Friday, November 27, 2009

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God and Country by Dan Gilgoff

Family Research Council Comes to Eric Holder's Defense

February 20, 2009 12:30 PM ET | Dan Gilgoff | Permanent Link | Print

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

When the Family Research Council's daily E-mail landed in my inbox last night under the subject line "Black Cloud Hovers Over Holder," I naturally thought it would contain more conservative bashing of the attorney general's Black History Month comments: "In things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. . . ."

But it turns out that FRC has Eric Holder's back, at least in part. Here's what FRC chief Tony Perkins wrote:

I think the Attorney General is correct, Americans have cowered to political correctness and as a result we avoid topics like race. The solution to racial reconciliation, however, is not to be found in a more aggressive Department of Justice but in a more aggressive church where we unite around ideals rooted not in skin color but in Jesus Christ.

As Bishop Harry Jackson and I write in Personal Faith, Public Policy, blacks should not work with whites, or visa versa, out of obligation to right past wrongs or to advance personal or political agendas. We should work together because we're brothers and sisters in Christ, and He's called us to be unified around a biblical agenda that advances all of society.

Improving ties to the African-American community has been a longtime project of the mostly white Christian right. It occupied Ralph Reed for his last couple years at the Christian Coalition in the 1990s. It helped explain the spike in black votes for George W. Bush in Ohio and Florida in 2004, when Christian right forces in those states made strenuous efforts to make common cause with black voters—who attend church in higher numbers than whites and who tend to be socially conservative despite their overwhelming preference for Democratic candidates. And it made for plenty of controversy after Prop 8—a gay marriage ban—passed in California last year with majority black support.

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised by FRC's missive after all.

Tags: religion | race | Family Research Council | Eric Holder

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Reader Comments

We still have a ways to go

Two things:

1) If we can't have a civil dialogue about Holder's comments, then we haven't conquered racism. It's that simple.

2) Most blacks believe people are not color blind, while whites think they are. Unfortunately, the later group is wrong. Take the test: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/Study?tid=-1 and find our for yourself.

whites are cowards?

You can not have a real dialogue with African Americans because the minute you say something they do not like it will be considered hate speech and you run the risk of being prosecuted.Why don,t Mr. Holder and Mr. Obama address the high out of wedlock pregnancies multiple men and they do not take any responsibilities for them.Also address the high welfare and Drug use by them and try to find a solution.Quit blaming white people for all the problems the Black population has, God gave them a Brain just like the rest of us and it is time to use it and not rely on the Government to pay the way.Work for a living and life would be better.

Holder Misunderstands Race and Culture

People like Eric Holder, Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton continue to stoke the flames of racism because it's the primary building block of their success and fortune. And to maintain their power and prominence, they must continually throw bombs into the political debate. It amazes me that many Americans continue to buy their garbage.

Here's an excellent blog by Aaron Miller that hits the nail on the head when it comes to race and culture today:

http://stormwatch.blogtownhall.com/2009/02/18/race_and_culture.thtml

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Dan Gilgoff covers religion for U.S. News & World Report. He is the author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War, and is a former politics editor at beliefnet. E-mail Dan at godandcountry@usnews.com.

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