black evangelicals

Black Evangelicals Need to Reclaim Their Faith from White Evangelicals

When you hear a news reporter mention evangelical Christians what image comes to mind? A middle-aged white person wearing a MAGA hat, waving a Bible in one hand and brandishing a Trump flag in the other? The operative word being “white”, whether they’re suburban parishioners worshipping in a megachurch, or trailer park denizens attending a revival in a big tent, we think of evangelicals as white.

The white evangelical movement in America is a heretical strain of Protestant Christianity that has corrupted Christianity and infected the Republican Party. White Christian nationalists and other strains of the evangelical faith have taken control of the GOP, the Bible is their political platform and Donald Trump is their messiah. Their orange messiah has embraced their Gospel of xenophobia, transphobia, homophobia and misogyny.

The constant linking of Whiteness with evangelical Christianity, obscures the fact that there are millions of black, brown and Asian evangelicals in America.

Black evangelicals are as theologically conservative and socially conservative as their white counterparts, but black evangelicals aren’t enthralled with the sociopath and amoral Trump. They tend to vote Democratic, and they don’t believe in the heresy of Christian nationalism.

Sadly, homophobia is one sin that black evangelicals share with white evangelicals, hopefully they will come to despise homophobia as much as they despise racism.

Black, brown and Asian evangelicals, the vast majority of whom don’t share the far-right and extremist views of white evangelicals, need to reclaim the evangelical faith from heretical white evangelicals. They can start by being as vociferous preaching unity, love and the brotherhood of man as white evangelicals are in preaching racism and hatred.

There is No Place for Proud & Independent Women in the Evangelical Church

“Evangelical women have long attended church at higher rates than evangelical men. But today that gap is narrowing, not because more men are coming but because more women are leaving. Such women are increasingly likely to ‘deconstruct’ their faith or identify as ‘nones’—a rising population of the religiously disaffiliated.”

ChristianityToday.Com

It’s easy to convince the LGBTQ community that they are not welcome in the evangelical movement. While society at large, and even most conservatives, accept marriage equality and the intrinsic value of gays and lesbians, homophobia still runs rampant in evangelical churches and colleges.

It’s only self-hatred and an irrational fear of damnation that keeps closeted gays in evangelical churches while their pastors demonize homosexuality from the pulpit.

It’s easy to convince the Latino community that they are not welcome in the evangelical churches. The mainline Protestant churches and the Catholic Church have outreaches to immigrants, and they are in the frontline of the battle for racial equality. Racism runs deep in evangelical circles, and most evangelicals believe in the Republican heresy that our country is being invaded by rapists, gang bangers, and other criminals from Mexico and Central America.

It’s only a deep desire to assimilate that makes immigrants remain in evangelical churches where their culture isn’t appreciated or valued.

It’s easy to convince African Americans that they are not welcome in predominantly white evangelical congregations. Trumpism, the new religion of white evangelicals, is synonymous with racism. Evangelicals have demonized the BLM movement and civil rights organizations.

Only Uncle Toms remain in evangelical churches, when they know damn well that most of their brethren hope and pray that heaven will be segregated.

But it’s more difficult to convince women to leave the toxic environment of evangelical churches. The fair sex is welcomed in evangelical churches, as long as they realize that according to the Bible, they should be subservient to men, especially their husbands and religious leaders.

I urge women to join Latinos, African Americans, and the LGBT community in leaving the undemocratic and unchristian evangelical movement.