Tom Adams
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We are all walkers. Sometime during our first year on this earth, we took our first steps. Now I doubt that anyone of us remembers those first tentative steps on our own two feet. But I bet our parents remembered them and took pride in watching us teeter along. It’s what we did when we witnessed our children’s first steps. Walking defines us as a species. We are the species that stands up and walks.
The Spirit is moving in amazing ways in America these days. Watching the Democratic National Convention last week was like attending a summer revival and a national retreat on why living from faith, hope and love lead to joy! I have been away at the beach and was planning to take this week off and share a post a friend wrote that seems so relevant to our national discourse and election. Instead, I was so moved by my experience of the convention that I want to try to express my notions on what follows this amazing show of unity and love.
When I started writing about Christian Nationalism a few months ago, I felt shy and awkward about the topic. I didn’t want to self-identify as a Christian given the misuse of the term, and I wasn’t sure the topic was that important. Today I am convinced it is a topic vital for our nation’s future. This week’s post is a reflection on how and why my perspective changed
Editor’s Note: Last week I wrote about the challenges I see in responding to the threat White Christian Nationalism presents to our democracy. This week, a friend and retired Lutheran pastor Mark Docken, provides a thoughtful explanation of why understanding and responding to Christian Nationalism is complex and important.
A few months ago, guest contributor A. Adar Ayira wrote about keeping the faith in an age of white (supremacist) Christianity. She described the organized actions of Christian-led white supremacists and the threat to people of color and racial equality. She concluded by observing the absence of a visible opposition from white Christians who disagree with how the teachings and values of Jesus are being distorted. She pointed out that white people tend to rely on Black and non-Black people of color to lead the pushback.
For a while I have been gently reflecting on the connection between faith and our desire and commitment to live together in love and community. For me, the shift from despair to hope about the 2024 election campaigns is a great relief. America is certainly proving to be a free society where everyone is entitled to their opinion. Having lived seven decades, I appreciate the ups and downs will continue. With that in mind, today’s post is about “acting as if”.
Today we continue to explore the question of, “What the November 2024 election will mean to our country’s future?” What will this election mean for our nation’s progress in becoming a multi-racial/multi-ethnic democratic nation? If this season brings progress in respecting each other and working together, we can make progress on our many other issues.
Editor’s Note: This week’s post is by guest contributor Mark Docken and continues the question of how do we all work for more racial justice without shutting down communication through “us” and “them” approaches and “discussions”. Mark is a native of the Midwest, a retired pastor and friend and brings a fresh perspective to the discussions.
Our little delegation has returned from Ukraine.
Four of us went to that war-torn country, at our own expense, to bear witness to the suffering of the Ukrainian people and to listen to their voices regarding the war. Our focus was on the trauma of war and the mental health of the people, two years after the full-scale invasion by Russia. We also wanted to meet people working with the Ukrainian military, to see how they are holding up and what they need.
This post is about the persistent push in America for white supremacy and how people of faith respond to this cycle at any time, especially during a national election. This has been among the hardest posts I have written. The subject is complex, full of emotion and divided views and there are no obvious answers. So I am asking the readers of Critical Conversations and any friends or colleagues you think might add to this discussion to help shape an important conversation about what’s at stake in our upcoming national election and how we individually and collectively respond.
Tom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.