By Edwin Cooney
Since I’m neither a sociologist nor a theologian, I have to be careful here. Still, I was very impressed with a recent editorial in The Washington Post by E.J. Dionne in which he marvels at the power and depth of the faith coming forth from black churches even in the face of Dylan Roof’s alleged act of terror.
“A Sacred Oasis,” E.J.Dionne’s editorial, draws a distinction between the traditional or white conservative way of quiescent interpreting and worshiping versus the way blacks interpret and worship God. Whites primarily see God as an omnipotent and ever present force of authority demanding glorification and worship that requires surrender to that authority. Blacks, if I read E.J. Dionne correctly, see both the Old and New Testaments as stories of liberation from human oppression by a loving God.
Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a black friend of mine, I’ll call him John, used to emphatically assert that the main reason white America had nothing to fear from blacks was due to their firm Christian faith. John regarded the Black Panthers and left wing revolutionaries of the late 1960s and early 1970s as possessing little sway in the black community compared to Dr. King, Roy Wilkins and others. His point was that religion was much stronger among blacks than any secular political doctrine such as Soviet, Chinese or world communism. “If it were otherwise,” John insisted, “white America would be in big trouble!”
As I see it, by comparison the mixed response of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s victims and their families and that of the victims and their families of Dylan Roof and even James Holmes in Colorado, provide a remarkable contrast. Tsarnaev’s victims and their families were mostly those whose lives were free of oppression. They were a mixed group of men, women and children from varying racial, ethnic and social backgrounds. As a whole, they were not accustomed to victimhood. Thus, their reactions were varied. Although several remarkable victims insisted that Tsarnaev should be spared the death penalty, insofar as I’m aware, none actually forgave Tsarnaev. The families of Roof’s victims were all black. They were people who have, almost from childhood, understood that millions of powerful and resentful white citizens dislike and regard them as inferior as well as nettlesome beings. Therefore, Roof’s hostility came as no surprise to them once they learned of its source.
No one more dramatically or effectively drew national attention to the historic hostility by whites toward people of color than President Lyndon B. Johnson in his 1965 “Voting Rights Speech.” Referring to the little Mexican children he taught as a young teacher in Cotulla, Texas, he said that even as children they knew but couldn’t quite figure out why lots of people didn’t like them. “I know this is true,” LBJ insisted, “because I saw it in their eyes.”
As President Obama pointed out in his eulogy for Reverend Pinckney, even the construction of Christian churches by blacks were regarded with suspicion and at times outlawed in the South. However, believing that the same loving God who first freed the Israelites and then freed all humankind through the love of Jesus Christ would ultimately free them, these devout people knew that their greatest source of decency and strength comes not from secular doctrine but through their Christian faith – and so they built their churches.
Broadly speaking, of course, you don’t have to be a Christian or a follower of any religious faith or be black to possess sufficient magnanimity to forgive. Non-Christians and nonbelievers possess solid morals and support noble causes and institutions that alleviate guilt and suffering while nurturing healing. It must be acknowledged that there undoubtedly exists a criminal element in the black community as is the case in all communities. However, it is hard for this observer not to believe that as a group blacks are more deserving of the grace of a loving Providence than those who just know that their wealth and power are gifts from a very discerning God!
To forgive someone for an act that deprives you of something you have a natural right to possess requires a monumental effort of strength and will. Most of us only hope and pray to possess that will and that strength. I’m told that to forgive others frees the forgiver of the burden which outrageous fortune may bring.
As I asserted at the outset, I am neither a sociologist nor am I a theologian. However, what I do understand and heartily endorse is that blacks have made their religious faith the jewel of their rich culture.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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