MM

police investigations, which have forced body cameras, and has given the President of
forces
United States a space in which to speak out on the disproportionate violence directed at
the
and brown people by the police. It is a mighty movementwhich isjust getting started.
black
immigrants we root in the neighborhoods we find ourselves in. I grew up in Dallas in what was
As
white and is now an Asian suburb. The people who were not white were few but there. l have
a
who grew up in all-black neighborhoods in Chicago, or in Queens in majority Indian
friends
history of the United States plants us firmly in a racist state. It was the liberation struggle of
The
ceoole in the U.S.. insbired in cart bv the places. Resonant with our own stories of
black
or exclusion. We should be the most strident. Those of us who found it hard to walk
marginalization
airports in 2002 and 2003, and who get mistaken for Latino, Black, Arab should not worry
through
clarifying that we are not; in the tradition of M. M. Thomas we have achieved blast otf. We find
about
so unwittingly in solidarity with the outcast that we are mistaken for them, or maybe
ourselves
Orientation
Sexual
people of Israel declare that living under slavery is better than dying in the struggle for freedom.
“The
leaders of revolutions raise the slogan: either freedom or death.... The awareness that their life’s
The
and sense of security rest with the system of slavery is deeply rooted, not only in the
vocation
but also in the oppressed. This in fact is the real spiritual slavery. In such a situation the
oppressors
will always view freedom and responsibility not as a means for the growth of humanity but
oppressed
let's tackle the most difficult social issue for ourcommunity. Sexuality. By this I mean
Finally,
and the LGBT movement, but there is more to be said about the idolatry of family
homosexuality
as culture which places many of our people outside of the bounds of our Christian
structure
We are actively creating other marginalized communities in which we could root
communities.
would happen if we accepted LGBT persons and taught a healthier understanding of human
What
in our churches?
sexuality
M. Thomas’s understanding of sites of freedom as space for the growth of humanity is profound.
M.
most of us some part of the justice work we are passionate about will be achieved in our lifetime,
For
it cannot be that the work is simply to make ourselves comfortable. It must be that those growing
but
where freedom is being sought are constantly drawing us because we are followers of Jesus.
edges
insight that in these places we must first confront our own fears is convicting. It is one thing to
The
our personal fears in working for our own liberation, but it is hard to consider that the fear of
confront
one’s comfort or privilege, even as a wandering, newly freed slave, might be what causes us to
losing
danger or evil when we should be hearing a crying out for liberation.
see
liberation is universal... ‘Are you not like the Ethiopians to me, O people of Israel?’ says the
"God's
‘Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians
Lord.
M. Thomas writes that where we see liberation we see the action of God. Not a spiritual liberation. It
M.
not solely personal and intemal, but in the acts of history which means movements of people for
is
Communities.
recognized as one of them, as followers of Jesus.
as a dangerzone." [p.95]
ourselves to team about the marginalized, which isabsurd.
A question.
Are we enslaved to one understanding of family and an ordering of desire?
from Kir?‘ (Amos 9:7) whether the(a people) recognize this truth or not. . ." [p.26]