On November 6th, 2022, at 4 pm PST at the Rainier Art Center, located at 3515 S Alaska St, Seattle, WA 98118, Valley and Mountain Fellowship will host a dialogue between Rev. Dr. Obery Hendricks, author, Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith and Dr. Anthea Butler, author, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America. The topic is White Christian Nationalism and the Midterm Elections. The dialogue will be moderated by Rev. Dr. Edward Donalson, III, author, #BlackLivesMatter: Toward an Intersectional Theology. The event will be livestreamed on the Valley and Mountain YouTube page.
As congressional hearings on the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol come to a close and the rise of Neo-Nazi organizations in our nation, the mid-term elections are proving to be as contentious as ever. Equally, candidates around the country are trafficking white Christian nationalism. With each passing election, fringe political ideas become more and more mainstream. Simultaneously, white supremacist ideas at work in Christian practices must be contended with.
Valley and Mountain Fellowship’s Center for Faith, Art, and Justice in partnership with the Innovation Vitality Team of the Greater Northwest Area of the United Methodist Church has invited scholars, clergy, and activists working at the intersection of race and faith to share their wisdom to our broader communities. This dialogue is the first in a series entitled “Set us free from fear: Faith, White Supremacy, and Politics.” On Sunday, January 22, 2023, we will welcome Linda Sarsour, and on April 2, 2023, Dr. Cornel West will speak.
About the November 6th Speakers
Dr. Anthea Butler, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought and Chair of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania. In White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America, Butler reveals how evangelical racism, propelled by the benefits of whiteness, has since the nation’s founding played a provocative role in severely fracturing the electorate.
Rev. Dr. Obery Hendricks is a Visiting Professor of Religion, Columbia University. In his recent book, Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith, Hendricks challenges the right-wing evangelical misuses of the Bible that are embedded in their rabid homophobia, their poorly veiled racism and demonizing of immigrants and Muslims, and their ungodly alliance with big business against the interests of American workers.
Rev. Dr. Edward Donalson, III, Assistant Clinical Professor and Director of Doctoral Ministry, Seattle University, School of Theology and Ministry. In #BlackLivesMatter: Toward an Intersectional Theology, Donalson examines the implicit theological aspects of the largest protest movement in the United States since the Civil Rights Movement.
