Cross posted from Daily Kos
I really wish this had been my idea because it’s brilliant and it’s the right thing to do. I received an email from the Democratic Congressional Candidate that I support in my district. His name is Steve Young. I will share what he wrote to me.
My answer to “Segregated Sundays.” The part of Barak Obama’s speech this week on race that struck me was his observation that America is most segregated on Sunday when we go to church. I plan on changing that in my life. Tomorrow, I am going to attend the African Methodist Episcopal church in my area. Anyone wishing to join me, the service starts at 7:45 a.m., at Christ our Redeemer AME at 46 Maxwell Street in Irvine. (There is another service at 10:30 am if you want to join in this outreach but find 7:45 is too early for your blood) I told a friend of mine what I was doing, and he said he would go with me to my “white” church this week to integrate it. Imagine how we could change the dialogue in America if we started to visit each other’s churches — Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.
Could you imagine if we took this on and went to other Churches and made it know that we will not stand for integrated Sundays anymore! Does that mean you have to change Churches? No, but I know it would be wonderful to visit new Churches and share our personal spiritual journey with a group of people in my community that I’m usual not connected to.
The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.…
But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
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In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
Please support Steve Young and give to his campaign to let him know that you support his values. These are the values that we should all support as progressives and Democrats. And lets show Obama that we heard him and we understood that his honesty and his candor was a gift and it was politically courageous as well. In fact, it transcended politics, most importantly, “politics as usual”.
Find a Church in your area that you want to visit and integrate Sundays…
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Atheist Alliance International
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
United Church of Christ
Buddhist Temples in the U.S.A.
USCJ Find a Synagogue
House of Worship Locator
Korea Christian Gospel Mission
Islam – Find a Mosque
African American Churches
U.S. Catholic Parishes Online Directory and Mass Times
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
American Baptist Churches, USA
Hindu Temples in U.S.
Antiochian Orthodox Christian, Find a Parish
Please forgive me if I left something out, I know I did, but I did my best 🙂 And even if you consider yourself to be atheist or agnostic, take the leap and just learn. I included more secular denominations.
Intimidated? Get a friend to go with you. Do you want to learn more before you go? BeliefNet.com is an amazing resource, please go explore and learn more even if you don’t intend to go to any Church tomorrow.
By the way, I use Sunday loosely, there are other days of worship but I want to include more than the Christian faith in this attempt to integrate Churches.