Doing the Work of The Church

America , in the 9 years between 1954 and 1963, was a far different society than it is today. This was, over all, a FAR more conservative and tradition- savoring nation in the mid 1950's through the Early 1960's.many portions of what we consider the "Deep South" were more conservative than most of America in those same years.

 At its' best,Conservatism is about embracing timeless ideas that are valuable, noble and worrh continuing to carry forward! Fighting to protect and safeguard such ideas AND ideals is what make conservatism appealing to many!

Conservatism sullies its' self and can be branded as ignoble and beknighted when it fights to support ideas that are spurious and odious. Treating people differently because of the color of their skin is repugnant. Making people of different races use different bathrooms is grotesque! Stating that it is UNACCEPTABLE for black and white people to drink from the SAME water fountain is objectionably foolish. Telling black people that they MUST  ride in the back of a bus and if white people are standing be expected to surrender their set so that the WHITE PERSON may sit is cruelly degrading,

Yet, in many places in Our United States this was simply the way things were. People actually said things like" "Black people lack self -control and have poor judgement" or " Black people do best if they are told how to live" just were things that people blindly accepted as reality.It is not true that Black people were OVERALL treated better and more fairly outside of the Deep South but they did have more opportunities in the larger cities of the East and Midwest- in places such as New York, Chicago and Detroit, Not well, not as they certainly should have been treated but still better.

Experiencing more opportunity and being able to be seen as people just like any other people started to stir the imaginations of people who had gained freedom from enslavement and who had for too long to allow people to be comfortable and feel justified in mistreating them.

What is fascinating is that the Church became in The Deep South the rallying ground for those who believed it was best for all concerned for things to stay has they long had been. Other asked what was Christian about racism, separatism, hatred, bigotry and denying that people of different races were equal both in simple fact as well as in the sight of God!

Many Churches felt that it was good to look forward to what God would bless you with in the next life and simply accept as  your " lot in life" however you are treated now. People were told that being mistreated and putting up with it was a sign of being a dedicated servant of God. These ideas cannot be justified in the verses of the Bible but they can be justified by leaders who want to fit in and be liked .

In a growing number of Black Churches, The leaders studied and preached Scriptures that say that God is on the side of the oppressed. They noted verses that it was wrong for people to victimize and mistreat the poor. They saw a God who saw all human as sinners in need of grace and all equal in their need for Him. The more they studied, discussed and preached the more they saw a need to call the authorities at every level of US Government and our society that America HAD to decide to live out the lofty ideals of The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution. They also asked that Christian live as if they believed that all the truths of the Bible applied to all and needed to govern the lives of all.

Doctor Martin Luther King Junior during one of his times in jail for disobeying laws that had no intelligent right to exist never mind be enforced reminded people that the Church was established to speak truth to power.That God called us all to become citizens of His kingdom and not just to excuse and justify that which is unworthy of being defended!

Dr. King knew that the work of the Church is not meant to provide cover for immorality and inequity. He knew and gave his life for the ideal that we must all love and embrace and accept each other with the love that Jesus provides to us! Doing the True work of The Church is to live by the Truth where ever that Truth Takes you and what ever that Truth demands of you!

- Johnny -