White Conservative Christian Terror

White Conservative Christian Terror November 28, 2015

american-flag-bible-public-domainby Chenjerai Kumanyika

In light of the recent events in Colorado (again), I’m waiting to see if there will be an organized public denouncing of recent acts of white male conservative christian terrorism by white conservative Christians. Since several white male conservative christian leaders have either remained silent or spoken in support of recent white male Christian terrorist acts, some may feel that white conservative Christians should speak out so that those of us who are not white male conservative Christians can know where they stand and feel confident that they are not a threat. In the wake of many acts of white male Christian terror, some may also feel that the white conservative Christian community should speak up about potential problems with white conservative Christianity and its relationship to terror on (and beyond) U.S. soil. As they denounce white conservative Christian terror, perhaps the white conservative Christian community will use the following statement:

As a white, conservative, Christian, I denounce acts of terrorism in the name of conservative values, Christian values or patriotism. I send my most heartfelt prayers and blessings to the victims and I want the world to know that even though there have been many acts of terrorism on U.S. soil by people who look like me, and share my religion, we are not all murderers and we resent the hijacking of our religion to justify these savage attacks. We beg that the broader global community and other U.S. citizens will not judge, exclude, persecute, attack, surveil, and/or discriminate against us based on these horrific acts. In turn, we will take a leading role in purging our communities of this violent, hateful, sinful element.

Personally, I think requiring this kind of public display from white conservative Christians would be unreasonable and discriminatory. But some may feel differently. I will be interested to see if an organized public denouncing of white conservative Christian terror from white conservative Christians emerges. If such a response does emerge, I will look forward to sharing congratulatory, inspirational, reassuring photos of the white conservative Christian community, speaking out against white conservative Christian terror.

Chenjerai Kumanyika is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Clemson University


Browse Our Archives