Cultural Wars

“Jesus was a Jew!”

Dr. Howard Thurman, 1899-1981

Jesus and the Disinherited, 1949

The current federal administration, led by the President of the United States of America, is fighting a culture war. The recent target is the network of Smithsonian Museums. The President signed an executive order requiring warning signs to be posted at all federal museums, alleging the historical information displayed there may be inaccurate.

One characteristic of a political culture war is an attempt to put one group or multiple groups against another. Culturally, those instigating the war will plot to determine how to divide groups of people by focusing on hot-button topics. The recent attack by the current federal administration is an effort to discount the history of African Americans and contributions made to the United States of America. When the current federal administration leads the way, it gives license to other parts of the government, such as the states of Florida and Alabama, to adopt similar policies.

In his renowned 1949 book Jesus and the Disinherited, Howard Thurman carefully weaved through the culturalism in the world by focusing on how Jesus navigated opposition by using resistance. Steeped in the tradition of the Social Gospel Movement, Thurman concludes Jesus partners with oppressed people — the poor and disenfranchised — to ensure freedom and liberation. To understand how Jesus addressed oppressive regimes, Thurman said emphatically, “Jesus was a Jew.” You cannot understand Jesus apart from His culture. Jesus lived within the confines of Judaism; however, He did not allow Judaism to ultimately define His God-given mission of offering salvation and hope to everyone. Because of His position within the culture of Judaism, Jesus always challenged those, especially the Pharisees, who attempted to divide Him from the masses.

Culture wars are the tool of the devil. When a person or group of people know who they are, no one can strip them of the qualities of life that make them unique and contributors to society.

As African American Christians, we affirm our identity with the Christ of liberation. We stand in solidarity with the oppressed of society because that has been and remains our experience here in the United States. Perhaps we cling to the prophetic declaration of James Brown: “Say it loud—I’m Black and I’m proud!”

Amen.