don't find fault with the man who limps
Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears
Or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt
Though hidden away from view.
Or the burden he bears placed on your back
Might cause you to stumble too.
Don't sneer at the man who's down today
Unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame
That only the fallen know.
You may be strong but still the blows
That was his if dealt to you
In the selfsame way, at the selfsame time
Might cause you to stagger too.
Don't be too harsh with the man who sins
Or pelt him with word or stone
Unless you are sure - yea, doubly sure
That you have no sins of your own.
For you know, perhaps,
If the tempter's voice should whisper as soft to you
As it did to him when he went astray
It might cause you to falter too.
~Author Unknown
Reverend,
You are so sanctimonious.
The truth is, you and John are the poor lost souls.
While the rest of the world moves on and we see the races blending, you are both living in a world still defined by hate and race.
There are a lot of men in their 50's and older who are still stuck in this way of thinking.
Fortunately, the old white racism is dying and fortunately, the old Black racism is dying, too.
Dawn (our Conservative Christian)
Why do you continue to want to make this about you? Cynthia McKinney is trying to deliver much needed supplies to the Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Israel is saber rattling that the ship will not be allowed to deliver the much needed supplies. People are dying in Gaza, American citizens are trying to help, which is the Christian thing to do, and the U.S. government will not tell Israel to leave its citizens be. Not a word from any "self defined" conservative Christian. American citizens are the U.S. government's business. No word. Yet "self defined" conservative Christians want the U.S. to get involved in Iran which is truly none of the U.S. government's business. And you want to talk about you. Lord help us today. Dawn, this conversation is not about you. What is happening in Iran is not about the U.S. What is happening with American citizens trying to do what Jesus would have a Christian to do by helping the people in Gaza is the business of America. American citizens are the business of America. We need to stay out of other people's business and tend to our own. Wouldn't you agree? God bless.
Reverend Ajabu,
I haven't said anything about me.
What is your problem.
You are so simplistic in your thinking it astonishes me.
The Israelis are also people. And they happen to be God's people. All of these people matter.
You care ONLY for the Palestinians. Mostly because you want to blame the America that you hate who helped set up the State of Israel. I think it is arguable as to whether the State of Israel should have been set up, true.
But it WAS set up. It was set up because 6 million jews were exterminated.
Brother Ajabu:
I could not agree with you more. In my humble opinion, Tavis Smiley is an opportunist, who is also jealous of President Obama. Because Mr. Obama won the election without having to, on demand, answer to some of the "Black Leaders," they may be concerned that they have no standing with him.
Simply put, I do not trust either of them, that is: President Obama and Tavis Smiley, though, I do respect them both,
Hope everything is well with everyone.
Peace and Power
Naturally, Schartie'
Schartie,
Welcome to the website. I just left Tavis and the viewing of the film. It is actually pretty moving. It had a few technical issues but still pretty good. I recommend that one sees it. Please feel free to continually comment. The world will be a better place. I should use this opportunity. You are a Black female. You have had the opportunity to read Dawn, our Conservative Christian's comments. Do you see eye to eye with her? Let us know. God bless.
Dawn,
YOu still sound confused!! Let me see. Six million Jews were exterminated. Because six million Jews were exterminated then that justifies the Jews who were not exterminated, that justifies them taking someone's land. The someone whose land got took just happens to be Palestinians. With that logic then I guess that since 100 million Africans were killed in the Middle Passage then that justifies those of us who weren't killed, that justifies us coming to Carmel and taking your land. Dawn, you are truly confused. I don't hate America, white people, nor you. I just love the truth. The truth will set you free. Here is a truth that you just don't want to deal with. The establishment of Israel was with the aid of the white men that ran America. That statement is not hating America. It is telling the truth about America. The truth stops the corruption power of power. Try it. You will feel better. God bless.
Reverend Ajabu,
The Jews were given the State of Israel.
Do you READ anything I say?
No, which is why I find it pointless to talk to you. This is not a back and forth dialogue for understanding. This is you expressing your opinion and trying to beat down a white person. A white person who has never done anything to you. Nor have my ancestors who are Indian and were never southern landholders.
I am not talking to you anymore because you twist and distort and intentionally misrepresent what I say.
Just as people have said you have done for years. Because you are STILL nothing more than a confrontational race-baiter.
I SAID that it may not have been right that the Jewish state was formed. But it was done out of guilt. It wasn't done out of racism.
EVERYTHING to you is the result of racism. Guess what. It isn't.
Keep living in your Black and White world Reverend. Don't EVER reconcile.
It's a shame. You could have a powerful voice for reconciliation. You could be encouraging Christians for service. Instead, you are nothing but a big mouth. Using your position at a great church in our city to keep making people mad at one another.
Nice job.
And if you somehow think that the nations around Israel are behaving with any kind of admirable level of distinction, you are so foolishly blind that I have no idea how you make your way around in this world.
Nobody in the Middle East is behaving decently in this situation. Our President is TRYING to get people to accept a two-State solution and Iran will accept NOTHING but the death of every Israeli and the death of every American. How terribly admirable of them.
Do you read the newspaper? Of course it wouldn't matter to you because unless the story presented the United States as the Great Satan, you wouldn't believe a word of it. You see the same view of the United States as Mahmoud Achmidinejad sees. Because you are about as out of control in your hate. Masquerading in Christian love.
You have this ridiculous idea that the Arabs in the Middle East are somehow the world's most wronged people. Guess what. They are sinners just like you and me. And guess what. The people of Northern Africa were the biggest slave traders ever. They have been more hostile to their neighbors on their own continent than anyone.
Did you read anything, ever?
Get a clue, Reverend. Learn to use your job for what it was intended for. Reconcile. Feed the poor, Shelter the homeless, Love the unloved. Spread the healing word of our Lord, Jesus.
And if you can't do that in this country because you hate it too much, go somewhere else to do it. God would be OK with that.
What you do here is not ministry.
I am going to leave you with a recommendation.
I recommend strongly that you start listening to a pastor by the name of Mark Driscoll. He is starting a very pure Christian movement. It is a wonderful movement that is really appealing to young people in the great unchurched American North West. It is appealing because it is pure. If it is not scriptural, it is not part of the church. This is fastest growing church in America because of the purity of its teaching. I warn you, Driscoll is not a person who minces any words. Some people get offended because he talks about issues that can be controversial. But the world is full of the controversial. The difference between you and Driscoll is that he understands that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory....Republicans, Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives, Black, White. We ARE all the same under the skin. And basically, we are ALL worthless without Christ. Even Black people. Even you. Even me. But I KNOW that. I freely ADMIT that. I see nobody as better than me, nobody as less than me, just equal to me. In sin.
Saved ONLY by the blood of Jesus Christ. Who for some reason.....loves me. Chose me. Set me free.
He chose you, too. Accept it. Figure out how to use your life in Christian service. I will repeat. Nothing you are doing is lifting. You are only tearing.
You are sorely in need of a return to your faith. You have been creating some new kind of religion in your own mind that is founded in your past. You really need to get rid of it. Because it is not Christian. Driscoll would call you a wolf in the flock.
I believe in my heart that you want to follow the Father but your pride is setting up up the gospel of Ajabu. "Ajabu Speaks". Big deal. You are nobody. I am nobody. Only Christ has anything worthy of hearing.
Christ wants you to reconcile with your brothers in Christ. You just want to keep fighting. And somehow you think putting on a robe makes that OK.
Dawn
You truly believe all of the propaganda that comes from the United States. Even though this is our country and we love it, this nation has done some horrible things around the world. Iraq is just the latest. Now the situation with Israel is very simple. If the Nazis killed 6 million Jews, why would the European Jews go to Israel and uproot Palestinians and others who were living peacefully. Wouldn't it make more sense to establish the Jewish homeland in Germany.
Unfortunately, the Jewish people have made a poor choice just as the South Africans did by taking the land of Blacks who live there. It is very difficult to move a whole country full of human beings from their land by some Western World Decree. I can't imagine the uneasiness of the Jews in Israel who know that every country over there is an enemy. Sooner or later, they will have to give up the dream of a peaceful Israel and begin wandering again.
Wouldn't it have been so much easier to take the German's land and create a beautiful state for Israel right in Europe where most of the Jews in Israel came from. How illogical it is for anybody to go and take over someone else's land because the Nazis in Germany exterminated 6 million innocent Jews. The real reparations for the Jewish people would have been to claim prime land in Germany.
I can't see a long term situation for the Jews in Israel. I could be wrong but it makes no sense to put your people in harms way and causing the entire Middle East to be your enemy.
john
John,
If you read my words, I think you can see....I agree wholeheartedly with what you say. We should not have established the Jewish state in Israel. But there are Christians and Jews who see that land as their homeland. Nonetheless, it established a irreconcilable battle with a people who are very difficult to compromise with.
I will say this on behalf of the Jews in Israel. I had a professor in my master's program (International Relations class) who was a Palestinian Christian who said that Palestinians are welcome to live in the Jewish state of Israel. She left Israel because of the violdence which she attributed primarily to the uneducated Palestinians who she felt were being incited to violence by Muslim extremists. So there are two sides to most stories.
The truth is, the Jews are there now. They are not leaving. We need to do what the President IS doing...work for peace in a two state solution in Israel.
Reverend, I happened to read the parable of the sower of the seed as my devotional this morning. What has happened to the seed that has been sown with you? It appears to me that it has fallen among thorns that have been choking it out....those old feelings of hatred and racism that need to be gone. Everyone has struggled. Everyone is struggling. We need to love one another and minister to one another and stop pointing fingers at the past.
There has been enough pain inflicted by all sides. It is time to come together as one people. As a woman, a Cherokee Indian and a Christian, that is how I see it. And I know that it is how God sees it.
My son leaves this morning for an Indian reservation on a mission trip. He will repair homes and work at VBS for the children there. We need to live relationally to bring reconciliation. We need to spread the gospel and love and stop the bickering. And that includes you. You need to help people live in harmony. And that is NOT what you are doing.
John,
The history lesson is on target. Yes we can love America and dislike how America has conducted itself at certain times in its history. For some reason Dawn (our Conservative Christian) is trying to get us to buy into her confusion. When there is the opportunity to reconcile then I am all for that, as long as the thing to be reconciled has been made whole. I can even reconcile with the person without reconciling with the behavior. What am I saying. The Palestinian people could probably reconcile with the Jewish people. But it would be hard for Palestinians to reconcile with the theft of their land when the theif still holds the land. Dawn's position is the theft is done, accept it, and let's move on. If you are the benefactor of the theft then this position is easy to take. It is interesting that now she has become full blooded Cherokee Indian. Now she don't even claim her white blood. Hummmm. I can't blame her. When one looks at the history of human relations that white people, basically white men, have accomplished, it truly is not something which one would want to be associated.
Dawn to reconcile does not mean to ignore the truth. To reconcile does not mean to accept wrong. You say that Palestine was given to the Jews. Is that what you call the vote in the United Nations? How does the United Nations have the nerve to give Palestinian land to Jews? Let's see. Why don't we promote a resolution within the United Nations for it to give Carmel to Black people. It is interesting that we live in Indiana, which means land of the Indians and we can't find hardly any of the people that extensively inhabited this land. Well, we do have Dawn.
My sister, if you are for reconciliation then support reparations for people of African descent whose fore fathers and mothers were enslaved by this nation. Support works to emphasize the words that America used to apologize for the wrong heaped upon my people. Dawn, if you are for reconciliation then support the Jews giving back to the Palestinians that which was stolen. Your support of making an effort to right these wrongs are very much found in scripture. The book of James, written by the brother of Jesus, says very clearly that faith without works is dead. It is through our works that people will understand our faith. I pray that God keeps you, and I pray that God smiles upon you and give us the fortitude to continue to help you out of your confusion. God bless.
Ajabu,
God Bless You.
You are so juvenile in your understanding of history, race, reconciliation and your faith. You can't help it. You are so new to faith. You will grow in your understanding, I pray.
Thankfully the world is not depending on you for salvation.
One thing I would recommend, Reverend. Besides listening to some great pastors like Mark Driscoll.
Read more than the book of James. It's a complete work.
And there is a lot of good teaching about forgiveness and reconciliation. Not so much about "fairness".
It's a good book. I think you'll like it if you give it a chance. You might even learn to like ol Paul. You look an awful lot like him, to me.
Today's Charles Stanley devotional.
Tell me that your desire for reparation and retribution for white Europeans doesn't sound just like ol Saul. Sure does to me. God tells you to forgive. But you just won't.
Only YOU will pay the ultimate price for your disobedience. Complete forgiveness is so freeing. So liberating. You should really try it.
June 27, 2009
Only Obedience Will Do
1 SAMUEL 15
The most obvious way to step out of God's will is to commit deliberate sin. In fact, this is so apparent that you might wonder why I'm pointing it out. The reason is that I often hear believers try to justify partial obedience.
King Saul made plenty of excuses for ignoring the Lord's instructions. God ordered the Israelites to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all their holdings. Instead, they spared the choicest beasts as well as the leader, Agag. Pleased with himself, Saul announced to Samuel that he had done as commanded, but the people kept a few animals (v. 15). He tried to blame others; however, a king's subjects cannot act in so brazen a manner without his knowledge and permission.
Saul didn't stop with just one justification. He argued that the animals were saved to be sacrifices for God. He must have sounded so righteous to his own ears. But Samuel was not fooled. He called Saul's action by its proper name--insubordination (v. 23).
Our reasons for partial obedience may sound logical, but we are still in rebellion. Excuses and justifications won't sway God in the slightest. He does not alter His will to accommodate human desires or "common sense." Instead He looks for and takes delight in a faithful follower.
Are you trying to rationalize some decision or behavior? Perhaps you've offered good reasons for pursing a chosen path. Or maybe you tried bargaining with God. I assure you that He is not moved by any arguments. Remember: Partial obedience is actually disobedience in His eyes. And no sin is worth being outside His will.
Reverend
I think you can see how impossible it is to get through that thick skull of Dawn's. Maybe if somebody takes her house and put her and the family out, she will see what it is like for a thief to take your stuff. I doubt very seriously if Dawn will forgive that thief and let bygones be bygones. That is what enrages the Palestinians and their fellow Middle Easterners.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that the Jews will remain in Israel. God has a way of taking the Kingdom from whom he pleases and gives the Kingdom to whom he pleases. I thought we would never see the ruthless savage White South Africans give up their power but they did. I just think that the Israel experiment is blowing up in the faces of the Western world. There will never be peace over there as long as the European Jews are in Israel. We are aware of the original Jewish tribes who are still there and they have never left Israel but those European Jews are not the real Jews. They are imposters and that is why peace will remain very illusive. May God have mercy on them and Dawn.
john
John,
You act as though the Arabs are so pure spirited. The Arabs who sold their own African brothers and who now enslave their women. They are no better.
And the lovely Africans now in power in S. Africa. No better.
Humans are flawed by birth. Only Jesus can save us.
Oh, and John, I can clearly trace my Cherokee ancestors on both my husband's and my sides. Our land WAS taken from us. But just like the Palestinians, we held nothing that showed any claims on land. Just like the Palestinians, my people were not landholders. They were nomadic. Our lack of property rights and laws made us very vulnerable. Which do I think "works" better? I clearly believe that property rights make a more orderly society. I can't imagine an America with 350 million people and no laws of property. That sounds like bedlam to me.