I’m continuing my reflections on Miguel De La Torre’s book, Burying White Privilege: Resurrecting a Badass Christianity. You may recall that last week I talked about how difficult it is for those of us who have been raised in what De La Torre calls “White Christianity” to see the “whiteness” that we have received and which we perpetuate. Our friend Dick Piper wrote to me this week, saying kind words about that observation and confirming it from his experience as an American Baptist missionary among some Hopi and Navajo communities. Dick was once asked to lead a program on church musicianship. After some research, he found that Hopi and Navajo folk music used a pentatonic scale, with which he was familiar. So, in Dick’s words, “I decided to teach the course on church musicianship in their own idiom.” Imagine his surprise when one of the participants refused to continue with him, because he associated their folk music with the worship of kachina dolls. Again, in Dick’s words, “Only one form of music could be ‘Christian’ for him. That was the good old SATB white hymn tunes based on the diatonic major and minor scales.”
What Dick says next is really key: “I’m sure the missionaries didn't specifically teach him that. But that's what he ‘picked up.’ Cultural domination happens subtly but effectively.”
Indeed, cultural domination happens subtly but effectively. That’s why we’re exploring this whole topic. It is all about bringing that which is subtle to the surface, so that when God begins doing a new thing among us, we will know what is the wine and what is the wineskin. I think we often hold onto something that is incidental, cultural, or simply familiar, while presenting it as if we are holding onto something essential.
There is another reason for this work as well. Unless we are aware of the particularities of “White Christianity,” we will continue to promote cultural domination when we engage in evangelism, mission work, interfaith relationships, or community outreach – all in the name of the gospel. Without self-awareness, we would be denying the real work of the Holy Spirit among persons who are not like us and would miss how the Spirit uses others to help transform us. In other words, this inquiry is not about addressing “white guilt” and it is certainly not about trying to be “politically correct.” It is about trying to be in tune with what “new thing” God is doing.
So, what are the particular peculiarities of “whiteness” in “White Christianity”?
I have a few in mind, but I’m really curious as to what you think. What are some of the things that we have come to accept as simply part of the way Christianity works, which – in fact – may be more of a cultural thing that we’ve inherited than something that is germane to the Christian message itself? Would you be willing to send me some of your suggestions? If you can send them to me by Wednesday, I’ll have time to reflect on them by next Friday. I’m on a mission to become more self-aware and I hope that we can be more self-aware(collectively. To do that, your participation would be valuable.
Thanks for your input.
Mark of St. Mark
I wonder about the almost mechanical understanding of substitutionary atonement as a product of 18th-19th century Western thinking. It was the rise of science, manufacturing, and a time when churches wanted to be as scientific and organized as the society around them. This tends to become individualized, and loses community connections that are often more important in non-Western, non-white cultures. Preaching at the moment in Sri Lanka, where Christians are a small minority, I'm struck by how little cultural adaptation there has been.
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