The Craft of Innovative Theology. Группа авторов. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

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the author skillfully uses this note to respond to this obvious question that the reader might have.

       Box 3.8

      The change of heart, explains the author, comes in 1995 with the apology. This is the third and final shift in the narrative. As a good historian, the author is working both thematically and chronologically.

      The SBC’s Change of Heart: The 1995 Apology

       Box 3.9

      This entire article has explored the attitudes of one denomination and its attitude to racism in the light of the Golden Rule. As the author comes to a key moment in the narrative, the apology, she explains why this matters so much. A dimension of racism is the way a deep distrust can form of an institution or an organization or, in this case, a denomination. Racism is more than the sum of individuals with prejudice; racism can shape an entire denomination and the lack of trust can continue long into the future.

      Ultimately, the SBC issued an apology to African Americans during its 150th anniversary in 1995. Entitled “Resolution on Racial Reconciliation on the 150th Anniversary of The Southern Baptist Convention, Atlanta, Georgia (1995),” it acknowledged its historic role in the support of slavery, racism, and segregation in the exclusion of African Americans from SBC congregations. It also recognized its failure to support the civil rights movement; how the SBC divided the body of Christ between whites and African Americans; how it promoted the distorted belief that racism and discrimination were compatible with the gospel; and its minimal commitment to eradicating racism. It concluded:

      Be it further RESOLVED, That we apologize to all African-Americans for condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime; and we genuinely repent of racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously (Psalm 19:13) or unconsciously (Leviticus 4:27); and

      Some African American pastors who were a part of the resolution-drafting meeting no doubt realized that the 1995 resolution would be met with skepticism and mistrust by African American pastors. Frost mentioned that African American National Baptists were cool to the 1995 resolution for several reasons. The resolution was seen by many African Americans as an opportunity to steal African American Baptists and bring them into the SBC at a time when its white membership had plateaued. Frost was personally hurt by the National Baptists’ reaction because they were not willing to accept the possibility that the SBC had a changed heart toward racism. It would seem that the SBC’s stained reputation would be difficult to overcome immediately.

      The SBC’s racist reputation was not limited to segments of African American Christian communities. SBC Pastor Jonathan Merritt discussed the problem of the SBC’s general reputation in an article some sixteen years later. He noted:

       Box 3.10

      The author has sketched some of the understandable suspicion surrounding the apology among African American Christians. So here the author highlights the decision of the convention to elect its first African American president. However, she links this decision with the data around the decline of membership. She invites the reader to wonder if the passion for inclusion is mainly driven by declining attendance.

      Stigma: A Reciprocal Process