We renounce it!

This evening, Indivisible Monroe organized a vigil for the victims of domestic terrorists in Charlottesville, Va., and a rally against white supremacy and racism. I was asked to speak. This is what I said.

My name is Bette Kauffman. I’m the Archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana and Professor Emerita of Communication at ULM.

Since the horrifying events of last week in Charlottesville, I have observed attempts on social media by well-meaning folks to frame those events as a failure of civil debate. These folks are against violence, and I am totally with them on that point. Violence is always a failure of some kind.

But their condemnation of violence ends with a plea along the lines of “can’t we just agree to disagree.” And the answer to that is a resounding, “NO”!

We cannot deal with white supremacy, facism and racism in our midst by agreeing to disagree! That notion defines white supremacy and racism as just another set of opinions in a roomful of credible, reasonable opinions—which we will consider, debate and perhaps work out a compromise between, or “agree to disagree.”

My friends, the day we accept white supremacy and racism as “just another point of view” worthy of our consideration is the day we have lost our way as a country. The day we “agree to disagree” with white supremacy and racism is the day we have lost our way as human beings.

I was invited to speak here tonight because of the collar I wear. To introduce what I want to say specifically to Christians tonight, I will quote from a statement published by my Bishop, the Right Rev. Jacob Owensby, in reponse to the events in Charlottesville.

Bishop Owensby said,

For Christians, [white supremacy and racism] are appalling. We are all God’s children. In Christ we are all sisters and brothers. Every human being possesses infinite dignity, and it is our right, duty and privilege to respect each person we meet as God’s beloved. Everyone is equal before God. Everyone should be equal under the laws of the land.

I ask those who claim Christianity as their own to recall for a moment your baptismal vows. In those vows, you were asked to renounce evil—not merely disapprove or disagree, but to renounce and resist it.

To fulfill that vow, we must name the evils of white supremacy and racism, call it out when we see and hear it, and take action—non-violent but clear and courageous—action against it.

White folks, we must quit standing by and leaving it up to our brown and black brothers and sisters to lead the fight! They have been waiting forever for us to come alongside, nay, to take the lead in fighting white supremacy and racism. It is way past time for us to do so.

Our Christian baptismal covenant ends with our promises to see and serve Christ in every human being, and to strive for justice and peace among all people.

That is why we must reach out to the haters in love, why we must fight evil ideologies with the truth of God’s love for all human kind. It is not always easy to see how to do that, but that is what we must do.

I will conclude with a few more words from my Bishop:

Racism is a sin. White supremacy is a racist ideology. Its presence in Charlottesville was undeniable. It is our responsibility as followers of Christ to denounce this hate and violence without resorting to hate and violence ourselves.

And let the people say, AMEN.