I read at Daily Kos about comments regarding Senator Obama’s church and “their” theology. The article itself is an interesting read, but it raised a long-standing question for me.
Is Christianity anti-racial? “Anti-racial” changes its feel sometimes depending on who says it (race not withstanding). But it sounds a lot like saying that I’m not Caucasian and this person isn’t African-American and this person isn’t of Asian origin in the eyes of the church. Granted, there is a greater commonality in being children of God, but “anti-racial” suggests to me that diversity can’t exist within unity.
The problem with that is that I’m still Caucasian even as I’m a child of God. It’s part of who I am. If something is anti-racial, does that exclude those parts of me that resulted from me being Caucasian?
Regardless, it seems like we still don’t have a way of talking about race and racial tension/issues even in 2007. Last week’s episode of Friday Night Lights hit the nail on the head with this one, if you ever get a chance to watch it (it may still be on my DVR if folks want to gather).
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I think this is a question that a few churches have attempted to try and reconcile but there is still a long way to go. The answer is never that your race is irrelevant or that we shouldn’t see it. The point is that race is a significant part of who a person is and we should recognize it while realizing that there are other aspects of a person as well. I think one of things I’ve found is that I appreciate it when people have an understanding that I am an Asian person and thus have a connection to that. But I’ve also found that it irritates me when that becomes my sole identity to people where they assume that because I am Asian I have to feel or act or respond to certain issues in a certain way. Ethnicity is an important part of our identity and has a role in our faith life but the hard part is having an ability to honor and allow that identity to have a place as we practice our faith in the midst of all the other parts of who we are as well.
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