Lord, Is It I?

Hear any other similar sermons this AM?

Let me know! https://t.co/DBBcF1tmfJ

— Jack Jenkins (@jackmjenkins) August 13, 2017

This morning, as I read my Twitter feed, I came to Jack Jenkins, a religion reporter for Think Progress, asking for examples of sermons addressing racism.  As of when I’m writing this, he tweeted out eight examples of sermons representing an array of Christian denominations.

Meanwhile, Guthrie Graves-Fitzgerald tweeted a photo of Charlottesville clergy marching, united, against the racism that invaded—and tried to infect—their city.

#CVilleclergycall is what love looks like in public. Thank you for your witness! pic.twitter.com/ehLI9CtIqo

— Guthrie Graves-Fitz. (@GuthrieGF) August 13, 2017

And how about the Mormon church? Our leaders, too, issued a statement condemning racism and expressing sympathy for those in Charlottesville.[fn1]

Why, we might ask, should our church respond to and condemn these Nazis and white supremacists? After all, there’s not indication that any of the protestors were Mormon; I’d be unsurprised to learn that none were.

There’s a danger inherent to looking at and condemning racism; it’s too, too easy to believe that it belongs somewhere else. After all, we all know that the South is racist. But I don’t live in the South; ergo, I can’t be racist, and those around me can’t, either.

Or we all know that racism existed before the Civil War, or before Brown v. Board in 1954, or the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or President Kimball’s 1978 revelation. But not today; today, racism is some other time.

And those are both true statements: racism exists in the South, and it existed before whatever transformative year we choose. But if we relegate it only to the South, or only to before, we lose the ability to confront it, because it also exists where we are and when we are.[fn2]

And when we see it as just a Southern thing, we excuse ourselves from having to do something about it ourselves. https://t.co/kFI3hvyWzE

— Sam Brunson (@smbrnsn) August 13, 2017

Charlottesville made that clear; certainly some of the racist protestors were homegrown, but not all were. James Fields, who murdered one woman and injured several others, went to Virginia from Ohio. Peter Cvjetanovic went to Virginia from Reno. There are reports that one person was there from Berkeley, CA.

In fact, the SPLC’s map of hate groups shows as many in the Northeast and Midwest as in the South, and no state is free from them.

Instead, then, of saying, There are racists in Virginia, or, There are racists in Alabama, we’d do good to follow the Apostles’ examples. When Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him, they didn’t ask, Is it Judas? They asked, Lord, is it I?

I am convinced that none of the preachers who preached against racism and hatred today approves—or even countenances—the racist ideologies that brought white supremacists to Charlottesville. But they didn’t use the fact that it wasn’t them as an excuse to sit by, silent and complicit. Instead, they followed the Apostles’ example; they looked internally at themselves, they looked at their congregations, they asked, Could it possibly be us, and they moved to condemn racism. They moved unequivocally to say that racism doesn’t belong in the body of Christ.

And, Southern or not, modern or not, that’s a sermon we all need to hear and internalize. And, since the church has unlocked the door, I hope we can fully pass through on the local level, reiterating the Savior’s command to love our neighbor, and unequivocally condemning racism, out loud and in our meetings.

[fn1] Let me note here that we’re far from angels on issues of race; while we’ve started to confront that racism that has been part of our history, we’re far from where we need to be. That said, this statement is certainly a step—an insufficient and perhaps not-entirely-satisfying step, but a step nonetheless—in the direction we need to go.

[fn2] In fact, my wife suggested that I title this post, “Racism Doesn’t Only Speak With a Southern Accent.” And frankly, that’s a way better title. But she agreed that, for a Mormon blog, it probably made sense to go with something more scriptural.