Statements and Articles around Insurrection at Capitol (01/12/21)
As staff of InterVarsity at CWRU, a lot of emotions and thoughts have been swirling around as a result of last week's event at the Capitol. I imagine that many of you are still grappling with the reality of what happened. Since there are many other people that can better articulate how I think/feel about the state of our nation and Christianity, I'm listing statements and articles written by other Christian leaders that may help clarify our stances and perspectives around what's happening today.
Statement by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) denounces the insurrection at the Capitol.
Article written by Russell D. Moore who shares his thoughts, feelings, and theological perspective of what happened at the Capitol. Dr. Moore is an American theologian, ethicist, and preacher. He is currently president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Article written by Timothy Dalrymple, president and CEO of Christianity Today, explains why Evangelicals disagree on the president.
Lastly, below is an excerpt of a letter written by the Executive Leadership Team of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA to InterVarsity staff around the nation, along with past public statements around racism, White Supremacy, and the like.
"Love does not require that we accept sin, deceit, or injustice. It does not mean that we avoid confrontation or giving offense to maintain a false harmony. From the prophets to Paul, God's people have rejected sin, denounced lies, and condemned injustice in word and deed even when it disrupted relationships, communities, and countries. Because he loves, God rebuked Israel and its leaders in both the Old and New Testament clearly, forcefully, and bluntly.
We want to say again to you what we've said before through public national statements InterVarsity has initiated or signed onto. These are things any Christian should be able to say without reservation regardless of their political party. And we trust they are not surprising to anyone in the Fellowship. We reject and condemn White Supremacy and the racism which spawns it. We reject and condemn xenophobic nationalism which is often expressed in anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-migrant, and anti-refugee speech and actions. And we reject and condemn the anti-Asian racism which has been on the rise since the pandemic began. We have put links to our past statements on each of these issues at the end of this letter."
Past Public Statements from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA:
On White Supremacy, Anti-Semitism, and Racism
On Anti-Muslim activity on campus
On behalf of International Students
Against Anti-Asian statements (signed by Tom Lin for InterVarsity)
On Immigration Reform (signed by Tom Lin for InterVarsity):
On cultural issues (including racial justice, religious freedom, and other issues that reflect National Association of Evangelicals positions (signed by Tom Lin for InterVarsity)
If you have any questions or would like to discuss any of these things further, please feel free to contact me at ken.nakajima@intervarsity.org
Ken