Religion of Whiteness?

Our country seems very divided now. But who are the sides in this divide? It turns out that the 2024 election would have gone to Harris over Trump in a 58-40% landslide. If just one group were removed from the electorate.

Which group? White evangelical and born-again Christians. Of which, 82% voted for Trump. We secular humanists find this baffling and infuriating. These people claim to follow the principles of their lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Could anyone be more opposite to Jesus than Trump?

Our Humanist Society recently hosted a fascinating talk that may explain this. See my Edhat news column for the full report. The speaker was Rice University professor Michael Emerson.

Emerson’s research sought out Americans who said that the Christian Bible is their one and only source of what is right and wrong. One part of Emerson’s survey involved showing them direct quotes from their Bible. For example, Deuteronomy 24:14 “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.”

They were then asked how much they agree with this paraphrase: “Therefore, it is good to have laws to protect foreigners from being treated unjustly.”

Two other examples of paraphrases taken from the Bible for the survey:

“Therefore it is good to confess sins committed by me, my nation and my ancestors.” (Nehemiah 1:6)

“Therefore, it is good to listen to the complaints of ethnic minority groups and empower leaders within those minority groups to correct injustice.” (Acts 6:1-7)

The majority of Asians, Blacks and Hispanics agreed with the Bible paraphrases. So did most whites. But 60% or more of the White Practicing Christians did not. These people claim that they strictly follow the Bible. But they deviate sharply from the Bible on these issues that matter right now.

If they are not in fact following the Bible, what are they following? Emerson claims they have created a “Religion of Whiteness” (ROW). Religions have symbols. He identified three symbols of this ROW: 1) White Jesus 2) Merging of the Cross and the American Flag 3) Firearms.

Considering where Jesus lived, it is unlikely he was white. When ROW people are shown images of Jesus that are not white, it makes them either angry or they just laugh. They “know” that Jesus was white.

In this ROW, Whiteness is seen as obviously superior in every way. God has clearly chosen Whiteness because white people dominate. They are the winners. (Forget about the Jesus who cares about the least among us in Matthew 25:40)

It is not just that Whiteness is superior. It is also defined as “normal”. In 1982 LA Police Chief Daryl Gates made this statement about Blacks dying in police choke holds: “It seems to me that we may be finding that in some Blacks when it is applied, the veins or the arteries do not open as fast as they do on normal people.” Implying that Blacks are not normal people.

Interesting that ROWs see Whiteness as normal. If “normal” means the majority, then Asian is normal – 60% of all people are Asian. By common standards (not well defined), only about 16% of people are “white.”

In Emerson’s survey, two-thirds of White Practicing Christians offered this “solution”: “The best way to improve race relations is by converting everyone to Christianity.”

Interesting, since most American Blacks are Christian. But that does not count. It has to be the ROW version of Christian.

As a child, my mother told me a story of a bigot being asked whether Black people could get into heaven. The answer? Yes, but God would make them white before they entered! This is a part of the original Mormon religion – teachings only rescinded in 2013!

Notably, Revelation 7:9 in the Christian Bible describes heaven as a place populated by people from “every nation, tribe, people and language.” Presumably, of every color.

Perhaps our country is not so divided? Maybe the Religion of Whiteness people are just confused about their religion? Maybe they just need some guidance from actual Christians?