Some religious folks in Aberdeen are standing up for social justice. The Presentation Sisters issued this statement on the murder of George Floyd and the Christian imperative to end white privilege in our local paper:
The recent violent death of Mr. George Floyd weighs heavily on the hearts of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Aberdeen, S.D. We stand in solidarity with and offer our prayers and sympathy to the Floyd family and to all persons of color whose dignity and well-being are violated by white privilege and systemic racism in our country.
While the rights of all Americans come with birthrights, persons of color constantly find themselves on trial to be awarded these rights; this is the system of white privilege. This insidious evil, inaugurated by the slave trade, threaded through and has become firmly seated in American culture.
We Presentation Sisters acknowledge being complicit in this personal and institutional injustice. We join with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in asserting, “It is long past time to dismantle white privilege.” We pray for healing of this national sin and we invite all people to join with us in the work of conversion.
Jesus told the rich young man, who might prefigure the richest nation on Earth, that to love one’s neighbor as oneself is a measure of one’s love of God. Nano Nagle, who risked her life to empower the oppressed of her day, hands this legacy of love of God and neighbor to Presentation Sisters, and we pray to be worthy of the gift [Sister Pat Prunty, on behalf of the Presentation SIsters Justice Commission, letter to the editor, Aberdeen American News, 2020.06.08].
Some Protestants lived up to their denominational name and raised their voices alongside the Sisters to express solidarity with the Catholic Sisters and all who seek empathy and justice:
We, the undersigned local clergy of Aberdeen, who strive to bear witness to God’s love for all in these trying times, stand with those who are moved to anger and frustration at the brutal and senseless killing of George Floyd, who perished under the merciless restraint of police officers in Minneapolis, Minn.
In response to the event of his death and the ensuing demonstrations, we seek the guidance of Jesus Christ who, in his first statement about his ministry, repeated the words of the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
We seek to listen with empathy to a community crying out against systematic racism and see this murder as a tipping point in their anguish.
While we do not agree that violence and destruction are ever a solution to the issues faced, we hear once again the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., when he said that “riots are the language of the unheard.”
We seek to hear the cries of the unheard and to speak with those who have experienced the deaf ear to their grievances. We join in their cries for justice, and pray for repentance of the sins of oppression and persecution against the marginalized and people of color.
The Rev. Lou E. Whitmer, North Highland United Methodist Church
The Rev. Blair Kirkpatrick, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
The Rev. Enno K. Limvere, United Church of Christ
The Rev. Erin Heidelberger, Zion Lutheran Church
The Rev. Jeff Whitlock, Bethlehem Lutheran Church
The Rev. Rhia Strom, Bethlehem Lutheran Church
The Rev. Kevin Bergeson, Bethlehem Lutheran Church
The Rev. Jack Erickson, Faith United Methodist Church
The Rev. Leland Armbright, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
The Rev. Sheila B.Richards, United Methodist Church, retired
The Rev. Sheila Apland-Ottenbacher, United Church of Christ [letter to the editor, Aberdeen American News, 2020.06.08]
Those aren’t terrorists. Those are Christians calling from their Christian principles for the same thing the protestors in the streets want, the same thing the occupant of the White House equates with terrorism: liberty and justice for all Americans.
But hey, if the occupant of the White House will irresponsibly claim that an unarmed 75-year-old man attacked an injured by police is really a terrorist provocateur, he’ll probably attack Aberdeen’s Catholic Sisters and Protestant pastors as sinners trying to tear down the religion that he’s working so hard to uphold.
Amen.
Good letter by the Presentation Sisters and by the clergy. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is an overarching organization of nearly all Roman Catholic orders of nuns in the USA. So when the Presentation Sisters join with them, we learn that 90+% of nuns are opposed to white scumacysts, individual racist actions and racist systems.
The number of people who actually side with white scumacysts keeps shrinking as more and more white people see how racism actually works and how completely pervasive and pernicious it is.
If they are going to walk in his shoes and preach his gospel, then its high time to follow his teaching.