The tearing down of Black Lives Matter signs came after pro-Trump demonstrations in the capital, that attracted a sizable number of Proud Boys (a neo-fascist group prone to violent encounters), are exposing rifts among people of faith as the nation confronts bitter post-election political divisions.
Some members of the affected churches noted the contrast between the vocal Christian response to property destruction during protests against racial injustice this summer and the comparatively quieter pushback now.
“When evangelicals can speak on behalf of unborn babies, can speak on behalf of law and order when it comes to white people and white property, but are silent when it comes to banners that proclaim ‘Black lives matter,’ the moral silence is stupefying,” said Cornell William Brooks, former president of the NAACP and a member of Metropolitan A.M.E.
“We’ve gone from having to say ‘Black lives matter’ to now having to say ‘Black churches matter,’” added Brooks, a professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School graduate program.
The Episcopal bishop of Washington, who criticized Trump during the summer’s racial inequality protests after protesters were forcibly cleared in order for him to stage a visit to a fire-damaged church, issued a statement Monday with the dean of the Washington National Cathedral decrying the recent church vandalism as well as “the racist and religious overtones surrounding the effort to discredit the presidential election.” One pro-Trump rally on Saturday counted several religious conservatives as headliners.
Read it here: WTOP News
December 15, 2020 Lieutenant Bagshaw, nobody needs cops like this.
