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blue bits. red rocks.
Thursday 28 May 2009

Recently, I had a conversation with a white man who bemoaned the state of the schools in Montgomery. He blamed integration and said that things started falling apart because of the blacks. Then, a moment later, he talked about how his Baptist church was dying. I told him that the problems in the schools had nothing to do with skin color and had everything to do with parental involvement, family breakdown, and cultural problems that existed among both poor whites and blacks. He didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about. It struck me as interesting that his disparaging remarks about black people would show up in the same conversation that he said that his church was struggling. He did not notice a connection between the two. Why hasn’t our Christianity addressed these things? Do we have nothing to say to our cities? Why don’t Christians effectively address crime issues? Why don’t we go into neighborhoods that are falling apart and raise up a standard? Why don’t we restore schools and rescue young people? Why do we move away to the suburbs or outlying towns whenever things aren’t wonderful? Why does racism still exist in our hearts and our churches? DownshoreDrift

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