Everyone is talking about Critical Race Theory. Never mind that most of us hadn’t even heard about it till, like, last week. Folks are talking and pontificating and bloviating about this complex subject as though they’ve been experts all their lives. White evangelical leaders, in fact, are stumbling over themselves to denounce it. Consider this: • The Southern Baptist Convention teed up CRT as a subject of debate during this week’s annual meeting, and some white pastors made plans to assail it, going so far as to rally under a pirate banner with the slogan “Take the Ship!” (I couldn’t
The Black South African singer possessed a rich, nuanced voice. Mature in her faith and gracious in manner, she repeatedly yielded the mic to the white South African woman with a thin, average-quality voice who kept asserting a front-and-center role during worship. I watched this dynamic unfold at a small, interracial Christian healing service in Johannesburg, South Africa, several years ago, growing increasingly frustrated. The Black singer was a recording artist with a powerful presence, and she could have blown the white woman off the stage. Yet she honored the sacredness of the moment by refusing to engage in a
I was in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin in July 2019, spending time with my family. I could tell you all about the crystal-clear lake, the dozens of whitetail deer, and the bald eagle perched in the tallest tree—oh, and the German food. But that isn’t my point. Before I drove to Wisconsin, I turned in a cover story to the Dallas Observer about a Christian racial reconciliation conference that had crashed and burned. The two white leaders of Sparrow Women had a mess on their hands, but they refused to discuss it publicly. Now a good journalist tries to