Dr. Amanda Udis-Kessler is a writer, musician, sociologist, composer, hymn writer, trainer, and consultant — each of which she says she pursues with the intention “of making the world a more joyful, gracious, and less painful place.”
What I find most terrifying about current events in America and elsewhere is when evil seems to get a foothold into a religion (any religion) and starts masquerading as good. I don’t know how it can be confronted and challenged without doing a great deal of damage. The churches seem to be paralysed in the face of such distortions of the faith, and politicians and others are using religion as a tool to advance their own personal agendas. I am very frightened for the future. How do you see it panning out?
Dear Alex,
Religion has become a peculiar institution in the theater of human life. Although its Latin root "religio" means to bind, it has served as a legitimate power in binding people's shared hatred. It has played a salient role in discrimination against all people at different times in this country. Sadly, many of our churches nowadays reflect those religious people who are worshiping in them.
I feel that how Christians identify is an indicator of how they will uphold the gospel as their moral compass. For me, I think the right Christians need to talk to the Christian Right, because the Christian Right, a.k.a. MAGA Christians, use scripture as a text of terror that is now meshed into today's polarizing politics, like the once respected boundaries between church and state no longer exist.
How we read scripture has a lot to do with how we do justice in the world, and how we do theology has a lot to do with how we see the face of God in each other. Also, how we read scripture will determine if the world should embrace democratic principles or theocratic ones.
However, there is a lot one can do to usher in a more tolerant society, understanding that you are the leaders you are looking for: organize online, bring your community together, educate people about the issues impacting their freedoms, get people out to vote in the next election, and raise your voice in the media.
As a religion columnist, who is an African American lesbian minister and theologian, I reside at the intersection of several marginalized identities. I try to inform the public of the role religion plays in discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. Because homophobia is both a hatred of the "other" and it's usually acted upon 'in the name of religion," by reporting religion in the news I aim to highlight how religious intolerance not only shatters the goal of American democracy, but also aids in perpetuating various forms of oppression such as racism, sexism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism among others.
Also, building an intersectional coalition of people with various concerns is essential. In doing so, you debunk the fallacious notion of a hierarchy of oppression, which is the false belief that one oppression, usually the one a person identifies with, might privilege you in other ways. Learning about the intersection of oppressions cures us of our indifference to each other's oppressions and allows us to build what Martin Luther King depicts as the "Beloved Community."
~ Rev. Irene Monroe
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Comments