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<\/a><\/p>\nA person forced to leave their country to escape persecution is\u00a0exactly\u00a0<\/em>what Mary, Joseph, and Jesus had to do in this account. They had to flee to avoid Jesus being unjustly killed by Herod\u2019s soldiers, and they were forced to live in a land that was not their own- Egypt.<\/p>\nHow could it be that\u00a0so many\u00a0<\/em>so-called Bible-believing Christians somehow forgot this story was in the Bible? How could they fail to realize that the God who they worship was a middle eastern\u00a0refugee<\/em>, fleeing from persecution?<\/p>\nI want to suggest that what\u00a0Fox and Friends\u00a0<\/em>and the dozens who tweeted critically at Rev. Sharpton were not actually biblically illiterate, but instead, were blinded by their own bias. You see, it doesn\u2019t fit the conservative narrative right now to have Jesus, the \u201ccenter piece\u201d of the conservatives faith be a refugee, since the policy of the far-right is to ban all refugees from entering the country. Does that mean they\u2019d ban Jesus? It\u2019s a scary and uncomfortable thought for many, so they chose to forget or reinterpret the plain truth in order to justify their own political position.<\/p>\nBut this isn\u2019t only about their opposition to refugees. No, it\u2019s also likely about an imbedded racism and anti-liberal bias that has been used by white, Christian, conservatives for decades to discredit Rev. Al Sharpton as an illegitimate minister of the Gospel. In this Fox news piece, they unashamedly attack his credentials, his education, and his authority to be speaking about Christ. Why? Because in the privileged paradigm of conservative Christianity, folks like Rev. Sharpton: black, educated, and liberal, shouldn\u2019t exist. It messes with the ordering of the world that privileges white Christians at the expense of the marginalized.<\/p>\n
The piece reveals how the bias of conservatives blinded them to the\u00a0truth<\/em> about what\u2019s in the Bible: Jesus was a refugee. It also revealed underlying prejudices against people of color, and in particular, Rev. Al Sharpton. The blindness, arrogance, and ignorance that emerges from this situation is stunning and proves, once and for all, the FOX News is certainly not \u201cfair and balanced\u201d as their tagline suggests.<\/p>\nBut as I thought about this, I also was convicted to think about my own biases against folks I disagree with. In what ways do I demonize, marginalize, and present \u201calternative facts\u201d about folks that I disagree with? How have I allowed my preconceived ideas about conservatives, republicans, and evangelicals to propel me in a less than nobel direction?<\/p>\n
You see, in this pivotal moment of our nations history, it is important that we all take time to check ourselves. Examine our biases and prejudice. And work hard to overcome the era of demonization and \u201calternative facts\u201d. This is a time for us to swallow our pride and to make room at the table for those who we perceive as our enemies, so that we might see them face to face, hear their experiences, and gain a better understanding of the complex reality of who they really are. It\u2019s easy to demonize from a distance, but almost impossible to demonize the real, flesh and blood human before your face.<\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t me that we \u201ctolerate\u201d ideologies and policies that we believe are harmful. It doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t call out injustice and falsehood. But it just means that we are aware of our underlying prejudice, and realize that until we are willing to do the hard work of actually listening to and empathizing with the people we disagree with the most, progress can not be achieved. Instead, we will stay in our corners, throwing rocks across the border, and never accomplishing any true and lasting heart and mind change.<\/p>\n
Our biases can blind us. But when we acknowledge them and work to overcome them and get to know our \u201cother\u201d, then the light can truly shine, dispelling darkness, and paving the way for a more just and generous future.<\/p>\n
May we all- FOX News included- examine, identity, name, and overcome our desire to demonize from a distance. The world needs it now more than ever.<\/p>\n
Oh yeah\u2026and Jesus\u00a0was\u00a0<\/strong>a refugee.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yesterday, FOX News posted an article and interview about a Tweet that the progressive UCC Minister, Rev. Al Sharpton, tweeted out over the weekend that critiqued Trump\u2019s refugee ban, saying: \u201cBefore you head to church today, remember to thank God for his son, Jesus a refugee who fled to Egypt.\u201d Apparently, a number of conservative […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1830,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n