Dear Christians: Save Your Prayers If You Won’t Confront Racism

Last updated on: June 24, 2015 at 3:45 pm by Benjamin Dixon

Dear Christians: Save Your Prayers If You Won’t Confront Racism 2015-06-24T15:45:47-04:00 Benjamin Dixon

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My father was a pastor for over forty-years. My mother served beside him the entire time. One thing they taught me growing up was to be careful of who you let pray for you. “Everyone isn’t praying in your favor.”

I have noticed in this past week many Christians “praying” for South Carolina in one breath and then refusing to confront the glaringly obvious problem of racism that led that devil to murder nine innocent people. For many, the race-driven killer has placed them in a crisis of faith versus political ideology. Even acknowledging that racism was the driving force in this tragedy is too painful because many conservative Christians have become vested in promoting the idea that racism no longer exists, as this fits their political narrative and anything to the contrary can never be given credence.

They are so attached to this political agenda that they cannot bring themselves to mention what is obvious to the rest of the world. They’ve even tried to convince themselves that this was an attack on Christian values rather than an attack on black people. Fox News went so far as to hire a black pastor to spin the story into being about an attack on Christianity instead of the racist hate-crime that it was.

Radio personality, Glenn Beck, asked the nation to join him in South Carolina for a prayer rally for the families and the victims. At this rally, they prayed and began to chant, “All Lives Matter.” Even in the face of the most horrific racial massacre since the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, these singularly focused Christians couldn’t bring themselves to say “Black Lives Matter.” Instead, they appropriated the pain of the people and white-washed it with “All Lives Matter.” Yes! All lives do matter but black lives died that day for no other reason than because they were black.

Even if they couldn’t align themselves with the political agenda of #BlackLivesMatter, they could have just kept their mouths filled with prayer instead of letting their passive-aggressive, yet intentionally venomous counter-protest seep out. Instead of doing their duty as Christians, they gave in to the temptation of their political ideology. They did what white-supremacy has done throughout the generations; they used the pain of others for their advantage.

As a Christian, I absolutely believe in the power of prayer. But if you are unwilling to confront the realities of racism in America that led to this massacre, then save your prayers. God is not listening.

Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea; the Almighty pays no attention to it. Job 35:13 NIV

Your prayers are empty because your heart refuses to admit that racism and white supremacy are so great a problem in America that it drove this madman to slaughter. Your prayers are empty because they only serve to shield you from public scorn by appearing concerned when your heart is far removed from the true issue. If you cannot even admit that race was a factor then you are not prepared to take the actions necessary to ensure this never happens again. Your presence and your prayers are merely a means of co-opting the grief of brokenhearted people. Shame on you.

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Matthew 6:5

So, unless you are ready to confront racism in America, save your prayers. They aren’t fooling anyone. They are not fooling me. And rest assured, they aren’t fooling God.

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