Germany Defends Apartheid, Solidarity with Watermelons, God Gave us Trump?
KTF Weekly Newsletter
Hi everybody,
This week, our media highlights to help us leave colonized faith include:
- The importance of understanding northern racism
- Why Namibia is protesting Germany’s defense of Apartheid
- A follow-up on our podcast about activism in Hawaii
- How the watermelon became a symbol of Palestinian solidarity
- A way to bring scripture to life as we read it
- An insightful response to the “God Made Trump” video
And if you still haven’t had a chance to look at our new YouTube page, why don’t you check out this video on common myths about abortion, theology, and Church history? Make sure to subscribe!
Sy’s Recommendations
The Importance of Understanding Northern Racism
A long, recent article in Politico explains that while the Civil Rights Movement was bringing an end to formal segregation in the South, the racism of northern suburbanites cemented the racial divisions that we have in 2024’s American politics. Reporter Zack Stanton, a native of Detroit’s suburbs, tells the story of one interracial couple’s fight to desegregate Warren, MI, and how it led directly to President Nixon campaigning on the White grievance Republicans still use to fuel election victories. A crucial lesson from the story is one Stanton tells us Nixon knew instinctively: White people were just as racist in Michigan as Mississippi. The quotes from local Warren residents could have come from the mouth of Bull Connor (content warning, incidentally), and at one point, there is an actual cross burning. The piece helps us follow historical threads we often miss as White Americans from all over try to shunt the responsibility for racism on to southerners.
Germany’s Genocide and Israeli Apartheid
You may have heard about South Africa’s suit against Israel in the International Court of Justice arguing that the latter’s treatment of Palestine constitutes Apartheid under international law. Germany has now intervened in the suit to defend Israel, a dramatic move given Germany’s history and very public reckoning with the Holocaust. But a recent Al Jazeera news segment explains why Germany’s former colony Namibia is in an uproar over the intervention. It was only in 2021 that Germany made any acknowledgment of its genocide of Namibian people between 1904 and 1908, but it stopped short of any significant commitment to reparations like those it has given Holocaust victims’ families for decades. Take a minute to learn from Namibian leaders trying to hold one of the world’s most powerful country’s to account.
An Update after Our Episode on Hawaii
The consequences of Maui’s wildfires have faded from our headlines, but the aftermath is on-going. And the continued pollution of Oahu’s water hangs in the balance as the emptying of the Navy’s massive fuel storage facility has begun. Our podcast a few months ago covered Dani Espiritu’s work on cultural and environmental activism in Hawaii. I wanted to share an update from Dani that provides some information about what has been going on since then regarding the fires, water pollution, and more, as well as giving us many ways we can continue to pray and financially support native Hawaiian justice work.
Jonathan’s Recommendations
Palestinian Solidarity and Watermelons
Last week, at a protest against Israel’s genocide in Palestine, my daughter asked me, “Why do I see so many watermelons?” An article from October in Time traces the history of people using watermelons as a symbolic substitute for the Palestinian flag, which Israel banned for a time in the 1960’s. Today, the watermelon emoji has reemerged as a way to dupe algorithms that minimize posts expressing sympathy with Palestine. Click to learn more about this important cultural identity marker in the fight about Israel’s on-going war.
Writing Ourselves into Scripture
Recently I was reminded of how powerful it is when we read scripture and seriously consider that its promises and intentions include us. Last weekend, I stayed with a family that has a tradition of reading Psalm 139 to people on their birthday, and it happened to be mine. It was a powerful experience. And I want you to be able to think about scripture in the same way I did in that moment. One way to do this is an exercise I wrote as part of my day job called Write Yourself into Scripture. I hope you’ll check it out!
- Try writing yourself into scripture
Responding to the “God Made Trump” video
A piece on the blog of a colleague of mine, Andrew Berg, captured some of my thoughts after I saw that former President Trump posted a campaign video on social media called “God Made Trump.” The video exemplifies Christian nationalism and truly deifies Trump, using messianic language the Bible uses for Jesus. What Andrew rightly points out though is that God may in fact have given us Trump. There is biblical precedent for God empowering someone who highlights and exposes the worst elements of a nation. And the racism, misogyny, bigotry, and greed that persistently leak from Trump’s mouth stem from the deep roots of this country’s history.
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Jonathan and Sy