Double-Consciousness

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. . . . One ever feels his twoness,an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warrings ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

-- W.E.B. Du Bois(1868-1963), The Souls of Black Folk

Donald Miller, Part I

In Donald Miller, I see one of the greatest lights of hope for this country. Hyperbole? Yes, but only slightly.

For those of you unfamiliar with Donald Miller, you should be. He is a writer and a progressive evangelical Christian (they do exist!). He is part of what is called the emerging church, or the emergent church. Those terms are lower case, b/c "it" is not so much a defined "thing" or "movement," but rather a call for the church to reexamine itself on many fronts. I first read about Miller in his book Blue Like Jazz (NY Times Bestseller), and he's amazing. More about Miller himself in Part II.

I find great hope in the emerging church as an evangelical movement as it is breaking the monopoly that the Political Right has, seemingly or not, had on the church over the past years and decades. When the Political Right has talked about being societal issues, it has often talked about being "pro-life", and yet has done little concerning poverty, environmental, and social justice issues--all issues very much about life. The emerging church sees life before birth, after death, and all points in between as inextricably related. How refreshing!

I think Miller's blog entry below on his biblical reasons for supporting Barack Obama is exactly why I find hope in Miller and the emerging church. Miller led a prayer at the Democratic National Convention and is active on the campaign trail in support of Obama.

Miller's Blog

Washington

The First Debate was last night. Just for a minute, forget about your political opinions, if you can. Regardless of the content of everyone's politics, I don't want to lose sight of how amazing it is that this November there will either be a Black man as President or a woman as Vice President. How amazing that a young black kid can watch TV and think about her/his future, and see Barack Obama on the TV and dream big!

Same for Sarah Palin. Kids don't have the faculties to get into the nitty gritty work of all this stuff thrown around (a blessing?). If and when I have a daughter, I'd want her to look at Sarah Palin and see a strong woman and have my daughter say, "Damn right I could do that! There are no limits to what I can do!"

So let's celebrate a little. There are some real and necessary political battles that need to be fought. And we'll continue to get plenty of that. But let's not forget that these are historical times worthy of celebration.