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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Still divided


A rambling post by Leon Brown:


Brown's basic problem is his unquestioned conviction that he understands the situation, and white Christians don't. Therefore, his prophetic calling is to make us understand. 

At least from the stuff of his I've read, it never seriously crosses his mind that just possibly, his own grasp of the situation is one-sided. That, just possibly, he doesn't understand what white Christians understand. (Mind you, I don't think it's meaningful to even make sweeping statements about what white Christians in general think.)

For instance, you'd never know from his post that conservatives are increasingly critical of our law enforcement culture. Let's take a few examples from today: the same day as his post:





Let's take another doozie:

Consider the recent and ongoing immigration debate. How has it affected you? What do you think when you see a Spanish speaking image-bearer, one who knows, or at least it is assumed, very little English? What has caused your conclusions? Do you remain unaffected by the outcry of some in the media who thrust names on them, such as, "illegal," "unwanted immigrant," or "wetback"? The point of the news, while to inform, is also to sway opinion, and I think we may lack transparency if we claim we are not, at least in part, somehow affected by what some branches of the media portray about immigration.

Honestly, on what does Brown base that preposterous characterization? What news media refer to Latin American immigrants as "wetbacks"? Any reporter who used that term would be fired within minutes. 

In fact, the news media avoid "illegal immigrant" in favor of "undocumented worker" (or some such euphemism). 

Moreover, in what sense is it "thrusting a name" on them to call them illegal immigrants? That's a factual description. 

Brown is a classic example of someone whose social conditioning blinds him to his own conditioning. 

3 comments:

  1. I'm told by anti-intellectuals masquerading as antinomists that there are things in the Bible that not only can no one understand, but we shouldn't even try.

    Racism charges of "you're white, therefore you can't understand" seem a lot like that. It seems that no matter how hard a white man like myself tries, there's no way that any claim to understanding will be accepted by people who make that charge. Therefore, it's reasonable to not even try. Is that really what those who make that charge want?

    Are those who are not white males even willing to try to understand what it's truly like to be a white male since they typically mischaracterized white males as well? The apparent lack of understanding goes both ways.

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  2. Brown here exemplifies shallow, worldly thinking patterns.

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  3. I'm not sure there are any issues Brown thinks we should be divided on. "Illegal" seems convenient enough shorthand for "illegal immigrant," a label no one has a problem with if the immigrant who is illegally living within the borders of the USA is a German by birth.

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