BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- Oklahoma State University Professor Lawrence Ware warned that black individuals attending 'white churches' may be at risk due to the influence of white Christian nationalism, which he argues supports harmful ideologies.
- Ware criticized white churches for their failure to address systemic racism while focusing on individual sins.
- He emphasized that many white Christians historically viewed their racist actions as biblically endorsed, referencing groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the origins of the African Methodist Episcopal Church as evidence of ongoing racial issues in white congregations.
It could be dangerous for black people to attend “white churches” due to the influence of Christian nationalism, Oklahoma State University Professor Lawrence Ware wrote in a recent op-ed.
“If you are Black and attend a white church, listen really close to the sermon on Sunday. In my opinion, you might be surrounded by wolves in sheep clothing and not even know it,” the professor wrote in the op-ed published by The Root.
He claimed that when black people attend these churches, they expose themselves “to the dangers of white Christian Nationalism.”
Ware believes adherents of this ideology support American slavery because it “introduced black people to Jesus.”
He also criticized “white” churches for condemning individual sins like stealing and lying while remaining silent about “social sins” like racism, because the congregants of those churches don’t experience racism.
“If you want to be around people who are comfortable with policies that marginalize Black folks and are in love with a man who associates with people who say and do racially problematic things, there are two places you should go: One is a right-wing political conference. The other is a white church,” the professor wrote.
He also argued that white Christian churches have “always had a race issue.”
He said that many white Christians historically defended slavery and later opposed integration while believing they were acting according to biblical principles. He used the Ku Klux Klan as an example of a group that saw its racist actions as endorsed by God.
He also referenced the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, noting that it arose not because black Christians were unwilling to worship with white congregants, but because they were treated as second-class citizens by white Christians.
Ware is the co-director of the OSU Africana Studies Program and an assistant professor of philosophy, according to the school’s website.
According to his personal website, he “organizes the Critical Conversations series, which hosts a number of events on campus related to race, gender, and religion.”
Ware has expressed similar views on race and culture in other writings and public commentary.
In 2021, he participated in a panel discussion titled “Is America a ‘Fundamentally Racist Nation’?” hosted by the Oklahoma Faith Network.
During the discussion, Ware said, “The reality is that America has always been preoccupied with the color of people’s skin.”
Further, in 2019, he wrote a New York Times essay criticizing the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The College Fix previously reported.
The professor wrote that he felt conflicted about the movie because, although it features a Black-Hispanic Spider-Man, the character stops being the main focus halfway through the film.
