{"id":247,"date":"2017-08-15T23:21:59","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T23:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/divergence.blog\/?p=247"},"modified":"2017-08-15T23:21:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T23:21:59","slug":"the-silence-of-our-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/08\/15\/the-silence-of-our-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Silence Of Our Friends\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In the throes of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said this:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Too many white Christians in that time did not stand and be counted when it mattered.\u00a0 They may have been friends in faith, but they decided to remain silent while their black brother or sister in Christ was beaten, attacked with dogs, and water-hosed to the ground\u2014simply because they asked for the same rights as white people.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be very clear: It is impossible to believe the Gospel is true, the Bible is true, the Judeo-Christian narrative is true, orthodox theology is true and believe at the same time<\/em>, any racist, white supremacy, or Alt-Right ideology.\u00a0 It is impossible.\u00a0 If one does so, he is thoroughly ignorant of one or the other.\u00a0 They are mutually exclusive.\u00a0 They are oil and water, fire and ice. \u00a0Many in these groups claim to be Christians\u2013they are confused, as is evident from their logic challenged spouting of hate in Charlottesville.<\/p>\n

One man murdered Heather Heyer in Charlottesville (See here<\/a>).\u00a0 But it was the words and influence of many that helped him along, that gave him the justification and perhaps the nerve to actually commit the act.\u00a0 Yes, he alone is responsible but doesn\u2019t some responsibility lie elsewhere?<\/p>\n

What about the hate these groups vomit out day after day on their websites, writings, and in their meetings and demonstrations?\u00a0 What about the tacit approval for the Alt-Right ideology from the very top, the President of the United States?\u00a0 After all, Steven Bannon is a proud member of the Alt-Right and behind most of Trump\u2019s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies.\u00a0 Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka are also tied to the Alt-Right (See here<\/a>).\u00a0 Trump has surrounded himself with these people.<\/p>\n

Yes, one man killed Heather Heyer; one man is responsible, but doesn\u2019t some responsibility lie elsewhere?\u00a0 What about those who should have spoken up?\u00a0 What about those who were silent along this man\u2019s path, along this man\u2019s journey long before he opened that car door?<\/p>\n

Many young Christians have asked the question, \u201cIf I had been alive or an adult during the Civil Rights Movement, what would I have done?\u201d\u00a0 Well, let me ask you: What are you doing right now?\u00a0 Because we are in another moment similar to that one.\u00a0 What will we do then?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing, there is something I find more bothersome and troubling than I do the hate spewing from the Alt-Right and these other racist groups.\u00a0 I find the silence, in the face of it, on the part of Christians, especially conservative Republican Christians who voted for Trump, to be more troubling than the loud voices we heard coming from the people who gathered in Charlottesville to spread hate.\u00a0 The silence is deafening.\u00a0 It will be remembered.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the throes of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said this: \u201cIn the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.\u201d Too many white Christians in that time did not stand and be counted when it mattered.\u00a0 They may have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3524,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,20,32,62,254,365,485],"class_list":["post-247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alt-right","tag-bannon","tag-bigotry","tag-civil-rights","tag-martin-luther-king","tag-racism","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cThe Silence Of Our Friends\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the throes of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said this: \u201cIn the end, we will remember not the words of our\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/08\/15\/the-silence-of-our-friends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cThe Silence Of Our Friends\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the throes of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said this: \u201cIn the end, we will remember not the words of our\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/08\/15\/the-silence-of-our-friends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divergence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-15T23:21:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@darrelllackey1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/08\/15\/the-silence-of-our-friends\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/08\/15\/the-silence-of-our-friends\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cThe Silence Of Our Friends\u201d\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-15T23:21:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-15T23:21:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813\"},\"description\":\"In the throes of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said this: \u201cIn the end, we will remember not the words of our\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/08\/15\/the-silence-of-our-friends\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/08\/15\/the-silence-of-our-friends\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/08\/15\/the-silence-of-our-friends\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cThe Silence Of Our Friends\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\",\"name\":\"Divergence\",\"description\":\"Commentary Regarding Fundamentalism - 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