For our holiday episode, we talked to faith leaders about their experiences addressing race with their congregations.
We wanted to know if they felt obligated to address race (many said yes); whether parishioners were receptive (sometimes); and why it was or was not an important part of their ministry (you’ll have to listen to the show to find out).
And at the end of the interviews, we asked each faith leader to share an example from a religious text that they felt supported their opinion on the tie between race and religion. Some quoted scripture, and others told a parable.
Check them out below.
Pastor Terrell Carter, Webster Groves Baptist Church
"As a Christian, I believe that God loves. And that in Christ, God does not put qualifications. The things that we see Christ doing, the people we see Christ interacting with…the people we see Christ caring about the most are the marginalized and the cast off. The people that Christ had the biggest problem with and fought with the most were the overly religious Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes. The people that thought they knew God’s word inside and out. But that word had not touched their hearts, and had not changed the way they interacted with people for good."Pastor Terrell Carter
Leah Gunning Francis, Eden Theological Seminary
"’Thy shall love thy lord with all thy heart, mind and soul. And love thy neighbor as thy self.’ And to ask, who is my neighbor? And to push the issue that your neighbor is not just the person that’s in closest proximity to you. But that we are all neighbors. We are all connected. We are all part of the human family."Leah Gunning Francis
Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, Jewish Community Relations Council
"That’s what I see as our call, to even ask ourselves the questions about race. What is it that we want to stand for and who is it that we’re stepping on? And often times we look at the answers to those questions, we’re going to find a very strong racial element."Rori Picker Neiss
Imam Askia F. Hameed, Masjid Al Mu’minun Islamic Center
"'Oh, you who believe, stand out firmly for Allah as witnesses to fair dealing. And let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just. That is next to piety … And fear Allah, for Allah is well acquainted with all that you do.’ That’s the verse that reflects, in my opinion, on the obligation to justice despite the environment that we’re dealing with."Imam Askia Hameed
