Race & Racialization — Discussion Questions

February 28, 2019August 14, 2019Kirk E. Miller

The following is a list of discussion questions composed for a CrossWay Community Church small group, Christ & Culture, for use throughout February 2019.

Defining terms (my best attempt):

Race– A grouping of persons which is (1) socially classified and perceived by certain select physical characteristics, (2) conceived of as an entity distinct from other groups of the same sort, and (3) viewed as an identity which is inherited and passed down generationally (note: a uniquely U.S. conception of race).
Racism– Prejudice, partiality, or mistreatment of another individual or group of people based on their race.
Racialization– The condition of a society in which significant disparities exist along racial lines wherein race matters profoundly with respect to life experiences such as relationships, opportunities, advantages/disadvantages, and outcomes.

Resource: “Is Black Lives Matter the New Civil Rights Movement?” by Mika Edmondson

Discussion questions:

Bible & theology:
- What does the Bible have to say about race? Does it? Racism? How does it apply to racism?
- What might the Bible have to say about how we evaluate the concept and proposal of the existence of systemic racism (raised below)?
- How does Christ and the gospel in particular provide a solution to racism and racialization?
Ideological & social-cultural analysis:
- What is racism? Racialization? What’s the difference?
- Does racism exist today?
- Is our society racialized?
- Does systemic (or structural) racism exist? What is it?
- Is “white privilege” real? If so, what does it mean?
- What is “reverse racism”? Is it a reality?
- Is there a danger of emphasizing race or racism too little or too much?
- What’s wrong with racial segregation? Is there a problem with it?
Intersections: How does race relate to the following subjects in our current dialogue, and how do we evaluate these connections / intersections?
- Criminal justice?
- Police brutality?
- Housing?
- Economics?
- Education?
- Political representation?
- Immigration?
- Incarceration?
Evaluating expressions of activism:
- How do we evaluate current movements attempting to curtail or shed light on what they perceive to be racial injustice?
- What do we make of contemporary activist movements such as #BlackLivesMatter? What’s good in them? What’s less than desirable, or faulty? (Or, likewise, seeming counter-movements such as #BlueLivesMatter?)
Ecclesiology & missiology:
- What is the church’s role in fighting racialized- (or race-related) injustice?
- What is the church’s role, or what should the church be doing, to help address racialization or race-related disparities and/or injustice?
- Is there something wrong, or unhealthy, with an ethnically homogeneous church? If so, what can / should we do about it?
- What does it look like to model racial unity in the church?
- How does the church’s response to race and racial tensions relate to its witness?
Contextualization & application:
- What issues does our particular setting/context (i.e., Milwaukee) pose with regards to issues related to race and racialization?
- What can we do to be agents of change / difference-makers / “Christian neighbor-lovers” with respect to race-related issues — in our immediate context, or more broadly?
- How can I resist and/or help change systems or realities that privilege me and disadvantage or discriminate against others?
- How can I better listen to and understand those with different experiences than me on account of race?
- Do I harbor any known or unknown racial prejudice or bias?

Jon Hanes on a Christian Approach to Environmental Concerns Such as Climate Change

January 17, 2019January 17, 2019Kirk E. Miller

I lead a small group at my church, CrossWay Community Church (Milwaukee), called “Christ & Culture,” where we examine various social and cultural issues of our day and try to consider how we might engage these things Christianly and Biblically.

Last night we had the privilege of hosting my dear friend, Jon Hanes, who delivered a talk on a Christian approach to environmental concerns with particular attention on the example of climate change.

Jon Hanes is an adjunct geography professor at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) and a deacon at Lake Drive Baptist Church on the northside of Milwaukee, where I was a member with him for approximately eight years.

Many folks who were not able to attend asked me to record his talk, which I’ve provided below. We had some additional discussion and helpful conversation after the close of this recording. But the audio below reflects the “lecture” portion of his talk.

Dr. Jon Hanes
January 16th 2019

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by Jon in this audio are his own and are not representative of his employer or church.

Books Jon mentioned in his talk:

Immigration & Refugees — Small Group Discussion Questions

January 2, 2019January 2, 2019Kirk E. Miller

The following is a list of discussion questions composed for a CrossWay Community Church small group, Christ & Culture, for use throughout December 2018 and January 2019.

Understanding ourselves:
- What influences are at play in your own life shaping the way you react to and approach this topic (e.g., experiences, sources of news, upbringing, neighborhood, relationships, political views, etc.)?
- What concerns do you have / what things are important to you in this controversy and subject matter?
- What are our biases?

Understanding our Christian starting point:
- What values, priorities, and principles should we, as Christians, be applying to this situation / question?
- What Bible passages speak to this issue?
- Are there any seeming tensions? If so, how do we resolve or reconcile them?

Understanding the role of government:
- From a Christian perspective, what is the government’s obligation to immigrants and/or refugees.
- As Christians, what should we hope or strive to see realized in our government when it comes to policy on immigration or refugees?

Evaluating society’s approaches:
- What are the common approaches and reactions to immigration, immigrants, and refugees we find in our society? What messages are we hearing?
  - On the Right:
    - “A government needs law or order” (e.g., controlled borders). And with that, “If you come here illegally, you need to face the consequences” (e.g., deportation or sanctions of some kind).
    - “Immigrants need to assimilate to our culture and learn our language.” Or, resistance to immigration/immigrants on the grounds that, “We need to preserve our culture.”
    - “We need to spend our resources taking care of our own before we take care of others.”
    - “We might let in terrorists” (in the case of refugees).
    - “They are violent gang members and drug pushers” (in the case of immigrants).
    - “We’re not saying you can’t come here. We’re just saying, ‘Do so legally like other people.’ Follow the process that’s in place. When you come here illegally, you undermine those those who seek to come here legally.”
    - “They’re taking our jobs” (referring to immigrants, legal or illegal).
  - On the Left:
    - “Borders are an arbitrary or outdated concept. We don’t need them. It’s a human rights issue — people should be free to migrate and move as they please.”
    - “These folks are simply seeking a better life here.”
    - “It’s okay to break the laws” (e.g., sanctuary cities) “if those laws are unjust.”
    - “It’s not realistic to deport all these people who are here illegally.”
    - “This is the only life and country they’ve ever known” (speaking of illegals who have been here for quite some time, or who have grown up here). “They are American for all intents and purposes, even if they are undocumented.”
    - “You can’t punish children for the crimes of their parents” (speaking about so-called DACA individuals).
    - “You’re tearing families apart” (e.g., by deporting parents who are illegal, but who would leave behind legal children, or by not allowing individuals into the country who have family members here).
- Why do you think folks think these ways? What concerns are at play in these sentiments? Can you see how these expression could be (or could seem to be) reasonable, or come from a place of genuine good-interest and sincerity (even if misguided or erroneous)?
- How might we analyze, assess, or critique these arguments, beliefs, reactions, dispositions, etc. from a Christian perspective?

Considering policy questions:
- How can we justly, fairly, and compassionately treat migrants seeking to enter our country?
- How should we assess policies that demonstrate partiality towards would-be immigrants based on where they are from? Is this justifiable?
- Should we build a border wall, as the Trump administration is seeking?
- What do we make of the Trump administration’s policy of separating families at the border? What is a Christian response to this policy?
- What policy changes could be made to improve the immigration system in our country?

Considering our responsibility:
- What is the church’s responsibility in addressing or engaging these matters?
- The individual christian’s responsibility?

On the ground:
- What are some practical things we can do to make a difference here?
- What are some ways we can helpfully speak to others (Christians or non-Christians) about these matters?

Moving from Biblical Convictions to a Christian Social Engagement — Key Questions

September 23, 2018December 22, 2018Kirk E. Miller

Preface: I’ve recently inherited and am now assigned to lead a small group at my church assembled around the topic, “Christ in Culture.” The nature of this group, among other things, involves coming together to discuss and think through hot button social issues to ask, “How should we as Christians engage these things? What can / should we do?”

I plan on beginning this year’s small group by taking time to have us evaluate our “grids” — the assumptions and paradigms we use when considering these topics. Towards that end, I’ve quickly composed a list of questions that I believe get us to those “foundations.”

I thought I’d share here as well. (Feel free to comment with any suggestions, additional ideas, etc.)

Revelation – What “sources” do we use to think about these things (e.g., scripture, but also — experience, anthropology, sociology, psychology, history, political science, etc.)? And what are the interplay among these things? In other words, theologians often distinguish between special or supernatural revelation (e.g., Bible) and general or natural revelation (i.e., other sources of truth). What sources should we use? And how do they relate? What happens if they seem to conflict? Do we give precedence to any? Do we ignore everything but scripture? If we use sources outside of the Bible, does this imply a rejection of our belief in the sufficiency of scripture? What does it mean for Scripture to be “sufficient”? When using scripture in these discussions, how do we move from scripture to these contemporary issues? In other words, how are we to “apply” scripture to these issues?

Mission – What is the mission of the church? Is it our responsibility to engage in these things, or are these simply “worldly” affairs? Are they distractions from evangelism? When these issues get political, how does the church intersect with government and/or participate in politics? Are these things we should address as a whole church, or just on an individual level — as persons who make up the church?

Gospel – What is the relationship of the gospel to these things? (1) Often times people speak of these things as “gospel issues.” But what does that mean? Are they implications? Entailments? Or the essence (“heart and center”) of the gospel? (2) What is the role of conversion and regeneration in seeing “social justice” come to fruition? Does/can true justice happen outside of people being converted/saved? And if not, what can we accomplish in society among those who are not saved, and is it still worth pursuing?

Cultural mandate – Genesis 1:28 gives us what has been called “the cultural mandate” (“Be fruitful… multiply… have dominion”). (1) How does this mandate impact our responsibility to engage culture? (2) How does this affect our view of culture? Is it all good? All bad? Somewhere in between? How so?

Image of God (Imago Dei) – The doctrine that we are all made in God’s image would seem to have a significant impact on how we should approach these things. (1) That humanity is the image of God grants each person irrevocable dignity. How does that affect our social engagement, particularly with regards to how humans are to be treated? (2) Creation in the image of God would also seem to imply that humans, whether they believe in God or not, have an inescapable sense of God — we were made to know him — and therefore retain “glimpses” of truth and righteousness in their affairs. How does this affect the way we partner with them in these areas? Our expectations for them?

Sin; depravity (hamartiology) – At the same time, the Bible teaches us that outside of Christ, humanity is wretchedly sinful. (1) Theologians have historically spoken of the “noetic” effects of sin — sin affects our ability to think and believe rightly about God and his world. For example, in Romans 1, Paul says that sinners “suppress the truth.” How might this reality affect our expectations about engaging and partnering with non-believers? (2) How does the doctrine of sin impact of expectations about culture (e.g., it’s goodness/badness)? (3) How might the doctrine of sin affect our pessimism regarding human nature, and the need for certain regulations (“checks and balances”) — whether in government or business (market)?

End times (eschatology) – How does our view of the end times affect our social engagement? Are we generally optimistic or pessimistic about what change we can bring? Can we bring about God’s kingdom here on this earth? And, if so, how, or in what sense?

Compassion & justice – Often times debates among Christians clash on the juxtaposition and tension between principles of justice and compassion. How do we promote policies that are both just and compassionate? And what do we do when the two appear to be in tension? Do we prioritize one over the other?

Government – (1) From a Christian perspective, what is the role of government (see Romans 13)? In other words, what is government supposed to do? (2) Should we engage in politics, or withdraw? (3) If we engage, should we attempt to legislate our morality? If not, then how do we determine what to legislate? If there is no such thing as moral-less, value-less, legislation, then what values do (should) we use? In other words, if we desire “righteous” (socially just) legislation in our government, from where are we getting our standard of justice, if not the Bible?