A White Woman and a Black Man Walk into a Church in Kentucky...

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

So did you hear about the church in Kentucky that recently decided to ban interracial couples from joining their congregation? If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a brief article from the Huffington Post to catch you up on the  shenanigans.

My favorite part of that story is that the church board decided that interracial couples could attend church services but could not officially join the congregation, nor participate in church activities, "except for funerals." Why funerals I wonder? Does death trump racism? Or maybe a funeral, just ain't a funeral without a negro in attendance? I'm just wondering.

But before anyone gets really angry, there's good news up ahead. Once the church members discovered that it was against state and federal law to ban interracial couples from the church, they decided their previous vote didn't count. Now, everyone is welcome to worship at the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church. Don't you feel better now? I'm sure there's going to be a long line of colored folks banging on those church doors asking to praise the Lord with the fine folks at Gulnare who have recently seen the light.

Okay, I'm going to get serious here for a second. One, I'm not surprised that this happened. I'm not surprised because I know that racism is still very much alive in this country and the world. I know that many people -- of all colors and stripes -- believe that folks should just stick with their own kind when it comes to marriage.

But I'm going to try to sympathize with this congregation, give them the benefit of the doubt. Gulnare Free Will Baptist  is a tiny church in Appalachia. Now, I'm no Appalachian expert, but I do know that there aren't a ton of Black people in them thar hills. It's very easy to stay rooted in ignorance and stereotypes when there's nobody around to challenge your belief system. Perhaps now that their peculiar brand of "ignorance" has been shown to the world and they have been shamed, they will begin to change their ways. Maybe. I said, maybe.

Here's a clip from the church's pastor who suggests that maybe that will happen.



What do you think? Can anything good come from this painful moment? Like what? And is anyone else wondering if the young White woman who dragged her African fiance to the church truly believed that the congregation would welcome her with open arms? Or was she just hoping to heat things up and bring the church into the 21st century?

I'm so totally listening.

Peace!

America's First Black, Female Rabbi

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

In about half an hour I'm going to tune in to the NPR show, Tell Me More to hear an interview with Alysa Stanton, the nation's first Black female rabbi. I thought her ordination was recent, but in fact she's been ordained since 2009. Here's her story in a Time magazine article.

I've been thinking about writing a story about Black people choosing their own religion, especially after being raised in a traditional Black church and hearing about Stanton makes me want to pursue that story even more. And I'm not sure it has to be Black people, could be anyone who finds their own faith. I myself have been on a spiritual journey since college, 'trying on' several different religions, including the Bahai faith and Unitarian Universalism.

What about you Meltingpot readers? Any of you have your own conversion story you'd like to share? I'm listening.

Peace. And have a happy fourth of July too!

Elvis Was Jewish ?

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

As you know, I'm all about discovering more about our meltingpot lives. It fascinates me to no end to witness how cultures clash, co-mingle and cozy-up in these United States of America and yet we still like to maintain the myth that this country is a purely segregated one. Ha! I laugh at the notion that people of all different colors and stripes haven't been living, loving and laughing together since day one.

That's why I was tickled pink to discover, while I was down in Virginia, that Elvis's mother was Jewish. Did anyone else know that the King of Rock and Roll belonged to the Chosen People? Why is this not common knowledge? Although all of the Jewish folk I spoke with in Virginia did say that most Jewish people did know that 'Elvis was one of theirs.' Apparently, Elvis was known to wear a religious necklace towards the end of his life and he had a Star of David put on his mother's gravestone.

As I understand it, while his mother was Jewish, she did not practice the faith. But this needs to be checked. Does anybody else know anything about Elvis's Jewish heritage? How do you think this information would have effected his career had it been common knowledge during his day as the King? What about now? Do you think it was deliberately suppressed? Here is a website that explains Elvis's Jewish heritage. I cannot verify its accuracy, but it seems to be the same information the historian in Virginia shared with me, but in more detail.

So, if anyone knows more, tell us about it.

I'm listening.

Peace!

Would You Worship Holy Thugs?

Meltingpot Readers,

The other day I was in my car listening to the BBC world service when I heard a story about a new religion gaining popularity in Venezuela. The religion sounds like a version of Santeria, where adherents worship various saints and spirits, many of these spirits being dead Venezuelans of some popular appeal. Most notably, people are praying to and asking for protection from a group of dead gang members, known as the 'holy thugs.' Mothers are praying to the 'holy thugs' to keep an eye out for their young sons so they don't stray into gang life, and gang members are praying to the holy thugs for protection while they rob and assault people. Makes you go hmmm, right?

Here's a link to the BBC story, so you can hear it for yourself.

In some ways I get it, but in other ways, I'm left scratching my head. What do you think? Would you worship 'holy thugs' if violence was taking over your land?

I'm listening.

Peace.

It's All Saints Day. Did You Build Your Altar?

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

Did you know that today is All Saint's Day? I went to a Dia De Los Muertos ceremony at our Unitarian church yesterday and part of the service included calling out the names of our deceased loved ones and adding their pictures to a table in the front of the sanctuary that was decorated with sweets, candles and flowers. It was a lovely celebration.

Of course this is not the first time I've taken part in a 'Day of the Dead' celebration, but the idea of paying homage to our ancestors has been tickling my mind for awhile now. And I admit, I'm a sucker for ritual and myth. While I was investigating the cultural traditions of Ghana I discovered that the ancestors who have passed are still highly regarded and remembered in everyday life there. I have a dear friend who keeps an altar in her bedroom for her father who died when she was a teen. Perhaps because many of my family members are dying now, I am feeling called to examine how I can keep their memory alive AND honor their contribution to my life. I also want my children to know the wonderful people who paved the way for their existence. I think having an altar in my home that serves as an active reminder of my relatives who have crossed over is a wonderful and comforting symbol of continuity and respect. What's more, I found out some more about my maternal grandmother whom I know very little about. I told my mother about the altar and asked what she thought I should add to honor her mother. "What kind of things did she like," I asked? I thought my mother might scoff at the idea, but instead she fell back into a memory and told me that my grandmother liked Coca-Cola in a bottle, circus peanuts, peppermints and candy orange slices. I never knew that. But now I do. And my children will too.

As soon as I'm done here at work today, I'm going on the hunt for circus peanuts. For my grandmother.

What about your Meltingpot readers. Do you have an altar in your home? Do you honor your ancestors in other ways? I found this article on Wikipedia about the practice of honoring the dead. It's a universal practice, expressed in different ways of course, but I love how almost every culture has special rituals and myths around their dead.

Okay I'm listening.

Peace!

Dressing Up for Jesus?

Yesterday I wore blue jeans to church. I could feel 10 generations of my ancestors rolling over in their graves. But it was a Unitarian church and the (mostly White) congregation comes to church wearing everyday clothes, not "church clothes." I've seen people come to church in jeans, track suits, and (gasp) even shorts. And it always seems a little bit wrong. Wrong to come into God's house without fixing yourself up a little or at least putting a ribbon in your hair. That's the way I was raised. Actually to the extreme.

In the Baptist church I attended as a child, we dressed to go to church. Girls in pretty dresses, hair neat and pressed, boys in suits. Yes, suits! Women weren't allowed to wear pants, not even fancy, dress pants. And it wasn't unusual to see fine hats adorning the heads of all of the women above a certain age. I thought that's how everybody dressed for church. For a long time I thought that.

A White Quaker friend of mine recently took her children to a service at a Black, mega church here in Philadelphia. She had to send her kids back upstairs to change outfits because when they heard they were going to church, they just put on jeans and t-shirts, like they always do to attend Quaker meeting and the "hippie dippie" Catholic church they also attend sometimes (Hippie dippie is her adjective not mine.). "Why do we have to change?" they asked. And my friend answered, "Because Black people dress nicer for church than White people."

She said she felt horrible for explaining the situation that way, and yet, she felt confident that what she was saying was more fact than stereotype.

Her story stayed in my mind on Sunday, when I wore jeans to church. It felt so wrong, and yet it was a relief not to have to get dressed up to go to church. Needless to say, I still wore a fancy shirt, high-heel shoes and brand-new earrings to offset the jeans, but I felt more like myself.

And so I began to wonder is it true that Black people feel the need to dress for church and White people don't? Why is that? Is it really about race or is it more about particular congregations, denominations, and regions of the country?

Do southern White Baptists dress for church, but White Unitarians don't? My mother had a sister who converted to Catholicism and faster than you can say, Jesus wept, she started wearing her favorite clam diggers and t-shirts to church. And we should broaden the discussion to include Asians and Latinos and every other ethnic category because certainly every cultural group has their own take on the issue. So the phone lines are open people.

How does race impact what you put on on Sunday mornings? But more importantly, does God even care? Let's try to figure this out. Please share your Sunday morning experiences.

Peace!

Does it Matter if You're Black or White in Christian Fiction?

I was at a party this weekend and met an author of several Christian fiction titles. She is published by my same publisher (Simon & Schuster) and has a very lucrative contract. We had a nice chat about the publishing industry and our work. But here's a question I came up with after our conversation was over and I'm hoping some of you might be able to answer it.

When we talk of Inspirational Fiction, we know that's code for Christian fiction. My question is, are inspirational fiction writers segregated on the book shelves or are they all lumped together under one Inspirational umbrella? Do White Christians read Black Christian authors and vice versa? More importantly, is there a difference in the type of Christianity or inspirational theme in the work of White vs Black inspirational authors? And let's not stop there. I'm going to assume there are some Latino and Asian Christian titles floating around out there too. Where do they fit in?

As a person who has never read any inspirational fiction, these questions all started percolating in my mind. Anybody have any answers? Is inspirational fiction, like the romance genre, divided down color lines? While I don't believe in segregated literature in any format, I do find it particularly ironic to have Christian fiction divided by race. I mean really. What would Jesus think?

Peace!

P.S. Got some new links over there on the side. And we had to say goodbye to Stereohyped. They were shut down abruptly. RIP.