This is a Religious Issue

Here's one more post to read: For Whites Only: Things to Consider When Entering the Race Conversation (by Sondra Shepley).

Now, don't think that I'm just trying to promote God's Politics by offering links to all these posts (though I certainly do support Jim Wallis and Sojourners). I'm just really excited about this moment in American history.

But this is not a political thing either. I'm not trying to promote Barack Obama on our Fourth Church Youth blog.

Don't be mistaken: this question of race relations in America (and across the world) is most definitely a religious issue.

This point is clearly made in Shepley's post, which is why I wanted to highlight it as well. In fact, her argument reminds me of one of my favorite theological writings of all time, Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail (read an earlier post about this here).

What always moves me about King's letter is that he takes white Christian leaders to task for not realizing that his civil rights movement was (and is) deeply rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. White pastors made the mistake of assuming that this was a political issue with which the gospel is not concerned. King took this fallacy head on and made a strong case for why white Christians should be joining him instead of condemning him.

The same is true today. I don't care what your politics are. You can support Obama or Clinton or McCain or Nader or whomever you want. But to not recognize that racism is a gospel issue is to miss the point of Jesus' life and teaching...and since we are in the middle of Holy Week, his death and resurrection too.

When early Christians would baptize each other, they recited the following creed: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).

This short little statement sums up a major part of the Christian message. We are all equal in God's eyes. We are one people, with one common fate, one common responsibility for each other. Anything less than this is a failure to live up to what God wants for God's children...all of God's children.