Recently, I watched a webinar about the response of the Catholic Church in the United States to racism and White nationalism. The featured speaker was Father Bryan Massengale, and he said this, “White nationalism is not about hate; it’s about who belongs.” In-groups and out-groups are a part of every human interaction, from high school cliques to Fortune 500 companies. With this blog, I intend to have conversations that can change our ideas about who is in and who is out, and, perhaps, move us closer to breaking down the barriers that racism and exclusion create between people.
9 thoughts on “Belong”
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I’m looking forward to reading more.
Chris – Great start. I just came from the final session of a program called Alpha. Alpha is described as a pre-evangelization program. In our last session, we pretty much all agreed that the best way to bring people together to meet and get to know each other and thereby to overcome differences like racism is small groups.
The first churches formed after Jesus’s Ascension were house churches that attempted to live “The Way” which I have heard described as being Jesus’s religion. That is in contrast to the church that formed under Constantine which became a church “about” Jesus.
My own 20+ years of KAIROS prison ministry has given me the opportunity to meet and to get to know people of color as I have never experienced anywhere else. These men are no longer “those people,” they are now my friends and brothers. We need to bring those experiences to people on the street.
Interesting perspective. I look forward to reading more.
Looking forward to following this.
Wow…Hence the great divide. Thanks for having crucial conversation. As a former public diplomacy professional…this is right up your alley. Congratulations! CW
I can’t believe he said that. I’m looking forward to your blog!
I look forward to following your blog and your thoughtful, well-reasoned, and fair-minded assessments.
A couple of years ago, I was fortunate to be able to attend a talk by Fr. Massingale in Los Angeles on the subject of “Conscience.” I was very impressed with his reasoning and presentation. Here’s a link:
https://youtu.be/egWV3NnAeeQ
Congratulations Chris – I look forward to traveling this new path with you…
Jim M
I am so happy you are opening this dialogue Chris. I have been taking a course called Witnessing Whiteness, which is a study group on the book of the same title by Shelly Tochluk
http://witnessingwhiteness.com/
It is a very deep exploration how “othering” has been embedded in the psyche, economic, and political system in the white culture of the United States. We are in the process of awakening and redefining white identity in a way that doesn’t degrade the humanity of non-whites. Looking forward to your exploration on this journey. Thank you!