Welcome to the Conference Commission on Religion and Race. This team is led by Rev. Cynthia Kristopeit. Cynthia can be reached at Los Arcos United Methodist Church in Scottsdale, Arizona ~ 480.945.5151. For Religion and Race information church-wide, visit the General Commission on Religion and Race at www.gcorr.org.

Stories of Why We Care...

A Parable by Rev. Cynthia Kristopeit

Once upon a time, in the not too distant past, there was a country that had been ravished by war and found itself in the midst of a great depression.  It was a time of great anxiety and fear by the people of that country.  It got so bad that I’ve heard stories about people having to take a wheelbarrow full of money to the store to buy one loaf of bread.  People were desperate for relief.  Into that fertile environment came an educated man, albeit a bit odd, who knew how to speak to the people.  He promised to fix all their problems and rid their country of those people who were responsible for the depression and the lack of jobs. 

The people were so relieved that someone was going to fix the whole mess that they readily voted this man into power.  He proceeded to organize that country by “getting tough” on the perceived problems, especially those of an ethnic nature.  People were thrilled.

This man organized a special unit of men who would go around and conduct raids, to shut down businesses.  Pretty soon this unit would stop people in the street or on the road to see if they were of that unwanted ethnicity.  The Special Forces started even knocking on people’s doors looking for these unwanted ethnics.  If they found them hiding they would take those people right on the spot, and often times those people were never heard from again.  Some of the people in the country were a little uneasy about this technique, but this man seemed so genuine and so powerful, and he kept telling them that there were so many things they needed to be afraid of.  They were less afraid with this man at the helm of their ship.

Pretty soon, these Special Forces started to round up people and transport them in the thousands across the borders to holding places in other countries.  These were huge camps where people were to be held in detention.  At least that is what the villagers thought.  But then they heard rumors of terrible sins against humanity being performed behind the walls.  It was so horrific that most people could not believe that it could happen.  It became hard to ask questions, because the Special Forces were everywhere looking for a sign of disloyalty.  In the meantime, the trains started to run on time, and people had work again, and it was hard not to admit that this man did make things seem a lot safer.

Slowly the laws started to be totally ignored.  People were not happy but what could one do?  Some of the churches started to speak out.  But soon, the churches were no longer allowed to help people out by feeding them, or offering them a word of hope or a place of sanctuary, and eventually even the churches fell silent.

Most vulnerable were the children.  They saw the media power of this man, and he mesmerized them.  Here was a man who WAS the law.  Here was a man who didn’t need to ask permission.  Here was a man with raw power who did whatever he wanted.  The young were especially deceived by this kind of falseness.  The children became some of this man’s most powerful propaganda.

Eventually there was no safety anymore and people became so fearful just for their own survival, that they allowed terrible things to happen to innocent people while looking the other way. 

That man’s name was Adolph Hitler.  By the time the end finally came, there were 6 million Jews dead, along with 5 million Russians, Gypsies, disabled people and homosexuals.

Jesus asked his followers to have a particular concern for those who are poor and disenfranchised.  Jesus asked his followers to welcome the stranger and sojourner in the land.  It is a grave mistake to think that the past has nothing to teach us.  Let those with ears, hear.

My Story

By Scott Morris

I grew up on a farm in eastern South Dakota about 60 miles SW of Aberdeen.  I am an only child in a family that didn’t attend church until I became interested in Sunday School during elementary school.  There was almost zero racial diversity in our part of the state.  There were American Indians out west of the Missouri River and a few in the northeastern corner of the state, but we had no contact with them.  The politics were (and are) quite conservative with a strong distrust of government in general.

My social contacts were somewhat limited to our nearest neighbors (the nearest family was almost one mile away), our extended family, my schoolmates (about 23 kids spread over 8 grades in our one-room school house), and the residents of a couple of small towns in the area.  Perhaps because of my limited exposure to the wider world, I was very interested in the world opened up to me by my Sunday School teachers.  I remember in particular Audrey McKay who taught me about the civil rights struggles going on in the country-region during the 50’s.  She used the Bible stories to ingrain in me an appreciation for the worth of all people regardless of race, ethnicity, or nationality.  We learned a variety of songs with lyrics like:

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world

and

You can get good milk from a brown skinned cow
The color of the skin doesn’t matter anyhow.

I still remember singing the songs over 50 years ago.  For me music carries truth stronger than any other format.  I grew up in the midst of messages all around me that put down people who were different, but I had learned differently and what I knew to be true could not be unlearned.  I knew that people were all of value no matter what claims were made about them.

Although I had few occasions to meet people of different races, cultures or nationalities, I knew about them from news reports and books and movies.  My information wasn’t always reliable, but because of my early conditioning, I was very open to learning more.

While I learned about people of other races I didn’t learn anything about people with different sexual orientation or gender identification.  I’m sure that I heard enough negative comments and jokes to form a generally negative image of anyone who was different sexually, but the whole topic was far removed and theoretical.  As far as I can remember, nothing related to sexuality in any form was ever addressed in any church service that I attended.  I had only a vague idea about homosexuality and no concept of transgender people.

Through the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s I ended up working with Chinese, Kenyan, Indonesian, Japanese, Indian, Malaysian, Philippino, Tongan, Australian, British, and Singaporean people.  My friends and co-workers came from almost all of the world’s races and religions.

During the 70’s and 80’s my wife and I were working with an international not-for-profit organization.  Our director, a United Methodist Minister, espoused the popular view at the time that homosexual people were really heterosexuals who were unable to come to terms with their real sexuality.   In 1978, this man died.  The next year my family returned to the U.S. after working seven years in Singapore and Indonesia.  Soon after our return, a number of our co-workers began coming out as gay.  One couple had even covered up their sexual orientation by marrying each other and adopting children.  For the first time in my life, I learned that I knew a gay person – in fact I knew several gay people, and I had known them for years!  They were, for the most part, people that I liked personally and respected professionally.  They were people of deep faith, integrity and compassion.  They were my friends.  We lived in close community.

Since that time I have met hundreds of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people.  I worked with them in adult education work in New York City and Tucson. I worked with them at Cottonwood de Tucson addiction treatment center.  I currently work with them at the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.  I met their families during the nine years I served on the board of the Tucson chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).  They attend St. Francis in the Foothills and all of the other churches in our conference.  They have taught me that the lessons I learned in my Sunday School classes back in South Dakota didn’t just apply to people who were different from me racially.  I have learned that Jesus loves ALL the children of the world.

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