#Jemar Tisby

[rosielindy]

“I have often said that we are in the civil rights movement of our day. The same way we now look back on the movement of the 1950s and 1960s we might one day look back on the movement of the 2010s and 2020s.”

[rank-sentimentalist]

I encourage you to read the whole article on Substack.

Here are some parts of correspondence quoted here:

Once the news that Zondervan was in talks to print this Bible came out, several Christian authors who had published with them approached me about publicly opposing the deal.

All of my books, so far, have been published through Zondervan, including my forthcoming book The Spirit of Justice: Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance.

I was eager to join in the protest.

The effort to stop the deal included an online petition that said,

Zondervan/HarperCollins has a been a great blessing to Christian publishing for many years. But a forthcoming volume damages this fine record. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11 Zondervan has licensed releasing the "God Bless the USA" Bible that will include the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and pledge of allegiance, in addition to the lyrics for the song of the same name by country singer Lee Greenwood., “God Bless the USA.” This is a toxic mix that will exacerbate the challenges to American evangelicalism, adding fuel to the Christian nationalism and anti-Muslim sentiments found in many segments of the evangelical church.

The campaign to stop Zondervan from printing the “God Bless the USA” Bible also included a letter by Shane Claiborne of Red Letter Christians and several other Christian authors, including me, as co-signers of the statement.

The letter read,

This customized Bible is a reminder that the “Christian industry” must do better to stand against the heretical and deadly “Christian” nationalism that we saw on full display on Jan. 6.  It is like a spiritual virus, infecting our churches, homes and social institutions.  Just as we take intentional actions to stop the spread of COVID, like wearing masks and staying six feet apart, we must take concrete steps to stop the spread of this theological virus.  

The letter continued with a theological and pastoral word about the Bible.

We don’t need to add anything to the Bible. We just need to live out what it already says.   And if we are to be good Christians, we may not always be the best Americans.  The beatitudes of Jesus where he blesses the poor, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers – can feel very different from the “beatitudes” of America.  Our money may say in God we trust, but our economy often looks like the seven deadly sins.  For Christians, our loyalty is to Jesus.  That is who we pledge allegiance to.  As the old hymn goes – “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness/ On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”  Our hope is not in the donkey of the Democrats or the elephant of the GOP… or even in America.   Our hope is in the Lamb.  The light of the world is not America… it is Christ.

Our endeavors were successful, and Zondervan did not enter into an agreement to publish an NIV translation of the “God Bless the USA” Bible.

That’s when Kirkpatrick decided to pursue a King James Version (KJV) of the Bible because that translation does not require copyright permission in the US.

[wutbju]

It is Holy Week. It's time to remember the sins that put Jesus on the cross.

Our sins that put Jesus on the cross.

There is no better exposure and confession of our sins as white evangelical Americans than the latest documentary, God & Country.

You can view it on Amazon Prime.

Watch it. Confess and repent.

[ausetkmt]

What Is White Christian Nationalism with Dr. Jemar Tisby

this is a very easy to listen to break down of this white christian nationalism pretend religion. Dr Jemar is clear and gives much more context to what it means when you choose White Jesus, over jesus

[reasoningdaily]

What Is White Christian Nationalism with Dr. Jemar Tisby

[cavenewstimes]

Racism and the American Church with Jemar Tisby

Since long before the MAGA movement and the January 6 insurrection, white Christian nationalists have been pushing an agenda that marginalizes and discriminates against communities of color. We have seen how right-wing extremists have hidden behind Christianity as a cover for white supremacy, antithetical to Christian values of acceptance and justice. We can’t overcome Christian nationalism in…

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEOCRACY

Now playing at Harkins Shea:

God & Country--Produced by Rob and Michele Reiner and directed by Dan Partland, this documentary about Christian Nationalism in American politics is impassioned but lucid and not hysterical. Based on Katharine Stewart's book The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, the movie is presented as a warning to secular or non-evangelical citizens for whom the propaganda and political agenda of that movement may be largely invisible.

The talking heads here are mostly Christians themselves, ranging from Russell Moore to Reza Aslan to Jemar Tisby to Kristin Kobes du Mez to Sister Simone Campbell to Bishop William J. Barber II to Veggie Tales co-creator Phil Vischer. They speak calmly, even a little sheepishly, but firmly and with an indisputable insider's perspective, and their message is: Christian Nationalism isn't about religious practice; it's about amassing political power.

It's not exactly breaking news when we're informed that Christian Nationalists are terrified of and enraged by feminism, LGBTQ rights, secular education, uncensored libraries and abortion rights, or that the movement is historically connected to racism and segregation. But too many people may not grasp the degree to which Christian Nationalism's ultimate aim is a non-democratic, Christian-supremacist America, and the startling degree to which it's making progress.

In support of this, Partland shows us copious clips of wild-eyed rants by Evangelical heavy hitters stating these aims in no uncertain terms. A comedic highlight comes when, in the midst of one of the movie's many montages of preachers bleating and screeching, we see Robert Jeffress say, with a straight face, "We cannot be silent any longer!"

Partland also works to debunk some of Christian Nationalism's favorite falsehoods, notably that America was intended by the Founders as a "Christian Nation" or that the Separation of Church and State is not found in the Constitution. Attorney and author Andrew Seidel observes here that true religious freedom is impossible without Separation of Church and State.

By way of emphasizing its urgency, the movie also notes that Christian Nationalists were central agents of the January 6 Insurrection, despite the irony of President 45 as the object of their veneration. "When I was a young Evangelical minister," notes Faith and Action founder Rob Schenck, "we used Donald Trump as a sermon illustration for everything a Christian should not be."

God & Country shares a twofold difficulty with many other worthy progressive political documentaries. First, though well-organized and smoothly edited, it's full of unavoidable footage of the likes of Ralph Reed, Jerry Falwell, Paul Weyrich, Greg Locke, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, Kenneth Copeland and Paula White, not to mention 45 himself, that can be painful for many of us to watch no matter how necessary. Secondly, many of the people who most need to see this movie probably won't watch it. To employ a more than usually apt cliché, it's preaching to the choir.

[irishgop]

“…racism is not solely an issue of attitudes or interpersonal relationships, but racism has its doing in institutional manifestations.” Jemar Tisby

[rosielindy]

Yesterday I started reading The Flag and the Cross and emphatically recommend it, especially if you want to be able to influence the narrative that is pushing America toward White Christian Nationalism by a terrified minority to retain power. Jemar Tisby’s foreword compels the reader to absorb and embrace the facts presented and use them in our daily lives to recognize and confront the historical myths being used to control the masses.

As Tisby points out, this is not a conceptual book to be read and put back on the shelf. The authors borrow an approach employed by geologists who study Earth’s tectonic shifts, similarly seeking to understand and forecast America’s cultural shifts that are leading us away from democracy. I’m using the insights it provides to look differently at the people and institutions around me and hone my message to counter the lies and false understandings of history.

[wutbju]

Jemar Tisby shared this gem from 1968.

BJU Class of 1950 graduate Tim LaHaye took up umbrage at Wheaton College's honoring Martin Luther King's memory.

Dr. Hudson T. Armerding, President

Wheaton College

Wheaton, Illinois

Dear Sir:

Recently this report came into my hands and I find it very difficult to believe. It seems incredible that a Christian college could participate in honoring an out-right theological liberal heretic whose "non-violent" demonstrations have resulted in the deaths of seventeen people.

As a pastor, I am asked every year by parents and prospective students to express my sentiments of Wheaton College. In all fairness, I would like to know if this article accurately describes the fact. I honestly will be quite delighted if you can say no."

Sincerely yours,

Tim F. LaHaye

Pastor

You see how this BJU grad plainly conflates ecclesiastical separation with racial segregation?

This is Bob Jones University.

[spiritualtouches]

MLKs Economic Agenda by Professor Jemar Tisby 

[hostor-infotech]

Opinion: Black history observance began as a single week. It's time for a full season

Editor’s Note: Jemar Tisby, PhD is the author of the books “The Color of Compromise” and “How to Fight Racism.” He is a professor of history at Simmons College of Kentucky, and writes frequently at JemarTisby.Substack.com. The views expressed here are his own. Read more opinion on CNN. CNN  —  Nearly 50 years ago, political leaders thought Black history was so important to the national identity…