By Reverend
Deborah Elandus Lake
Our Tradition holds a long list of ancestors who fought,
sacrificed, and died for freedom, justice, and peace. When our humanity was
legally denied through the institution of slavery, black people broke barriers
that included language, culture, geography, and religion to unite. We formed and
maintained the connections with one another that enabled us to keep our
self-respect and overcome slavery.
Through it all, we knew God was with us.
Our Tradition holds examples of us enduring repeated
violations to our bodies and our minds while we kept our dignity. When we were
legally forced to live under the yoke of Jim Crowe, black people mastered the
technique of respecting and honoring the talents, voices, the very presence of
each other. We came together with one another, resisted the many violations to
our civil liberties and personal integrity and overcame segregation.
Through it all we knew that God was with us.
Our Tradition holds examples of us embracing each other
regardless of any differences between us. When we were legally forced to live
in certain neighborhoods, black people developed the ability to accept
diversity as part of life rather than an abomination. We respected one another’s
privacy and understood that some of us shared âthe love that dared not speak
its name.’
All the while, we knew that God was with us.
Today, we are facing a future when our Tradition, and all
the power, dignity, and wisdom that it represents, will be extinct. In its
place will be a theocracy, and all the power, oppression, and intolerance that
it represents. We are in dangerous times, and some of our greatest danger comes
from black people.
Bush and the Religious Reich have successfully co-opted the
freedom language and the justice theology from the 1950’s and 60’s in their
efforts to reduce our country to a state ruled by a theocracy. These aspiring
theocrats and their leader have enticed many black ministers into the role of cohort
with promises of political connections, special gifts, government âfaith-based’
funding, and egotistical strokes. Together they will replace God with a handful
of gods.
Are we going to continue to remain silent as the aspiring
theocrats, their leader, and their cohorts overrun this country with their
homophobic, misogynistic, and oppressive theology? Or, are we going to see this
time as a great opportunity to create a new country? Are we going to come
together and be the majority that we are and stop the direction this country is
being taken?