Commentary: Race speech models holy conferencing
A UMNS Commentary
By Bishop Sally Dyck*
April 4, 2008
Bishop Sally Dyck
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U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s recent speech on race in America was a powerful
and electrifying moment in recent oratorical history. Whatever it does
for his 2008 presidential campaign, it stimulated conversation about
race in hallways, at dinner tables, and even on late-night television
shows, superseding topics like gubernatorial resignations and affairs. I
hope that we can keep these conversations going in the future, whether
or not we agree with his perspective.
But I also wonder if the example of talking about a sensitive and
often divisive topic might have something to teach us as we gather for
the United Methodist General Conference. Over the last year, I have
worked to promote the practice of "holy conferencing" at General
Conference. I think that it’s been difficult for some of us to imagine
just what holy conferencing would really look like in the give-and-take
legislative and plenary sessions at General Conference.
One thing that holy conferencing is not is the avoidance or
suppression of conversation about sensitive and divisive issues. Obama
addressed a hot-button issue that most of America can’t talk about in
the most cordial of environments, much less in a context with high
stakes for his campaign.
As I have discussed holy conferencing with others over the last year,
I have sensed that some have interpreted holy conferencing to mean
"making nice" and therefore not talking about sensitive and potentially
divisive issues. Nothing could be further from the way in which I
imagine holy conferencing to work. If we’re going to avoid difficult
topics, we’re really not holy conferencing. Avoiding crucial
conversation is just as destructive as conversation laden with
inflammatory language. We must speak about our own convictions honestly.
“One thing that holy conferencing is not is the avoidance or suppression of conversation about sensitive and divisive issues.”
This commentary is not intended to recommend a candidate for office,
but rather to suggest a way of talking about difficult issues. Obama
carefully weighed his words before speaking them. While denouncing the
"inflammatory" rhetoric of his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, he
never resorted to inflammatory language about anyone—Wright, whites,
blacks, his own family members or his political opposition. He was
gracious because all of the above-mentioned are in some way a part of
who he is by water or blood, faith or family. He doesn’t have the luxury
of cutting any of them off, because to do so is to cut off something of
himself and his heritage. He is one with them and they are one with
him; for better or for worse. Isn’t that what the body of Christ is
like?
Another way
It’s an interesting coincidence that Wright’s first name is Jeremiah.
His style of confronting injustice undeniably lives up to some of the
Hebrew prophet’s style of confronting the principalities and powers of
his day. We can argue that when there is injustice or immorality, such
styles are in order. Jesus turned over the tables in the temple when he
found injustice being perpetrated.
The point the senator was making is that it is time for the United
States to try to resolve difficult matters another way. I would say the
same for The United Methodist Church.
Obama didn’t just promote his own self-interest (winning the
Democratic nomination) but raised a long-overdue conversation to a
higher plane. That’s why it was compared the next day in The New York Times
by writer Janny Scott as one of the most significant speeches on race
in America given by a politician since the Civil War. One thing his
comments had in common with President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural
speech was the acknowledgement of pain and loss by all parties. Lincoln
didn’t gloat over the impending end of the war, elevating the side that
was going to win—which would have made losers of the other.
“For us in the church, how we talk to and about each other affects our witness to the power of Christ in our world.”
At General Conference, there will be some whose preferred way
prevails and others whose way doesn’t prevail. Some people will feel
like winners and others like losers. Yet how we talk about each other
and to each other makes a big difference in how we live with each other.
For us in the church, how we talk to and about each other affects our
witness to the power of Christ in our world.
Lifting the conversation
Repeatedly I have heard young people in our country as well as in our
church say that they desire another way of solving problems and talking
about deeply held beliefs.
It was the Young People’s Assembly in Johannesburg, South Africa,
that resurrected the guidelines of holy conferencing from previous
conversations on sexuality in The United Methodist Church. These became
the basis for the guidelines presented to us at this year’s General
Conference. Will we continue to use the previous styles of avoidance or
inflammatory confrontation in working out our differences? Or will we
consider some other ways to lift the conversation and draw people toward
each other rather than drive them apart?
As we approach General Conference, we should make Bishop Rueben Job’s book Three Simple Rules our guide as we figure out what holy conferencing looks like for us. He says:
I must seek what is best for those whose position and condition may
be far different than my vision for them. It will mean that I will seek
to heal the wounds of my sisters and brothers, no matter if their social
position, economic condition, educational achievement, or lifestyle is
radically different from mine. It will mean that the words and acts that
wound and divide will be changed to words and acts that heal and bring
together. It will mean that movements that seek to divide and conquer
will become movements that seek to unite and empower all. It will mean
that the common good will be my first thought and what is good for me
will become a secondary thought.
Will we as The United Methodist Church demonstrate holy conferencing
as well as or better than a politician on the campaign trail?
*Dyck is episcopal leader of The United Methodist Church's Minnesota Area.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
A call to prayer for General Conference
2008 United Methodist General Conference |