WEBVTT - 010423 Why is Church Still so Segregated? (Part 2) 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:06.000 And now go my mic back. You're like that. 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:11.840 Strike water from headquarters behind him. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:16.000 And if you are just tuning in Pacific cipher, I'm 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.239 your host, ramsays Jack, and ramses Jack calls me Q 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:26.439 ward that I do and left to discuss. On the show, 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:32.600 we are going to be talking about Black Church, something 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:36.920 Q and I both know a lot about. And then 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.880 for our way black history fact, we're going to discuss 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:47.440 a very inspirational woman by the name of Bessie Coleman, 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:54.480 who was the first African American woman pilot, known for 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.000 flying tricks and uh, we'll get into that in just 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:02.840 a little bit, but first we are going to discuss 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:05.399 how to become a better ally. And this one is 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:06.720 going to be a fun one. This week, I'm going 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:11.800 to play a video from TikTok and all you gotta 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:12.759 do is listen. 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:14.480 I saw this video the other day and it was 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:16.160 this white kid who went to a black barber for 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:17.440 the first time, and he was talking about how it 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:18.800 changed his life because it was the first time he 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:20.640 got like a real fading lineup and I had a 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:22.320 similar experience, but for me, it wasn't the first time 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:23.479 I went to a black barber. It was the first 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:24.720 time I went to a black church. 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:25.039 Bro. 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.160 We were in Florida and I grew up in a 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:29.280 Baptist church. We googled a church nearby and there as 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:31.000 one as like Mountain Zion Baptist Church. 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:32.039 So we're like, oh, we'll go there. 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:33.680 But we pull up right and first thing I noticed 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:35.520 is I'm like, oh, there's so many colorful suits here. 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:39.000 Didn't even realize they made like purple and orange suits. 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:39.640 Get out. 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:41.399 I walk through the door right, and everyone's just like, 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:43.520 oh hello. I was like hello, and I kind of 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:45.679 look around. I'm like, oh, I'm the only white person here. 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:47.000 I was like, oh, dude, I think this is a 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:49.240 black church. Like I've heard about these, but I live 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:51.600 in a small town in southern Ontario, so obviously I'd 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:53.560 never been to one. So everyone comes up to me, 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:55.720 most friendly group of people I've ever met. All these 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:57.840 old black women are just giving me the best hugs. 0:01:57.880 --> 0:01:58.080 Dude. 0:01:58.080 --> 0:01:59.000 It felt so loved. 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.680 Right, So I sit in my service is starting choir 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:03.600 walks out from the back. Right, Okay, they all have 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:07.080 matching robes on him, like nice, bro. They started singing 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.880 let me tell you something, black people singing gospel music. 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:13.000 Nothing like it. 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:15.560 I had goosebumps, dude, and they're singing right, and they're 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.880 they're just getting better and better. Midway through the worship, dude, 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.520 they're running up and down the aisles of the church, 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:25.400 but the congregation is shouting and waving freaking hanky. All 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.760 these old ladies had these like fans that spread out 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:29.720 and were just fanning themselves and shouting. 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:31.160 It was like, let's go. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:32.200 I was fire. 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:33.480 I was jazzed, dude. 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:35.880 It's just like clapping my hands off feet because I 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:36.480 have no rhythm. 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.720 One old lady just stopped. She's like no. I was like, yes, ma'am. Okay. 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.280 So then the pastor gets up right breaking snake skin 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.080 dress shoes like a purple zut suit. 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.080 Are like, okay, sir, you have my attention. 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:47.400 Bro. 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.760 He started speaking okay, no notes, no bullet points. I 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:52.320 don't know if he was just making it up on 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.480 the spot. The Holy Spirit was feeding them lines. And 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.799 then part way through was sermon, the organ started playing 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:03.800 while he was speaking. Is he's dripping sweat, just yelling, dude, 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:04.760 Oregon's going. 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.160 People are shouting and running up and down there. 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.320 I was like, this is incredible, felt like I was 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.200 getting like a halftime speed before I go out and 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.280 finish the second half of the Super Bowl. Bro, I 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.280 don't care who was in that service. If Charles Darwin 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:18.880 was in that service and experience that, you would be like, oh, 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:19.519 there is a God. 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:21.800 There is a God. I've been wrong, I've been mistaken. 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:25.080 You couldn't help but feel the Holy spirit. 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:25.440 Baby. 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.240 Oh man, I wish someone would come to Saint Thomas, 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:30.000 Ontario and start a black church. That's the problem. 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:31.760 Any church I go to now around here just feel 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:32.760 so boring and dull. 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:34.360 I've grown up in church my whole life, but that 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.120 was the first that I'd ever truly gone to church. 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.560 Dude, I love that. 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:44.160 I love that, and uh so, to become a better ally, 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.800 we're going to ask that you go to a black church. 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:49.640 Doesn't matter if you're a church person or not, just 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.360 go and get some of the culture. So hey man, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.160 with that said, I thought that would be an excellent 0:03:56.200 --> 0:04:04.560 segue to talk about church, or rather is church racist? 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:05.800 Hmmm. 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:11.320 So we're going to start here with a direct quote 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:16.960 from doctor Martin Luther King Junior, where he says eleven 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:20.720 o'clock on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week, 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.440 and that is something that I have largely found to 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:29.560 be true throughout most of my life, and more recently 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:31.320 there have been a lot more in the way of exceptions. 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:35.400 But today we're going to talk about that, that and 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:37.760 the exceptions as well, because we do want to highlight 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.520 the good things. But Q, tell me a little bit 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:44.360 about your background with respect to church. This is something 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:45.599 you're qualified to discuss. 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:54.760 My friend, the late Minister Doctor John H. Reese, Minister 0:04:54.839 --> 0:05:01.839 of Music, my godfather, Reverend doctor William H. Reverley, Jor 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:09.760 my godfather, and Pastor Reverend Estella Seacrest, one of the 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:16.640 first black female or Dane ministers by the National Progressive 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.240 Baptist Convention, is my mother. 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:26.279 So a little bit, a little bit, and before I 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.520 cite my qualifications, I do want to shout out the 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:34.280 originator of the TikTok video that we played earlier that 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:39.120 came from TikTok account called Canadian chest Hair. Just want 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:40.760 to make sure I give credit words to you. I 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.400 love that guy man. When I first saw that video, 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:46.520 it brought a tear to my eye because he was 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.000 so excited. And I do want to talk about some 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:53.080 experiences that we've had in church. But me, I am 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:58.520 also the child of a minister. My father, doctor Rudolph 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.320 Wayne Taylor, was a minister for the Church of God 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:06.479 in Christ his whole life. And his father was a 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:08.400 minister for the Church of God in Christ as well, 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:09.160 in fact a bishop. 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:11.400 And so all those. 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:14.480 Fancy churches and all the fancy outfits and that sort 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.880 of stuff that my friend Canadian chest here was talking about, 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:20.800 I grew up in that, like in the thick part, 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:22.919 like right in the middle. A lot of folks go 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:26.920 to church on Sunday. I went to church every day. 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.200 I was there a lot of the times. Yeah, oh no, 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.279 I know, I know. So this is why this is 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:34.159 so strange that there's. 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:43.080 Baptist training unit, Bible studyhear choir rehearsal service and more 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.440 choir rehearsal, usher board meeting like all of it. 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:53.120 Man met junior meeting, junior trustee meeting, another choir rehearsal 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:54.520 teachers meeting. 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:56.200 Man. 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.919 Look, I'm knowing, I'm knowing, And that's the way, uh 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:03.080 Black church is now. I do recognize that, you know 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.440 a lot of folks do not listen to They didn't 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.200 come here to listen to gospel or anything like that. That's 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:12.120 not what today's episode is about. 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:12.720 We are. 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.200 Here to talk about really the cultural importance of black 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:24.360 church and how divided church is. And this is a 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:26.320 place where, at least for black folks were able to 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:30.360 share a lot. This has its legacy in the slave 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.880 fields because the only time when you weren't working or sleeping, 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.360 you know, you were in church because a lot of 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:40.800 the slave masters allowed their slaves to hold service, and 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.280 they had black ministers, and they were able to dance 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.960 and play music and you know, enjoy themselves a little bit. 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:48.400 It was like a break from you know, the work 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:50.240 on the Sabbath. They rested right. 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.280 As long as you parrot their spiritual beliefs. 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:58.440 Sure, sure, but you know, if we're being honest now, 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:04.400 those are largely our spiritual beliefs. Black folks love them, yes, absolutely, 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:06.120 love us and Jesus now, and. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:07.960 I want to be truth about the genesis of that though. 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.560 These absolutely players were allowed to pray and worship was 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:14.720 the way they worship to the God of their masters. 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:17.040 Right, absolutely. And I don't and I don't want to 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:21.880 ignore our Muslim brothers and sisters, because there's a good 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.520 amount of the population who black black population who are Muslim, 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.360 And we do share this space with our Muslim brothers 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:30.760 and sisters and well as well. In fact, when you 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:32.839 Najaha was up here, we had a little bit of 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:37.120 a conversation about that. And I will say this every 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.640 chance I get. I've been all over the world. Muslim 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.120 people have treated me the most kind out of everyone 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:45.240 that I've ever set at a table with and broken 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:51.000 bread with. So now one of the things that we 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:59.920 need to discuss is the morality of folks who are Christians. 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:00.440 Right. 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:05.240 The thing is, with Christian people, you get a really 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:09.719 good sense of who they are morally because they have 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:15.920 literally a textbook that tells them how to behave, tells 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.600 them how to govern themselves, tells them how to conduct themselves. 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:20.880 And you know, it gives them a sort of a 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:24.280 moral compass or a moral guidepost. If you will, if 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:26.960 I'm doing this, if you will, Yeah, there you go, 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:29.360 thank you. I think they call it the Bible Basic 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:35.920 Instructions before leaving Earth, right, I like it so for Christians, 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:39.800 you would think that they would behave a certain way 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.360 most all the time. You know, people are people and 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:45.320 make mistakes. But for the most part, you have a 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:53.440 general idea, and what you find is that that is 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:59.439 not often the case when it comes to them suffering 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:02.600 some sort of loss, be it perceived or otherwise, you know. 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:11.560 And the strange thing is that I believe largely conservative 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:17.360 folks have been able to hijack the idea of Christianity, 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.840 and really folks call them evangelicals, but there's a lot 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.359 of folks who feel like a vote for a Republican 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.839 candidate is a vote for Jesus and just across the world, 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:30.760 and they just believe that that there's no two ways 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:35.719 about it. But the crazy thing is, you know, we 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:40.679 discuss a lot about the white moderates, right these are 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:48.119 the folks who are the biggest threat to our progress. 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:49.959 These are the folks that are like, hey man, that's 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:52.280 y'all's problem. I got my own problems, so you know, 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.600 good luck. I'm not gonna work against you, but I'm 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.360 not gonna work for you. But they're in the best 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.480 position to help us make the world a little bit 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.040 more equitable and you know, a little bit more fair. 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.760 You know, we're constantly reaching out to other radio stations 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:08.679 and you know, so forth and trying to have these 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:12.520 conversations with folks, a lot of whom are white, moderate males, 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:16.760 you know who. And then every so often we hear 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:19.200 that sort of pushback like, hey, you know what, I 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:21.240 like what you're doing. It sounds great. I don't think 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:23.840 it'll work here, and we know it'll work there, you know, 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:29.960 works everywhere. But one of the things that you know, 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:33.480 in doing the research for this segment that I found 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.559 out was that the legacy of the divisiveness in church, 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:43.160 or not divisiveness, really the segregation in church goes back 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.560 to the Civil rights movements, or rather it was it 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:47.800 was well documented in the Civil Rights movement, but it 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:51.280 also goes back to those those sleigh fields. So during 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:54.920 the Civil rights movement, the question was posed, why didn't 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:59.240 white Christians show up and and why are they so 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:06.079 aligned with with right politics? And I forget who His 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.840 name is not really important, you know, because why would 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.079 we mention the name of someone who was so nasty? 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.440 But you know, I didn't put him in my notes, 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:17.719 but I remember the story and I feel like I 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:22.920 should share this. There's a white pastor during that time 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:26.760 who said, you know, basically he was trying to say that, 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:36.280 you know, bluebirds hang out with bluebirds. Bluebirds date or 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:42.200 mate with other bluebirds. You know, that's what happens there, 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.840 and that's the way God intended. Bluebirds don't, you know, 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.320 share time and space with like monkeys or sharks or 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.079 you know, insects or anything like that. They hang out 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:58.920 with other bluebirds, and that's the natural order of things, 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.599 and this is the way that God intended. 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:02.240 Right. 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:07.280 So similarly, black folks need to be with black folks 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:09.800 on Sundays, white folks need to be with white folks 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:16.800 on Sundays. And we both have our own relationships with God, 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.280 but we don't need to mix in church. 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:20.720 Right. 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:25.080 I'm so glad I don't remember this guy's name because 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.240 I want to. The journalist in me wants to remember 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.559 his name. But he doesn't deserve any credit, I don't believe. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:33.560 But you could see how for a person who's a 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:36.240 white moderate, a person who really doesn't want to be bothered, 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:39.880 that's a very comforting thought. They can be Christian and 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:44.400 then they have this little thin slice of flawed logic 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:50.600 that helps them make sense of the world as it 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:52.720 is because they want to keep it that way, because 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:56.240 they don't want to be bothered with the ugly reality 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.720 of the situation that other human beings just like them 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.160 are enduring some stuff just because they were born slightly different. 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:10.360 Right now, we know you and IQ, hopefully our listeners know, 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.400 and if not, hopefully we'll be able to educate them. 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:13.720 We know that. 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:17.679 Human beings aren't bluebirds. 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:19.680 We're human beings. 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:25.880 And where we are able to share more, we do. 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:30.480 If we share language, then we can share more if 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:34.600 we share certain customs and certain ideas. Is it the 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:37.480 same God? Is it the same religion? Do we go 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:40.240 to the same place at approximately the same time and 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:45.920 offer the same relationship or cultivation of relationship with our 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.800 higher power? You know, you know, what they're trying to 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:51.440 do is look at what's different. What we're trying to 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:52.880 do is look at what's same. And if you look 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.120 at what's the same, there's like ninety nine percent the same. 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.440 This little little tiny little bit that's different. You know, Well, 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.920 they're they're black and we're white, and that's the way 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.000 it is in nature. So that's you know, they hold 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:06.560 on to that one little thing and try to make 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:15.440 it their whole world. And that type of split in 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:17.880 the during the Civil rights movement when there were the 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.080 freedom writers, and you know, these church folks were coming 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.720 out and holding up their babies to scratch at, you know, 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.480 the protesters, and they were like, you know, throwing bottles 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:29.920 and throwing rocks at these folks. You know, this is 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:34.400 prior to MLK taking center stage. You know, it was 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.400 church people. You know in the South, especially, most of 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:42.680 those people go to church, right, And what you see 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:48.160 is Christians out there behaving like devils because they have 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.800 this little bit of truth that makes them feel like 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.880 they have some sort of superiority or something like that. Now, 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:58.080 we know the Civil rights movement is a long time 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:02.760 ago and we're dealing with a world today, but that 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:12.040 racial divide still is present largely in a lot of churches, 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:14.600 in a lot of communities. I'm not talking about newer 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.240 churches whose sole purpose is to like I want the 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:21.160 pastor to be a woman, and I want the assistant 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:22.560 pastor to be a black person. 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:23.120 You know, like, not. 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.280 Talking about those churches, because those churches understand that you 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.680 can do a lot more together than you can having 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:34.000 the same old, boring type of church, right, and you 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.080 can take some of the cultural nuances from different types 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.160 of worshiping and make a more enjoyable experience. You know, 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.000 the Bible says, if I'm not mistaken, make a joyful 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:49.680 noise unto the Lord, right, And like like our brother 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:54.720 Canadian Chestair mentioned in his TikTok video, I think that's 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.040 one element that black folks definitely got down. If you 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:58.880 go to a black church, you know, it's a very 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.000 happy place. You know, folks is happy to be there. 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.600 They run, they jump, they shout, have the time of 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:08.880 their life, right, look forward to it. But then there's 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:13.360 some other places where that is not the case at all. 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:19.479 And unfortunately, politics and ideas about how we should interact 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:23.479 with each other, how we should treat each other, is 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.240 very much ingrained in that place. Now, I know a 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:28.640 lot of us listening to this, we're not church folks, right, 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:30.240 but we know church folks, so we have to know 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:36.040 how to deal with church folks. Black folks have to 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:40.280 say this got it, honestly, because again, when you're in 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:44.320 those slave fields, you know where your only social hour 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.720 of the week is when you're at church or just 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:52.040 before or just after. That's where you're able to share 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:57.760 a huge part of your humanity because you're confined and 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:01.119 relegated to just that working or sleep right as a 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:08.360 slave with no freedom. So you share ideas, not just religion, 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:15.120 you share jokes, not just religion, you share stories, not 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.760 just religion. You share, you know, a lot of things. 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:21.600 And so that's why in black churches, it's a huge 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:27.520 pillar in the Black community, because the legacy of slavery 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:35.320 ensured that church would really be the great watering hole, 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:40.240 if you will. And the same could be said, perhaps 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:42.320 not as intensely, but the same could be said about, 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:45.760 you know, white churches as well. And again there's a 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:48.439 lot of politics, a lot of ideas, a lot of 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:56.680 beliefs that's wrapped up into those those buildings and those fellowships. 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:56.320 You know. 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:02.000 And I think that that there's really something to be 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:08.040 said about going and visiting with some people who don't 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:12.040 pray the exact same way that you pray, right, But 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:16.080 there is something further to be said about going to 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.560 a place where people do pray this exact same way 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:22.080 that you pray, but perhaps don't look exactly like you. 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:25.760 And that's what I wanted to talk about today. So 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:29.520 before we go any further, Q your thoughts, your reaction. 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:40.960 You know, it's really difficult to not digest the very 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:56.720 blatant hypocrisy with some of our very very forward outward 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:03.439 religious folks. You said earlier about casting your vote for 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:08.680 the evangelical even though you know that this real life 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:13.040 practices don't match the campaign speech that you know he's 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:15.720 just saying so you can all feel better about the 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:17.560 fact that you voted for him for reasons that have 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:25.119 nothing to do with Jesus Christ. Across racial lines, However, 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:31.520 the hypocrisy exists. You know, people who are most critical judge, judge, 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:38.199 the harshest, uh look down upon, cast out are the 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:40.920 people who were, you know, at the people who, at 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:43.800 the same time are worrying what what Jesus do bracelet 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:49.720 on their wrist, you know, preaching about forgiveness and a 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:54.720 lack of pride, and you know, there's a there's a 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:57.600 great conflict with the way that you and I grew 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:03.920 up because everyone we worship did look like us. Yeah, 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:06.320 they did respond in the same way to that organ 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:09.440 plane while the preacher was speaking. 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:11.240 Yeah, man, that's normal. That's how it's supposed to good. 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:11.920 That means good. 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:18.800 However, prior to this conversation, like once we started having it, 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.719 it's like, wow, that's so incredible and so incredibly and 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:27.159 obviously true. I haven't spent one day thinking about just 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:32.840 how segregated our religious experience was, just how very very 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:39.720 black our religious experience was. And that's every black church everywhere, 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:45.199 no matter how not black. The city is, that sanctuary 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:50.240 and that temple will look like Compton, will look like Detroit, will. 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:52.159 Look like Oakland, will look like Newark, will. 0:21:52.000 --> 0:22:00.240 Look like Brooklyn, no matter where it is, and ever 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:03.080 had I even traced it back to that being intentional 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:05.320 as a form of separation. 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:10.760 You know, the same Bible, those same scriptures we used 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:17.600 to justify the subjugation, the enslavement, the segregation, the humanizing 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:21.680 of people that looked like you and I, Which is 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:23.520 why I touched on the point earlier. The only reason 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:26.320 we were even allowed to sing and shout and make 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:29.119 a joyful noise is because we picked up the book. 0:22:29.160 --> 0:22:32.800 They told us to pick up their God, their religion, 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:38.960 their worship. Uh, we adopted it. It became ours. But 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:42.640 you know, initially we didn't have a say. 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:42.760 So. 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:47.040 You want to hear something funny, cute? I this was 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:47.640 years ago. 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:51.199 I think I was still in doctor Westernberg's class, but 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:55.840 I took an African American literature class that she taught, 0:22:56.240 --> 0:22:58.760 and part of the curriculum was to read some of 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:05.000 the sermons that the slave preachers would preach, and a 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:11.119 lot of those sermons were about freedom, the children of 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:16.320 Israel God leading people to you know, the promised land 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:18.800 and out of their chains and out of their bondage. 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:22.480 So it's just interesting that that same Bible that was 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:29.199 used to justify slavery, and that ended up ultimately not 0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:31.560 the Bible, but the slavery and the practice and so forth, 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:34.359 and how cultures come together and are shared, ended up, 0:23:34.720 --> 0:23:37.159 you know, creating a world where we're so segregated. That 0:23:37.320 --> 0:23:40.359 was the same Bible that these folks preach from in 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:43.239 hopes of one day being free from the bondage they 0:23:43.240 --> 0:23:48.040 were in. But you know, that's just kind of how 0:23:48.080 --> 0:23:54.840 it is. So I maintain if you can go to 0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:57.760 hang out with some folks on Sunday, and who knows, 0:23:57.760 --> 0:23:58.960 you might even enjoy yourself. 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:02.840