The author suggests the church is lazy when it tries to address racism, an explosive term, within its ranks.
Faiz describes his comfort and sense of belonging while he attended a conference of his People Like Me. Further he suggests he was tired of feeling “like a second-rate citizen with the Presbyterian Church in Canada.” I suggest it should not be “we” and “they.”
Perhaps there is an explanation.
I’ve been around for close to eight decades, mostly in people-oriented jobs, most recently as a social worker until retirement.
Alcoholic Anonymous owes much of its success to the genuine empathy its members share with each other, with ritual matters secondary — and it works. Mentally ill people in group therapy share their feelings with each other in a way that “outsiders” have difficulty understanding.
And so it goes — the point being that perhaps ethnic and diverse individuals cannot be fully accepted. Walking in another’s shoes has merit but is not totally effective.
On the one hand, part of the problem may be a matter of the writer’s perception. On the other, the church must share some blame.
Seeking mutual respect and acceptance should be paramount, an ideal, a worthy goal achievable with the help of ongoing prayer.
God would approve.
