Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. \u00a0There has been much push back and accusations of race-baiting to have come alongside the #BlackLivesMatter movement. \u00a0There have been many to argue that race is no longer an issue in 2015, an era where we have the first African-American President in the history of our nation. \u00a0The push back of racial concerns and benchmarking of the presidency of Barack Obama has found its home in the phrase #AllLivesMatter. \u00a0It is in this phrase that many find a peace, which rests in the illusion of a society \u2013 a society that does not exist. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n#AllLivesMatter is a truth. \u00a0It is something to behold. \u00a0As a Christian I embrace the love of Christ, which is exemplified in loving our neighbor as ourselves, and honoring that we are ALL God\u2019s creation. \u00a0In God, yes, we ALL matter. It is beautiful to behold God\u2019s ability to create such a wonderful and diverse people. \u00a0Beyond Christendom, simple moral possession and cognitive appreciation provides the gifting of all humanity as valued, valuable, and worthy of respect and honor. \u00a0Thoughtful ability affords the opportunity to recognize that difference is not deficiency rather a moment of appreciation for the grandeur of uniqueness and collaborative possibility. \u00a0In the words of Bishop Joseph Walker, III \u201cWe are better together.\u201d \u00a0However, in the context of sociological happening, this possibility eludes us.<\/p>\n
When cataloging recent events alone (not to mention this country\u2019s history) the evidence is clear #AllLivesMatter except when you don\u2019t. \u00a0The obviousness of inequity in treatment economically, politically, within the criminal justice system, academically, and even in our churches \u2013 is difficult not to see. \u00a0The blatant racial systems of the past, emerged as a system designed to disenfranchise, and as recently re-emerged anew in color-blind rhetoric often distracting from reality.<\/p>\n
Illusion has stolen our sight.<\/p>\n
The illusion that comes with a phrase like #AllLivesMatter assumes that our country does not have a history of oppression from which it has not healed. \u00a0This phrase assumes that racism does not exist in modern day society. \u00a0This phrase assumes that ignorance is not at play in the positioning of our politics. \u00a0This phrase assumes that oppression is a thing of the past. \u00a0This phrase assumes that we see the need for \u201cliberty and justice for all.\u201d \u00a0#BlackLivesMatter is not a statement of exception or mantling of greater importance. \u00a0Rather, a declaration that these lives to matter in a society, which in its sociological function divorced the two.<\/p>\n
We must be conscious of the illusions we give voice to and decide to open blind eyes with which we view our reality. \u00a0We cannot fix what we will not face. \u00a0The realities of the \u201cisms\u201d of our society must be confronted and open to change and re-construction. \u00a0The mindsets of a people must be shifted, educated and thoughtful. \u00a0Our love must live beyond a conversational moment and manifest in a making of difference. \u00a0The church can no longer live in the eschatological hope that all \u201cwill\u201d be better or embrace \u201ccapitalistic theology\u201d that divorces itself from reality. \u00a0We must see the issues of the world and live our call to change.<\/p>\n
From the church to academia, living room to the sidewalk, coffee shop to office park \u2013 the illusion can no longer stand. \u00a0This is a REAL time for REAL change .<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nDameon E. Madison<\/a> is a R3 Contributor<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Dameon E. Madison Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. \u00a0There has been much push back and accusations of race-baiting to have come alongside the #BlackLivesMatter movement. \u00a0There have been many to argue that race is no longer an issue in 2015, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[266,61,18,265,29,30],"class_list":["post-4278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-all-lives-matter","tag-black-lives-matter","tag-church","tag-dameon-e-madison","tag-race","tag-racism"],"yoast_head":"\n
The Illusion of Inclusion: When All Lives Don't Matter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Dameon E. Madison Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. \u00a0There has been much push back and\" \/>\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\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Illusion of Inclusion: When All Lives Don't Matter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Dameon E. Madison Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. \u00a0There has been much push back and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-02T11:06:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-02T11:17:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/543\/2015\/11\/all-lives-matter.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html\",\"name\":\"The Illusion of Inclusion: When All Lives Don't Matter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-02T11:06:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-02T11:17:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"by Dameon E. Madison Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. \u00a0There has been much push back and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Illusion of Inclusion: When All Lives Don’t Matter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/\",\"name\":\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Illusion of Inclusion: When All Lives Don't Matter","description":"by Dameon E. Madison Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. \u00a0There has been much push back and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Illusion of Inclusion: When All Lives Don't Matter","og_description":"by Dameon E. Madison Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. \u00a0There has been much push back and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html","og_site_name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","article_published_time":"2015-11-02T11:06:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-11-02T11:17:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":220,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/543\/2015\/11\/all-lives-matter.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html","name":"The Illusion of Inclusion: When All Lives Don't Matter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-11-02T11:06:52+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-02T11:17:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"by Dameon E. Madison Just for a moment, let us pause to consider the realities in the midst of the illusion we voice. \u00a0There has been much push back and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/11\/the-illusion-of-inclusion-when-all-lives-dont-matter.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Illusion of Inclusion: When All Lives Don’t Matter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/","name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"all](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/543\/2015\/11\/all-lives-matter.jpg\")
<\/a>by Dameon E. Madison<\/span><\/p>\n