Freedom Rider: Savage Christians
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"The true Negro does not want integration.... He realizes his
potential is far better among his own race." - Rev. Jerry Falwell
The late Rev. Jerry Falwell was one of the most powerful men
in American religious and political life. He was also an avowed segregationist,
contending that Africans were the cursed descendants of Ham, and worthy only of
subservience to
white people. He was an adamant opponent of civil rights legislation,
calling the Civil Rights Act a "civil wrong."
His segregationist ardor became inconvenient when he sought
a national audience. He removed
many of his sermons from the 1950s and 1960s from his Liberty University
archive. His lies paid off as the media made Falwell the Christian spokesman
for all issues related to religion and politics. They soft-pedaled or even
ignored his attacks on the civil rights movement. Yet Falwell's
followers were under no misapprehension. They knew what their man wanted and
followed in his foot steps.
"The media soft-pedaled or even ignored Falwell's attacks
on the civil rights movement."
Mark Uhl, a student at Liberty University, was in possession
of homemade
bombs when he was arrested at Falwell's funeral. He reportedly planned to
use them against any protesters who might disrupt the festivities. Uhl had this
to say on the social networking website My
Space. "Christians, fear of death, fear
of death. The fear of death shows you don't believe." He added this eye
opening statement as well. "God needs soldiers to fight so his children
may live free. Are you afraid??? I'm not. SEND ME!!!" Uhl sounds an awful lot
like Osama bin Laden, who exhorts Muslims not to fear death when fighting in
the name of their religion.
While Americans
have been told to fear Islam and all things Muslim, Christians are riding
around with home made bombs. The Uhl story was mentioned by the media for only
a day or two. The threat from Christians who publicly express a willingness to
die for their faith goes unreported.
The terror attack that took place on September 11, 2001 was
an aberration in more ways than one. Muslims were the perpetrators, but that is
usually not the case. The purveyors of hate and violence in America are almost
always Christians.
Recently members of that same group had a collective hissy
fit about Muslims. A Pew poll indicated that a small number of American
Muslims, a minority of only 8%, considered suicide bombing acceptable under
certain circumstances. The vast majority, 78%, said suicide bombing against
civilian targets was never
acceptable.
"The purveyors of hate and violence in America are almost
always Christians."
The selective outrage was immediate, but few commentators
pointed out what Christians tell pollsters about their urge to maim and kill.
Most Christians, 65% of Protestants and 72% of Catholics, believe that torture
is justifiable under certain circumstances. Nearly half of Americans, 46%,
believe that it may be acceptable to deliberately target civilian populations
in war time. An average of 75% of Muslims in Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia and
Morocco believe that such attacks are never
acceptable.
Just as it is unfair to smear all Muslims with the legacy of
bin Laden, it would be unfair to smear all Christians as disciples of Jerry
Falwell. Muslims are constantly asked to denounce their members who are
terrorists. Why is there no similar demand of Christians? Will the good
Christians, the peaceful ones, ever speak out against their co-religionists who
carry bombs in their cars or drop them on civilians in Iraq?
The public reaction to Falwell's death showed how
ineffectual the supposedly good Christians have become. Few were willing to
point out the numerous examples of his hate speech. An opportunity was lost
because of ridiculous prohibitions against speaking ill of the dead. The good
Christian soldiers don't know how to fight.
"Will the good Christians, the peaceful ones, ever speak
out against their co-religionists?"
Christians perpetrated the crusades, the inquisition, the
slave trade and imperial adventures too numerous to mention. It may be
comforting to pat ourselves on the back and consign those behaviors to past
centuries. We are living in the 21st century after all. Who would
use the name of the Christian God to justify mass killing? A majority of modern
day American Christians, that's who.
Perhaps the argument used against Muslims should be applied
to Christians instead. Their religion has been hijacked by fundamentalist
fanatics while the non-fanatics remain silent. The term clash of civilizations
is definitely a misnomer. There can be no clash unless both sides are in fact
civilized. Any assertion of American civilization is clearly open to question.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column
appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached
via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley'
maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com.
More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
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