I still can't get over that none of these people writing this stuff and calling for reparations have any black friends, nor do they know any black people. Nor do they know any Native Americans. I find that amazing. Come sit in my chair for a day and do what I do. We have given reparations already. Some of my patients have gotten 10,000$ in the form of this most recent handout which I don't decry. Clark Howard even said this is unprecedented and he had never seen anything like this before. OK, so move on folks there is nothing to see here. I hand out reparations every day in the form of a better life, mental illness treated, hearts mended, lower drug costs, helping to set up entitlements so patients can get a disability check, freeing the slaves from fear, healing and integrating the scars of life long childhood abuse and neglect, correctly diagnosing a misdiagnosed case of schizophrenia. Yes Virginia, with the mere stroke of a pen, I hand out reparations every day. Sorry, not sorry.
Erick's call to ignore spending any energy on this discussion is poignantly illustrated in the gay marriage problem the UMC is dealing with right now. What I mean by that is we were told by progressives in the UMC all they wanted was equal protection under the law. That was soundly agreed to as long as it was neither called "marriage" nor celebrated within the church. Now, the denomination is being ripped apart by the progressives who insist it must both be called marriage and celebrated. The UMC voting body of laity and clergy soundly denounced gay marriage, changing the Book of Discipline, or celebrating the sinful behavior and passed resolutions explaining how those who practice such should stop or leave. Those majority-agreed to rules were ignored. They were ignored because the Gospel message and holiness is not the actual endgame of the progressives. Political and social change is. I for one lament the death of the United Methodist Church, but welcome the coming Global Methodist Church so that we can get back to God's Word, God's Ways, and God's Purpose.
Except that statement perpetuates a myth. The most of slave traders were themselves black. The conquered tribes were made to either work for their conquerors, or be sold to traders, which were usually Portuguese pirates, who made a good living off of democrats in the south.
If any blacks were owed reparations, it should come from the black tribes who did this !
2 Peter came to mind. We live in the time where the wolf is among the sheep and is often dressed in elder clothing. All who "teach" should remember the warning, "let not many of you be teachers, knowing that you will incur the stricter judgement" and still elsewhere, "it is better that you be cast into the water than cause the least of these to stumble." It is an incredible blessing and responsibility to preach or teach, but we are not allowed to edit what God has said, instead we are to faithfully explain and teach what He says, Thank you Erick for helping us take a stand.
Castleberry's tweet sums up what is happening right now at Mt Bethel UMC in Marietta and the UMC denom as a whole. The UMC in GA led by a prog bishop now threatens to lock Mt Bethel's doors and seize their bldg since their pastor will not bend the knee to prog race orthodoxy.
I live in Kennesaw and have attended Mt. Bethel. Pastor Ray is an amazing preacher to be heard. Bishop Sue's actions are clearly and illustratively demonstrating that the Gospel message and the Great Commission are far, far from her purpose. She should resign immediately, but I know that won't happen.
The work of the Holy Spirit is, from an individual human perspective, accomplished at "arm's length", that is, person to person. Not culture-to-culture, government-to-government or theory-to-theory. I will not read Thompson and Kwon's book in large part because they appear to be secular political philosophers who may be too self-impressed with their own ideas and are not truly pastoral.
Furthermore, as a neurotically obsessed amateur sociopolitical-theological thought junkie, it is clear to me that the overshadowing outcomes of MAJOR social programs, e.g., Aid to Families with Dependent Children(AFDC), Medicare, Federal education mandates, etc., are almost always the unanticipated ones. These programs, which are NOT funded by taxpayer dollars but rather by assaulting future generations with crippling levels of debt, have mostly led to disarming folks of their own sense of agency and self-determination. AFDC broke up the nuclear family in both black and white communities. Medicare was founded in 1965 when the average life expectancy was a little over 70. And when Medicare was founded health care was more primitive and cheap- no open heart surgery, no $1000/week chemotherapy, no $30,000 joint replacements. Now old people (like me) are bankrupting our economy.
Undoubtedly a Federal Reparations Act, unwillingly funded by my unborn great, great grandchildren will be at least as bad and probably worse. This inter-generational theft will have its own toxic outcome.
There is no doubt that we all harbor prejudicial thoughts and feelings. White people did not invent this phenomenon nor are they the sole owners of it. Prayer REALLY is the answer to the problem of racism, not government programs.
"Forgive them Father for they know not what they do." Call me crazy, but I would think that verse would be the model of behavior for anyone claiming to be a Christian leader.
As I was reading your piece, I was thinking to myself that those two were making a god of their cause...then you wrote it! Thinking such as theirs divides us by color. They make me want to run from them and anyone who insists on reparations. We cant FIX the PAST. We can learn from it. And to behave as if we have learned nothing as a country is disingenuous.
Excellent critique, Erick! I hope this is sent around extensively. Your key point, to me, came after your sub- heading, ‘From Conversation to Ad Hominem’.
I still can't get over that none of these people writing this stuff and calling for reparations have any black friends, nor do they know any black people. Nor do they know any Native Americans. I find that amazing. Come sit in my chair for a day and do what I do. We have given reparations already. Some of my patients have gotten 10,000$ in the form of this most recent handout which I don't decry. Clark Howard even said this is unprecedented and he had never seen anything like this before. OK, so move on folks there is nothing to see here. I hand out reparations every day in the form of a better life, mental illness treated, hearts mended, lower drug costs, helping to set up entitlements so patients can get a disability check, freeing the slaves from fear, healing and integrating the scars of life long childhood abuse and neglect, correctly diagnosing a misdiagnosed case of schizophrenia. Yes Virginia, with the mere stroke of a pen, I hand out reparations every day. Sorry, not sorry.
Rev. Castleberry's words are also an admonishment to the schism in the United Methodist Church.
Erick's call to ignore spending any energy on this discussion is poignantly illustrated in the gay marriage problem the UMC is dealing with right now. What I mean by that is we were told by progressives in the UMC all they wanted was equal protection under the law. That was soundly agreed to as long as it was neither called "marriage" nor celebrated within the church. Now, the denomination is being ripped apart by the progressives who insist it must both be called marriage and celebrated. The UMC voting body of laity and clergy soundly denounced gay marriage, changing the Book of Discipline, or celebrating the sinful behavior and passed resolutions explaining how those who practice such should stop or leave. Those majority-agreed to rules were ignored. They were ignored because the Gospel message and holiness is not the actual endgame of the progressives. Political and social change is. I for one lament the death of the United Methodist Church, but welcome the coming Global Methodist Church so that we can get back to God's Word, God's Ways, and God's Purpose.
They need also go after those white supremacists in Africa that rounded up and sold all those people into slavery....
Except that statement perpetuates a myth. The most of slave traders were themselves black. The conquered tribes were made to either work for their conquerors, or be sold to traders, which were usually Portuguese pirates, who made a good living off of democrats in the south.
If any blacks were owed reparations, it should come from the black tribes who did this !
Correct ! I saw the first obvious signs of this in congregational confession Sunday. I will be speaking with our Pastor this week.
2 Peter came to mind. We live in the time where the wolf is among the sheep and is often dressed in elder clothing. All who "teach" should remember the warning, "let not many of you be teachers, knowing that you will incur the stricter judgement" and still elsewhere, "it is better that you be cast into the water than cause the least of these to stumble." It is an incredible blessing and responsibility to preach or teach, but we are not allowed to edit what God has said, instead we are to faithfully explain and teach what He says, Thank you Erick for helping us take a stand.
Sorry, Erick... about 1/3 of the way through this, I started hearing Charlie Brown's teachers voice as I scrolled mindlessly through the article.
Zacchaeus gave away his personal wealth…not that of others’…
Castleberry's tweet sums up what is happening right now at Mt Bethel UMC in Marietta and the UMC denom as a whole. The UMC in GA led by a prog bishop now threatens to lock Mt Bethel's doors and seize their bldg since their pastor will not bend the knee to prog race orthodoxy.
I live in Kennesaw and have attended Mt. Bethel. Pastor Ray is an amazing preacher to be heard. Bishop Sue's actions are clearly and illustratively demonstrating that the Gospel message and the Great Commission are far, far from her purpose. She should resign immediately, but I know that won't happen.
Yep. I am all too familiar with the way the North Georgia UMC leadership is trying to push conservatives out.
The work of the Holy Spirit is, from an individual human perspective, accomplished at "arm's length", that is, person to person. Not culture-to-culture, government-to-government or theory-to-theory. I will not read Thompson and Kwon's book in large part because they appear to be secular political philosophers who may be too self-impressed with their own ideas and are not truly pastoral.
Furthermore, as a neurotically obsessed amateur sociopolitical-theological thought junkie, it is clear to me that the overshadowing outcomes of MAJOR social programs, e.g., Aid to Families with Dependent Children(AFDC), Medicare, Federal education mandates, etc., are almost always the unanticipated ones. These programs, which are NOT funded by taxpayer dollars but rather by assaulting future generations with crippling levels of debt, have mostly led to disarming folks of their own sense of agency and self-determination. AFDC broke up the nuclear family in both black and white communities. Medicare was founded in 1965 when the average life expectancy was a little over 70. And when Medicare was founded health care was more primitive and cheap- no open heart surgery, no $1000/week chemotherapy, no $30,000 joint replacements. Now old people (like me) are bankrupting our economy.
Undoubtedly a Federal Reparations Act, unwillingly funded by my unborn great, great grandchildren will be at least as bad and probably worse. This inter-generational theft will have its own toxic outcome.
There is no doubt that we all harbor prejudicial thoughts and feelings. White people did not invent this phenomenon nor are they the sole owners of it. Prayer REALLY is the answer to the problem of racism, not government programs.
"Forgive them Father for they know not what they do." Call me crazy, but I would think that verse would be the model of behavior for anyone claiming to be a Christian leader.
As I was reading what you wrote about Thompson and Kwon, I formulated my own objections to their line of reasoning.
I can go back to bed, because either you or DeYoung answered them.
This is highly tangential, but I am curious about how DeYoung would respond to Harper Lee’s “Go Set A Watchman” that was published a few years back.
As I was reading your piece, I was thinking to myself that those two were making a god of their cause...then you wrote it! Thinking such as theirs divides us by color. They make me want to run from them and anyone who insists on reparations. We cant FIX the PAST. We can learn from it. And to behave as if we have learned nothing as a country is disingenuous.
excellent point!
Excellent critique, Erick! I hope this is sent around extensively. Your key point, to me, came after your sub- heading, ‘From Conversation to Ad Hominem’.