I always like seeing Molly Worthen's name pop up in links, especially over at Fred's place. She's a friend. We go back, but as with any number of friends I lost track of her over the years. So, in that weird way that the internet does things, seeing her name as a byline from a link at Slacktivist is almost like having a mutual friend say, "Hey, you know who I ran into at the grocery store?"
Anyway, Molly is, as usual, standing on the border of my former world and asking provocative questions. She's also attempting to answer them, in this case in the Grey Lady:
It is always risky to generalize about the so-called Black Church, a wildly diverse faith community whose representatives range from the civil rights hero Andrew Young to the prosperity-preaching televangelist Creflo Dollar. Yet it is fair to say that for most black Protestants — conservative and liberal — “social justice” remains one of Christ’s core commands. Preaching the gospel includes challenging an unjust social order that first condoned slavery and still traps African-Americans in a web of inequality and prejudice. While conservative white evangelicals have tended to focus their compassion ministry on caring for individuals, black Christians are more likely to locate the sources of injustice in social structures as well as in the hearts of sinners.
Read the article. Consider it homework for a post I'm still hoping to get around to writing. Mavis Staples is here to provide the soundtrack for you:
Mavis effin' Staples. She's a national treasure.
Mavis pretty much explained the entire intersection of the Bible and African-American culture better than anyone I've ever heard right there. In five minutes. With a couple choruses thrown in for good measure. That's why she's Mavis effin' Staples and the rest of us aren't...
Mavis Staples!
The world is so much a better place, because she is in it.
Posted by: formerconservative | 06/27/2012 at 08:13 AM