If Only...
Taken from Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone
Description
If Only…
Deuteronomy 5: 16-33
Yesterday we had the service to which I referred in connection with Deuteronomy 1, when the Episcopal Church in Los Angeles expressed its contrition for the racism that has characterized it in encouraging segregation and condoning discrimination within the diocese since its founding in 1896. It also expressed regret for its broader identification with a denomination that accepted slavery and was conformed to the broader society rather than becoming an advocate for the oppressed and not profiting from their oppression. It now seems frightening that Christian churches could have been reading the Scriptures each Sunday and that individuals could have been reading those Scriptures privately day by day without seeing the clash between the scriptural message and the way the church and society worked. It is possible to listen but not hear, or to hear but not listen...