email response to fear

My brother sent me three emails: One that galvanizes prayer warriors against Obama's election, appealing to concerns that he is Muslim, that the US will be taken over by "Arabs," and that he hates Christians and white people. One says that Fox News will be airing a documentary about how terrible Obama is. And one is about a tourist who contrasts "polluted" "Arab-run" Egypt with "clean" Israel. Though I'm not clear why I bothered, this is my reply to him:

Actually, my deep and profound prayer is that hatred, fear, and ignorance are conquered by God's abiding and transformative love. My fervent prayer is that we as Christians recognize our God-given duty to be radically loving, radically welcoming, and impossibly hopeful in creating justice and mutual respect for the world we live in. My hope is that God's spirit of love can transform the fear I read in the emails you sent.

Regarding the pollution in Egypt, it is actually the Christian nations in Europe and America that created pollution in the form of combustion engines, fossil fuel-burning electric plants, and disposable products (that get thrown away and blown around as trash). The pollution described in your email already exists in the US--and you're right, it is scary.

Our land is sorely in need of healing, this is true. And my sorrow is that a political election is fueling fear instead of hope. It is exploiting economic concerns and fear of difference (racial fear, fear of those who have a different religion, fear about loss of security) by providing information without proof, instead of providing solutions and hope.

I have read some of Jeremiah Wright's sermons and watched some interviews. I think he speaks prophetically about very real injustices that exist in our country. Like ancient Hebrew prophets under the Babylonian empire and like Jesus' ministry under the Roman empire, Wright calls out for justice for those who have been oppressed. We as Christians (including Barack Obama, who is decidedly NOT a Muslim) are in a position to heal injustice - not create further wounds and more fear.

love,
Wade


For your consideration, I also included an essay written by my friend EJoye, one of the greatest ministers-in-training I know. She reflects many of the hopes I have for the future in an essay she wrote for Clergy for Obama:
[Find this on EJoye's blog]