Circuit Writer

This is my most recent column from The Tahlequah Christian, my congregation newsletter, for the week of January 31 – February 6.

I just this week finally got around to watching my recording of “The People Speak,” a two hour special that aired on the History Channel. It was presented through the methodology of Howard Zinn, author of the controversial A People’s History of the United States, who believes that democracy is created from the ground up and that history has often ignored the voices of minority peoples, women, and the oppressed. It contained a collection of readings and songs from his book of the same title, and presented them as a collection of stage performances by celebrities and musicians. In my opinion, this was a breath of fresh air in the otherwise growing collection of History Channel garbage programming. (This especially includes their religious programs – but that’s another column entirely.)

Yet even as I sing the praises of this special, I can’t help but register a feeling of pain as a Christian. For all of the important things these voices from our national history raised in the name of justice, it hurt because every time that Christians were mentioned, they were on the wrong side of history. Poverty, slavery, civil rights, women’s rights, the clamor for war… every time the name Christian was mentioned, it was part of the problem.

However, we don’t have to take Howard Zinn’s word on this matter – all we have to do is look to our bibles and see what Jesus has to say, but if we’re looking for an acquittal on this charge, we won’t find it. In fact, I think Jesus was doing much the same thing that Zinn tried to do when he wrote his book and produced his television special: to lift up the voices of people who aren’t often heard. Think about the adulterous woman whom Jesus saved from death by stoning (John 8:2-11). Surely the man whom she committed this with was as guilty as she, so why was he not facing death? This goes beyond merely the question of the rights of the woman, but her humanity itself. How could one talk about the question of human rights, when the woman was considered less than human to begin with?

I believe that Jesus was interested in making heard the voices of the oppressed, the impoverished, and the enslaved. Somewhere along the way, Christianity lost sight of these teachings and quit listening for these voices, much less making sure that others heard them. I suspect that Jesus might agree, it’s time for the Christian people to speak. Are you ready to offer your voice?

Yours on the journey,

Clint