A Descendant of Robert E. Lee Speaks Out Against the Sin of White Supremacy

[yallerdawg]

Source: The Progressive, by Eric Gunn

The Reverend Rob Lee has an unusual vantage point from which to view this time of deep political polarization.

*****

Lee, twenty-five, emerged as a distinctive voice last year in the movement to remove monuments to his ancestor and other Confederate leaders. After last summer’s rally by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, at which counter-protester Heather Heyer was killed by an automobile driven by a rally participant, Lee made public statements against white supremacy in his capacity as a church pastor.

Rev. Lee says:

We’re entering a world of cultural evangelicals, not spiritual evangelicals. Those people engage in culture in such a way that they are conservative, they have conservative values, but they’re willing to vote for a man who said he would grab a woman by her private parts. That’s not Christianity to me.

What we’re seeing is almost the de-evolution of the evangelicalism and conservative evangelicalism that started with the Moral Majority. This is a real problem for Christians, especially progressive Christians like myself, who see this as a grave injustice to the faith. This is a real problem.

We’re all tired of hearing evangelicals talk about President Trump as if he’s a savior. I think this is in my realm of responsibility today. Many Christians have normalized what Donald Trump is doing. That’s really scary. That means we’re getting in bed with the empire. Jesus was very clear about those things that we weren’t supposed to be in touch with, and one of those was the empire. I think some evangelicals are selling their souls to the Republican Party.

I don’t know what the future holds in terms of this movement or this mission, but I know that none of us are going away any time soon. I think there’s a potential for us to come together in a different way, to really work hard. Being in the pulpit—it’s a balancing act there. But you have to remember that you have to be true to yourself as well.

Read it all at: http://progressive.org/dispatches/speak-up-and-speak-out-rev-rob-lee-180215/

[guillaumeb]

1. And we, speaking of progressive theists,

must challenge the simplistic media framing that theism=conservatism.

[MineralMan]

2. Who is saying that, guillaumeb?

Not I, certainly. I know many progressive Christians. There is no equation that would make them conservatives. There are, of course, "theists" who are conservatives. I recognize both.

I've not seen anyone post such an equation here, except you.

[guillaumeb]

3. From my response:

must challenge the simplistic media framing that theism=conservatism.

I did not say "people at DU".

[guillaumeb]

4. You posted this:

The Public Image of Christianity Is Formed by What Is Seen
The most prominent Christian voices heard and seen in the news media are those of evangelicals, fundamentalists and the so-called "Christian Right." They are the people creating the general public view of what a Christian is and what American Christians stand for.

Which supports what I wrote. So why exactly did you respond in the way that you did?

Edited to add a link:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1218272031

[MineralMan]

5. Yes, I did, and I'm standing by it.

When people fail to speak out as loudly against people who are speaking loudly out of hatred, there is some responsibility.

I'm not hearing the voices of progressive Christians in the mainstream media, but I can't stop hearing the voices of the other side. Why is that?

Posts on DU do not count in that assessment. Nor does writing or speaking in venues that are seen only by a tiny minority. We need to hear prominent progressive voices connected with Christianity in the same places we're hearing the voices of those who promote evil.

I'll keep watching for that.

[guillaumeb]

6. Okay.

Apparently we are reading/responding to 2 different things here.

[yallerdawg]

7. I hear the voices.