Talk About Race: A Google Hangout

A friend recently challenged me to rethink American Christianity’s growing division over issues of race. “Shouldn’t the church be carving a way for unity in this arena?” she asked. As I have 0 answers here, her question has bothered me since.

Leaving aside the mountain of bad theology that drives division in the church, one of our biggest problems is that we’ve refused to listen to each other; I’m not listening to you, you’re not listening to me.

So, I’m wondering if you’d be up for joining me in an experiment.

I’m not sure many of you will be interested as this would require some work for all of us, but it has big potential to change the way we posture ourselves towards one another. If we pull this off, we probably won’t come out on the same page, but that’s not what’s currently ripping us apart.

Here’s my idea.

We’ll have somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 weekly Google hangouts at one hour each. Before we begin, I’ll write an essay defending what I believe to be your position on race in America, specifically on the topics of systemic racism, law enforcement, affirmative action, and the current protests.

I’ll ask you to do the same – to not merely outline my beliefs, but to write from the perspective of someone defending them. Don’t worry, this doesn’t need to be exhaustive, covering every single detail, or super lengthy. We’ll all agree on a word limit before we begin.

The ability to articulate and defend the opinions of others is an important aspect of truth finding, and crucial for a family of believers who more closeley adhere to the teachings of the Hatfields and McCoys. As such, though I appreciate the role of debate in Christian/human unity, that’s not the purpose of this project. There won’t be much room for arguing, prosyletizing, or attempting to wake each other up, though I do expect us to experience some good change.

Next, we’ll have our four week discussion where I listen as you critique my essay, filling me in on the pieces I’ve missed and helping me towards a deeper understanding of how you see all of this.

I’ll ask you to do the same for me.

At the end of four weeks, we’ll rewrite our essays and submit a final draft to one another. Again, we’ll most likely hold our previous positions, but if we read, interact, and understand to the point of defense, we might manage to put a few stitches in our current problem.

At the least, we’ll come off a bit more informed whenever we attempt to articulate how the “other side” is thinking.

You in?

I’m in.

Following are the details:

• • I learned in my last hangout that 6 is a magic number, so we’ll limit our class to 5 people + me.
  • Obviously, this works best with folks who lean more toward the conservative side of the political spectrum.
  • There will be 2 assignments: first, an initial essay attempting to defend my position/perspective on race in the areas mentioned above, as well as some time reflecting on my initial essay to you. Second, a final essay where you take what you’ve learned from me and add it to your first essay. I’ll write a final one to you as well.

If you’re interested, please sign up below.

Either way, thanx for taking the time to read through this.

Peace.