Silence Adds to Hypocrisy and a Past History of Racism in Conservative Actions Regarding Cities Church Protests

Three Arrested in Cities Church Protest 

Cities Church Considers Legal Action Against Protesters

The real question that needs to be asked, and answered, regarding the protest which took place inside Cities Church in St. Paul during a recent worship service is just exactly how far outside of the gospel of Jesus this congretation is willing to go.  There's a lot of hypocrisy here, including the silence of the congregation regarding the suffering being inflicted on their neighbors by ICE and having one of their own pastors involved in it.  And even more in the complaining and whining about protesters disrupting their church service, while ICE agents are barging into church worship services in multiple locations in order to drag worshippers out.  

Pam Bondi's shrieking and lip flapping about not tolerating the disruption of church services is an empty, hypocritical lie.  She is well aware, from complaints filed by multiple church denominations and congregations, that ICE agents are disrupting worship services to enter churches, and drag worshippers out of their pews to arrest them without specific warrants or authority to do so, in violation of the first amendment.  This particular protest, calling out a church with a pastor who is a supervisor for ICE for its hypocritical silence and failure to act in a manner consistent with the Christian gospel, was caught on camera to counter the lies of conservative Evangelicals, and Pam Bondi.  It was not comparable to the sometimes violent removal of worshippers by ICE agents from other churches,   

Let's Be Hypocrites

I was raised in a Southern Baptist church, and went through a period of deconstruction and rethinking my faith perspective while a student at a denominationally-affiliated university that was considered to be "on the left" of the theological spectrum of Baptists.  During graduate school, the church I joined was a mid-sized congregation that had made some historic marks among Southern Baptists, like having welcomed blacks as members since it was first formed, and being one of the first to ordain women to serve as deacons and pastors.  

It was not uncommon for protesters to be gathered with ugly signs and ugly words on the sidewalk and street between the parking lot and the church to protest the fact that we welcomed gays and lesbians to worship.  Fact is, we welcomed everyone to worship.  And there were occasions when people would protest from inside the auditorium, chanting slogans, raising signs or being otherwise disruptive.  Many congregations that were affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, but which either didn't support, or actively resisted, the intrusion of the fundamentalist takeover known as the "Conservative Resurgence" experienced this.  

Most of those churches have long since severed their ties with the Southern Baptists, and have formed a couple of groups, more of the nature of fellowships with common beliefs and goals, rather than denominations, but they are among those whose churches have had services interrupted by ICE for the purpose of dragging members of the congregation out of the service and off to arrest.  The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the largest group made up of former Southern Baptist churches, has formally protested to the Department of Homeland Security.  

Cities Church in St. Paul is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, so it's not surprising that the church would not have any conscience when it comes to social justice or that it would value right wing MAGA Trumpism over the Christian gospel.  The kind of political perspective and loyalty that would be required of someone to be in a supervisory capacity at ICE is something I consider equivalent to being a member of the Ku Klux Klan.  Both of those things require doing things which run contrary to the values and practices of the Christian gospel.  Whether or not that justifies a protest inside the church worship service is a matter of conscience, not law. 

This is the same Southern Baptist Convention that was formed in 1845 because the Triennial Baptist Convention, the main body of Baptists in the United States, refused to appoint a slave owner as a missionary.  It was not until 1995, 150 years later, that the denomination officially apologized for its role in promoting the enslavement of human beings.  The racism which drove the Confederacy and was written into its Constitution, that black persons are inferior to white persons, also drove the Southern Baptist Convention and it was a theological and doctrinal error that they allowed to stand for 150 years before correcting it.  

That is a clear indication that it can make theological, doctrinal and Christian practice errors in other areas, too.  And they are making them in the realm of social justice, especially when it comes to immigration.  They are silent in the face of injustice and in the violation of individual human rights.  

This is the same Southern Baptist Convention that has failed to find any kind of sympathy or resolution for the victims of hundreds of incidents of sexual abuse perpetrated by pastors, vocational ministers, missionaries and seminary professors, exposed by the Houston Chronicle and The San Antonio Express News in 2019.  What has transpired is the perpetuation of a cover-up, and the "largest Protestant denomination in America" being stymied as to how to handle allegations of sexual abuse by church pastors and denominational employees like missionaries or seminary professors.  And, the impression that has been left is one of blaming the victims for trying to ruin the ministry of these supposedly "godly" men. 

Was This A Christian Worship Service or the Gathering of a Pseudo-Christian Political Cult?

We have to look at this for what it is.  I haven't seen any complaint or outrage about the disruption of church services by ICE agents from the Southern Baptists like Al Mohler and Danny Akin, the two seminary Presidents who arrogantly defended the pastor employed by ICE and shrieked and lip flapped about the protest inside the church which was recorded on camera and does not in any way show any confusion, frightened children, or chaos that they described.  I have to wonder if they were watching the same video that I did. 

Frankly, I am still opposed to protests disrupting church worship services.  However, given the attitudes in this case, and the manner in which this is being handled by both the church, and by the Justice Department, I believe this protest was perfectly acceptable.  This wasn't a Christian church service that was interrupted, it was a gathering of a pseudo-Christian cult and considering the issue at the heart of the protest, it was simply a constitutionally protected act of free speech and conscience.

None of the protesters should have been arrested, since they did not break any laws, and I hope the judge in this case realized that no crime was committed.