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Faith Seeking Reconciliation
Prejudice is such an ugly word. It means to judge beforehand based on some bias; an adverse opinion formed without just grounds or without sufficient knowledge. Still, 3 out of every 10 Americans confess to some form of prejudice. I think if most people are honest they would admit that many times we are socialized to have prejudice. Our humanity often betrays a quick impulse to judge before we know more. Sadly, this prejudice when mixed with power leads to racism, sexism, ageism, classism, ethno-centrism, xenophia. When human prejudices go un-checked and unchallenged the world suffers.
This weeks question is a poignant one: Why does prejudice remain even among people of faith?This question needs to be asked in every generation, "Why did people of faith (Christians when speaking about my faith) own slaves, initiate Crusades, participate in the Salem witch hunt, etc.? Perhaps, the reason why 9 in 10 people can confess a faith conviction while still confessing to prejudice is because we do not often ( I too am implicated) the deep work of justice and reconciliation. As a Christian I believe if faith is truly to be transformative and healing it must challenge our worldviews and character.
If as a Christian leader I am only concerned with what happens during my worship service as a community I have not understood the totality of the Gospel of Christ. The message of faith must continously challenge our way of being in the world and how we treat each other and all of creation. If our faith does not challenge prejudice it is a poverty-stricken conviction that is in need of resurrection. St. Anselm of Canterbury once described theology as "fides quaerens intellectum" (faith seeking understanding). I would add that theology and true faith should also be "fides quaerens iustitia" (faith seeking justice). Genuine faith seeks justice and reconciliation for all, absent this we can succumb to the temptation of selfishness and bigotry. Love of God and prejudice are incompatible. Even when our humanity and brokenness leads us to prejudice, faith should call us to a higher standard.
The truth is that the tragic relationship of faith and prejudice cannot be resolved in this short blog but I will point to some possible areas that need to be addressed:
1. When our teaching on faith does not confront us with the following: How do you love your neighbor as yourself? Our faith supports prejudice anytime it seeks to escape the ethical dimensions of faith. We cannot love God who we can't see and not love our neighbor who we can see. Actually the Christian gospel challenges us to love not just our neighbors but also bless those who persecute us.
2. When faith does not challenge us to remember that all of humanity was created in the "image of God" we can too easily dehumanize anyone who does not look, think, vote or worship like us.
3. Any faith that does not challenge notions of superiority and ethnocentrism is announcing its own poverty.
4. People of Faiths must honestly tackle our histories and confess where we have contributed and endorsed prejudice against others in the name of some myopic theology or philosophy.
5. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "Christ is the human for others." He added, "The church is only the church when it exist for others." If we deny that faith calls us to love unconditionally and without prejudice then we must really revisit our confession, "That God loves the world (John 3;16)..."
By
Gabriel Salguero
|
August 2, 2008; 9:50 AM ET
| Category:
Morality
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Posted by: Anonymous Reply | August 4, 2008 12:58 PM
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Esteemed Anonymous:
The question is about faith and prejudice. You cannot assume the author's position on salvation because he is replying to a specific question. To assume the author errs by not including the rest of the text of John 3:16-18 is to have not read both the question to which he is replying and not understanding context.
The "if the author is suggesting" phrase presumes that you know his soteriology (theology of salvation) based on a question about racism and faith. Perhaps if the question where about salvation you could make this huge and probably erroneous assumption about an Evangelical pastor.
On another note it is unfair to expect someone to reply on a post to theological questions that are not raised in the query. The nature of this form of communication is that they are question specific. Assumptions from silence are usually judgemental and over-reaching with no sense of nuance.
Posted by: Anonymous Reply | August 4, 2008 12:58 PM
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"If we deny that faith calls us to love unconditionally and without prejudice then we must really revisit our confession, "That God loves the world (John 3;16)..."
Yes, but let's not leave out the rest of that verse:
"For God so loved the world...
... that He gave His only begottn So, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
And then continuing in verse 17-18:
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already; because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
So...yes, we should love our neighbors and love unconditionally, but if the author here is suggesting that we not share with our neighbors that there is one true God and one way to heaven, then he greatly errs.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 3, 2008 3:16 PM
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The comments to this entry are closed.
Esteemed Anonymous:
The question is about faith and prejudice. You cannot assume the author's position on salvation because he is replying to a specific question. To assume the author errs by not including the rest of the text of John 3:16-18 is to have not read both the question to which he is replying and not understanding context.
The "if the author is suggesting" phrase presumes that you know his soteriology (theology of salvation) based on a question about racism and faith. Perhaps if the question where about salvation you could make this huge and probably erroneous assumption about an Evangelical pastor.
On another note it is unfair to expect someone to reply on a post to theological questions that are not raised in the query. The nature of this form of communication is that they are question specific. Assumptions from silence are usually judgemental and over-reaching with no sense of nuance.