An address given on 23 June 2020 by the Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, the Most Rev Foley Beach, to the provincial assembly.
Archbishop Provincial Address.2020 by George Conger on Scribd
Address by Archbishop Foley Beach to the ACNA Provincial Council
Yes, he starts with the premise that “systemic racism” exists and takes off from there. If we’re going to have a “conversation”, we need to define what that means and then determine if the charge is true, including statistically, not just in terms of “perception is reality.”
Whenever someone starts off on the trail of “we have a systemic racism problem”, I always want to stop them and ask, please define “we”? And then after they stumble around with that, I want them to define “systemic racism”? Of course the problem with my questions is that you can never get the passive/aggressive preachers of “we have a problem with systemic racism” to ever cooperate and answer those questions, and certainly will not proactively define their terminology.
I sit here speechless.
I don’t recognize what he’s talking about. The Church I remember has been strong on this subject since supporting the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And that’s only because that’s when I came of age. The notorious white-sheeted freaks dried up on the vine because evangelical churches, including the Southern Baptist Convention, gave them the cold shoulder.
Churches have spoken out about slavery since before the War Between the States.
I guess my first response is: “I reject the premise.” We were complicit in ‘Systemic Racism’? Indeed? What is that? How were we? We did not speak out against it? Before this decade, we didn’t know what it was, or indeed THAT it was!
I’m tempted to say more, but it’s bad form for a Moderator to be more controversial than anything else on the page, so I’ll practice some rare self-restraint. I WILL say that there are different challenges that face our African-American brothers and sisters, of which whatever’s going on in Policing is only one of them (my daughter’s a cop, I’m very proud of her, don’t get me started). But I don’t hear anything else being discussed in any comprehensive manner. The name ‘Chicago’ comes to mind.
I appreciate the kind, loving, and conciliatory tone our Archbishop is taking. But there’s more going on in this subject than in the discussion that surrounds it, and that begins with the premise that underlies these comments.
I… wow.
There is indeed more going on and I suspect it is the hijacking of the Church by Social Justice Warriors of the Left. Check out the AMEN Facebook page. You would think slavery is still a legal institution in America. And as far as the police: like any profession these is a minor percentage of bad actors. But look at what they deal with everyday. If they are not vigilant with threat assessments while out on patrol they are likely to end up dead. No one should expect to go to work and die on the job.
You don’t even have to go on a ride-along. The statistics are clear, including from a Harvard Professor who reportedly set out to prove, statistically, the opposite. His result not only surprised HIM, it aligned with other statistical analysis, such as that of Heather Mac Donald.
This does not take away from the need to show compassion and love to fellow human beings, of any demographic. But, when one starts throwing around the word ‘systemic’, I would think statistical analyses would matter.
And if solutions are being sought, you just can’t do that successfully without an accurate understanding of what exactly the problem is.
Would be interesting to know how much money ACNA churches will be donating to BLM. Or, the AMEN group.
Do you think there will be any?
It would be interesting to know this for all churches. Obviously the liberal churches will donate, but what about the independent evangelicals, southern Baptists etc? Vigilance is a good idea for any Christian, even of one’s own institution.
Good point.
The BLM protesters don’t want to admit this, because as soon as they do, their own racism becomes exposed. There is plenty of injustice in the world, and the Church should speak out on it, where it can make a difference. But trying to pretend that only black people have suffered is itself racism.
The BLM protesters don’t want to admit this, because as soon as they do, their own racism becomes exposed. There is plenty of injustice in the world, and the Church should speak out on it, where it can make a difference. But trying to pretend that only black people have suffered is itself racism.
That sounds biblical and sensible.