Dr. Gregory Thompson and Rev. Duke Kwon are two elders within the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Thompson had been a teaching elder, i.e. a pastor, but no longer is. Thompson is perhaps the loudest advocate for critical theory within the heavily conservative PCA.
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.
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.
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.
They need also go after those white supremacists in Africa that rounded up and sold all those people into slavery....
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.
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 critique, Erick! I hope this is sent around extensively. Your key point, to me, came after your sub- heading, ‘From Conversation to Ad Hominem’.