FAITHHACKER
| "King" of the Jews | |
 by Laurel Snyder, January 16, 2007
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As an Atlantan and a Jew, I’ve heard a lot over the last few years about Jewish involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. In particular, here in Georgia, Jews are very much aware of how the bombing of Atlanta’s oldest Jewish community became a turning point in the integration of our city. A really amazing story and saga that you’d all do well to read up on, though I knew nothing about it when I moved here from Iowa.
Today, in honor of Dr. King and my fair city, I want to suggest we consider the relationship between Jews and blacks through the past few decades. Although we’d like to imagine that as minorities and oppressed populations, we’ve always supported each other, that’s (of course) not true. But it is true that there have been stretches of time and movements that have brought our communities together, forced us to look past our bigotry and made us stronger communities.
However, there’s a trick to this kind of work… often it becomes interfaith work, and often black communities are deeply spiritual communities, rooted in evangelical Christianity, which makes Jews feel uncomfortable.
Yesterday, I decided to honor Dr. King by going to hear the Ebeneezer Church Choir… and I was struck by how, even for me, a girl with a Catholic mom, who has worked on interfaith and ecumenical councils, the name “Jesus” is awkward. Words like “salvation” still give me the heebie jeebies.
So I’m thinking today about how we can balance our own natural feelings with the desire to work alongside other religious communities. Because we must. Because there will always be a need for social justice (whether it is the soul of Judaism or not) , and that takes leaving the safety of our own backyards.
Have you ever worked in community with devout Christians? Would you?
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Joey Kurtzman
Not uncomfortable at all
I've worked with devout Christians many times, and it never made me even slightly uncomfortable. The homeless services org where I worked part time during med school was founded by an Irish Catholic nun, and one of my closest coworkers there was a hardcore born again. And when I raised money for an international development/relief org, I did it with the help of (among others) an impossibly devout Chinese Malaysian born again.
If you're interested in doing charitable work for the most marginalized individuals on the planet (as opposed to, say, charitable work that seeks social justice on a meta "dealing with the big issues" scale) you'll end up working with Christians or Christian-inflected orgs. The question you should ask yourself, at that point, isn't "how do I feel about working with Christians," but "how can the Jewish community become more like Christian communities in their compassion for damaged people?"
Monica Osborne
Best and Worst
I've also spent a great deal of time with Christian communities, and I've learned that they can be some of the best, and worst, people to work with. Those who really do embrace Christian ideals are some of the most amazing people I've ever encountered because they've mastered the "do unto others" philosophy and made it part of their lives -- and this concept is really at the heart of Judaism as well, and should serve as a force to bind Christians and Jews together. On the other hand, there are those who abuse and misuse Christianity, people who don't really exemplify "Christian" behavior -- these are some of the most terrible people I've encountered. I suppose it's just good to remember not to make large generalizations about any religious group.
Laurel Snyder
Good Christians
I really appreciate the comments! And of course what you both say is true... I've done work with, say, amazing Catholic Worker communities...
but I think it's important to recognize that the rhetoric of evangelical Christianity can put people off before they ever have a chance to figure out "what kind of Christian" a person is. And for people who aren't used to actively working with Christian communities it can be a gut reaction, not something they've thought out. I remember in particular one very "GOOD" Lutheran I worked with who always refered to any community service work I did as work I was "called to do by the Lord" which freaked me out a bit. Not enough to run me off, but I don't want to pretend it wasn't a little weird.
xoL http://jewishyirishy.com
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