KTF Weekly Newsletter: Culture Warriors, As Equals, Women War Criminals
July 1, 2021
Hi everyone!
Be sure to read Sy’s piece from yesterday on the recent Supreme Court case about religious freedom and foster care if you missed it. And here are this week’s resources to help us leave colonized faith for the Kingdom of God:
Suzie’s recommendations:
This blog post, “Ambassadors or Culture Warriors?”, provides a brief but substantive critique of white evangelicals’ pursuit of American Christendom. Its themes of cultural hegemony and exclusionary power complement well this week’s conversation with Professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez on Shake the Dust. While the author’s critique is not new, it is, unfortunately, increasingly relevant today as battles continue to rage on Capitol Hill and within Christian organizations and denominations over what are touted as culture war issues, but really boil down to an attempt to preserve and consolidate white evangelical power.
Pass the Mic’s #LeaveLOUD podcast series documents the exodus of Black Christians from predominantly white evangelical institutions through powerful and poignant interviews and personal narratives. The recent “In the Wilderness” episode is such a good word for folks who seek to not only journey out of toxic religious spaces; but to journey towards authentic, liberated faith. Tyler Burns and Jemar Tisby speak some profound, necessary truth on why we need to pass through the painful wilderness period between leaving and discovering our new faith home, resisting the guilt and shame that often accompanies this transition, and refusing to settle for communities that do not promote our growth and flourishing. Their deep insights are born of painful experience and deep-rooted wisdom. This conversation is truly balm for the soul.
Jonathan’s recommendations:
Followers of Jesus overwhelmed by the enormity of gender-based violence may find it helpful to pray for specific people, learn how to partner in specific situations, and seriously engage with the intersectional nature of these conflicts. The As Equals series of short documentary videos from CNN puts faces and names from all over the world to the plights that female journalists and activists face as they resist injustice against people and the planet. The courage of the women telling their stories in these videos invites us to lean in, not to look away. As I prayed this week for those suffering genocide in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and the northern portions of Nigeria, I was reminded that women and children suffer in the most unique and tragic of ways; yet their stories and narratives are dismissed or diminished unless it suits the interests of those in power. Christ centered the marginalized. Thus, it is incumbent upon followers of Jesus to do the same through intercession and the investment of the time, resources, and energy necessary to learn from and be led by those who are relegated to the margins but squarely in the heart of Our Father.
Sy’s recommendations:
Most of the focus on police brutality over the past several years in the US has been on killings, particularly of unarmed Black people. After Ferguson, many commented on the lack of reliable data, and several projects sprung up to track homicides involving police, like those by the Washington Post and the Guardian. But some advocates and journalists are starting to dig deeper into the other, and much more common, forms of violence that police also perpetrate disproportionately against BIPOC people. Last week, the Marshall Project and NBC published a long report on the lack of data around hospital visits following police encounters, and making some educated guesses that the landscape would be grim if the data was available based on the few police departments like San Jose that do track that information. Similarly, and frankly horrifyingly, there is a new report from Interrupting Criminalization about sexual violence and harassment by police. Serious content warning on that one. It is not an easy read, to put it very, very mildly.
During this week’s Shake the Dust, we briefly touch on the role women sometimes play in upholding systems of patriarchy within the Church. For an extended, nuanced discussion of a similar theme, though in a much higher-stakes environment, I recommend this article by British journalist Lindsey Hilsum from the July edition of the New York Review of Books. The book Hilsum discusses is Women as War Criminals, which highlights the complicated roles women play in supporting brutal regimes, which are as a rule misogynistic, but nevertheless occasionally incorporate female supporters into their highest ranks. Hilsum uses her experience as a war correspondent coaxing women in the lower echelons of these regimes to thoughtfully critique the book and flesh out the on-the-ground operation of oppression.
Shake the Dust preview
Alright, enough vague allusions to this week’s episode from Suzie and Sy. Let’s lay it out there. This week, we have the New York Times best-selling author, Calvin University Professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez! We talk with her about her book, Jesus and John Wayne; the recent history of white evangelical patriarchal theology; that theology’s ties to the consolidation of evangelical political power; how militant masculinity interacts with race and disability; her research for her upcoming book on evangelical femininity; and a whole lot more. Don’t miss this one.
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
The KTF team