By Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Introduction
Racism is ugly. It is the cancer in the soul of human society. No one is completely immune from it or from its deadly effects. For it infects the highest of the high and the lowest of the low—whether or not they reside in the White House or the “What House” (anyone’s house). Racism is even found in the Prayer House, whether that be a church, a mosque, a temple, or a shrine of a secular ideology—and the believer can be hooded, clean-cut, or bearded.
The problem of racism is not that it resides in a house or a hut, but rather that it seeks permanent residency in the heart. The human heart. My heart and your heart. For, in the matter of racism (as is often the case in all human relations and conflicts) the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Pride.
But since the human heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), racists do not admit the reality of ugly racism. They disguise or rebrand it into...
RACISM AND THE CHURCH
The History, Scope, and Nature of the Problem[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
“Of all the major institutions in our society, the church is still the most segregated. Americans of different races work together, play together, study together, and entertain each other. But seldom do they pray or worship together” --David R. Williams
Racism in the Church
The world today has become one global city whose highways are interconnected by advanced networks of transportation and communication technology. However, we are yet able to find a sound basis for overcoming hostilities among people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds.
While it is true...
RACISM AS A RELIGION
The Heresy Christians Tolerate
[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Since racism often expresses itself as a conflict among people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds, attempts to understand the nature of racism have typically centered on an analysis of political, economic, and cultural factors. Not much attention has been given to the religious nature of racism. [1]
When we think of religion, what usually comes to mind are the supernatural religions, such as the traditional world religions of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. These emphasize the supernatural and otherworldly values (like God, the Devil, angels, heaven, hell, etc.). But there are other kinds of religion which have essentially no place for supernatural realities. These religions, known as secular religions, include communism, socialism, fascism, and secular humanism. [2]
Racism may be classed with the latter group of...
WHY IS RACISM WRONG?
(The Need to Dismantle Structures of Racism in the Church)[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
When Christians who claim to be saved by grace choose to live by race, they are essentially embracing a form of legalism. They depend on their race, rather than on our Lord Jesus Christ, to save them. This is no different from the legalism adopted by believers in the Galatian Church. The apostle Paul raised this issue when he demanded to know why the Galatian believers, having begun in the Spirit, were seeking to live by the works of the (flesh) law (Galatians 3:2, 3).
According to Paul, such an effort on the part of believers is tantamount to "seeking to be justified by the law"—instead of by grace (Gal 5:4). He referred to their action as a perversion of and departure from the gospel (Gal 1:6, 7) and from Christ...
THE CHURCH AND RACE RELATIONS—Part 1
Common Myths Defending Separate Black & White Conferences in North America[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
In the United States, the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church currently runs two racially segregated administrative structures–one for the Black, and the other for the White. The Black conferences are also known as Regional conferences because of their distinctive geographical arrangement. Even though each Black (Regional) conference covers not merely one portion of the union area but all the Black churches in the whole region of the union, membership is open to all people. [1]
The original intention for the creation of separate Black conferences in 1944 was to correct the problem of the exclusion of Black Adventists from full participation in the life of the church. As one church...
THE CHURCH AND RACE RELATIONS—Part 2
Common Myths Defending Separate Black & White Conferences in North America[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
Introduction
In part 1, we looked at some arguments from history often employed to justify the embarrassing situation of currently operating racially separate church structures in the United States. In this second part, we shall take a closer look at two other myths—namely the appeal to the writings of Ellen G. White and the claim to preserve racial harmony. As in the previous section, we shall first state the argument of the proponents and then respond to it.
“Ellen G. White Called for Racially Separate Congregations”
Another argument often employed in defense of the current Black and White conference system is that in 1895 and 1896, Ellen G. White called for the separation...
SEPARATE BLACK AND WHITE CONFERENCES—Part 1
The Sin We Don’t Want To Overcome[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
Can the good news of God’s amazing grace address the baneful shortcomings of our mazing (confusing) race? Every Christian denomination has had to deal with this thorny question as it has confronted racism in its manifold expressions. Whether we are talking about tribalism in Africa, ethnic cleansings and neo-Nazism in Europe, Black and White racism in North America, etc., the challenge is the same. What should be the Christian’s response to racial prejudice and discrimination?
Our Seventh-day Adventist church is today grappling with what to do with its racially segregated conference system in North America. Should we continue to maintain this structure? Or should we tear down the walls? This chapter continues...
SEPARATE BLACK AND WHITE CONFERENCES—Part 2
The Sin We Don’t Want To Overcome[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
Introduction
In part 1 we explained how the current racially segregated conferences came into being. We also argued that, even if the historical circumstances for this concession to racism may be understandable, their continued existence today can not be biblically justified. In this present article, we continue the discussion by looking at other myths being used to prop up the racially segregated church structures in North America.
“The Time Has Not Yet Come to Dismantle the Racially Separate Conference”
Those who still defend the existence of the Black and White conferences see the need to bring the church’s practice in line with its biblical teaching. Yet they often argue that the time has not yet...
IS THERE A BETTER WAY?
Moving Beyond Racism in the Church[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
Of all the Christian churches today, Seventh-day Adventists are the best equipped to deal with the challenge of racism. If we believe, as Ellen White did, that one day—in our day—the walls of racial prejudice and bigotry “will tumble down of themselves, as did the walls of Jericho, when Christians obey the Word of God, which enjoins on them supreme love to their Maker and impartial love to their neighbors” (Christian Service, 217), then Bible-believing Adventists who are eagerly awaiting the Lord’s return have a unique opportunity to address racism in both society and the church. Three reasons can be given for this assertion.
Our Unique Identity. First, the Seventh-day Adventist church’s...
“NO HUTU, NO TUTSI!”
The Testimony of African Believers Who Transcended the Barriers of Racism
[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
The Testimony of African Believers Who Transcended the Barriers of Racism
[Article Excerpted from Author’s Must We Be Silent?]
By
Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Director, Public Campus Ministries, Michigan Conference
Must We Be Silent? was inspired by the uncompromising faith I recently witnessed among our believers in the Central African countries of Rwanda and Congo. The report you are about to read was written by the African Indian-Ocean Division administrator who accompanied me on the rip to those countries. It reveals how and why some of our African believers transcended the barriers of race—even in life-threatening situations.
Christian Lifestyle in Action[1]
“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his...