Embracing Diversity

Faith, Vocation, and the Promise of America

Darrell Jodock, William Nelsen

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781506471600
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Throughout its history, America has been confronted with two alternative views of its identity. Is it, according to one argument, a deeply Christian nation called to purity and uniformity in the face of a challenging world? Or is it, according to the other argument, a beacon of hope and openness, a land in which a variety of people can work side by side in justice and for a common good?

In this timely and needed book, the authors challenge readers--especially readers in Christian communities--to step up to the promise of an America that works for the good of everyone who calls this nation home.

Certainly, part of that challenge is recognizing where America has failed, and the authors do not step back from that challenge. But a tone of hope prevails throughout as a gracious and compelling case is made that America's better angels exist and can motivate us to create a more just society

Chapter One

A Nation of Diversity

To Fear or Embrace?

Racial Diversity: From Melting Pot to Mosaic

When we were growing up in the Midwest and Northwest parts of the country in the 1950s, we were taught in school that America served as a great example to the world because the United States represented a “melting pot” for people from various nations. Indeed, we felt a special sense of pride in believing that we were part of a welcoming, tolerant nation, clearly better in this respect than other nations around the globe.

Yet as we grew in understanding of the larger cultural scenes throughout our country, we realized that there were significant restrictions on how much “melting” was really occurring and who could actually be welcomed into the “pot.” Segregation of Blacks and whites was still supported by Jim Crow laws in the South and by neighborhood dividing lines and “redlining” housing practices in northern cities. The nature of immigration was changing. Although some time had been required for our grandparents, who came from places like Norway, Denmark, and Scotland, to become accepted and to adjust to the practices of their new country, it was easier to envision people from various European nations entering the cultural mix of America than immigrants from other parts of the world. Immigrants were expected not only to pledge allegiance to the United States’ way of governing but also to adopt the cultural norms of the majority. Diversity was present but not written large in most northern states and cities.

Today, the idea of a “melting pot” is even less accurate than when we first heard it. Our racial and religious diversity is more visible. Mosaic may be a much better term for describing the current and future American landscape.

And this “true diversity” will continue to become more prominent in America in the coming decades. The noted demographer William H. Frey has described the current realities, the expected trends, and their profound impact in his recent book Diversity Explosion. He notes these important changes: In 2011, “for the first time in the history of the country, more minority babies than white babies were born in a year.”1 When the 2020 census is complete, it “is expected to show that two-fifths of the nation’s population identifies itself with a racial group other than white.”2 Then within another two decades, America will become truly a mosaic landscape: “Sometime after 2040, there will be no racial majority in the country.”3 There will also be a much larger number of people who are themselves multiracial, as multiracial marriages continue to grow.

A person could assume that this continuing increase in diversity will result from increased immigration from other countries. Not so! As Frey points out, “This growth in diversity will occur irrespective of shifts in immigration levels.”4

Residential segregation, especially Black-white segregation, still exists in many areas of the country, especially in the large northern cities. Yet this pattern is also changing as more Blacks enter the middle class and move to the suburbs. Blacks are also reversing the old movement to the North as many relocate to new economic opportunities in southern states.

The largest minority growth is occurring among Hispanics and Asians. Frey points out that “between 2015 and 2060, Hispanics and Asians will roughly double in size, and the multi-racial population will triple.”5

What about rural communities that have often been more isolated from diversity trends? This part of our landscape will also change significantly, as people of color from various backgrounds fill jobs currently held by older whites who will be retiring. Many minority families will continue to move to rural and small-town areas where costs are lower than in the big cities.

This growth in diversity will have a significant impact on all Americans. Perhaps the most powerful and meaningful change will be the creation of what Frey describes as the “cultural generation gap,”6 a gap between the increasingly diverse youth population and the older population that will still be mostly white.

This generation gap, along with the overall changes in minority populations, will require all Americans to make adjustments to benefit all groups. “Loving your neighbor as yourself” will mean that older Americans will need to support education, job growth, and affordable housing for younger, diverse Americans. In turn, the support of younger Americans will allow the nation to maintain Social Security, Medicare, and other critical programs for senior citizens. And to maintain a strong economic situation for all Americans, both political parties—Republican and Democratic—will need to increasingly move across color lines. Republicans will need to reach out to people of color, and Democrats will need to appeal to more of this increasingly older white population.

Religious Diversity: From One Religion to Pluralism

The religious landscape of America is also changing, and it has been changing for the last several decades. For much of our history, America was thought to be a “Christian nation,” and in the minds of many during most of the first two hundred years, this meant a “Protestant nation.” That image began to change as Catholics moved into the political spotlight from the time of Al Smith’s presidential candidacy in 1928 to John F. Kennedy’s victory in 1960. At the same time, after World War II, Americans began recognizing the importance of Christianity’s strong link to the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish faith and increasingly described ourselves as a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles.

Yet extensive research by the Pew Research Center in 2007 and 2014 reveals a different picture concerning our religious mix.7 Protestants no longer constitute a majority of US adults (46.5 percent in 2014 vs. 51.3 percent in 2007). Overall, however, individuals of the Christian faith still dominate the American religious scene. Pew’s research indicated that 70 percent of Americans still identified with some denomination of Christianity. At the same time, the most striking change from 2007 to 2014 was the increase in the number of people who are religiously unaffiliated, from 16 percent in 2007 to 23 percent in 2014. These Americans are often labeled the “nones.”a More recent Pew surveys indicate that these trends continue. Pew telephone surveys in 2018 and 2019 show that 65 percent of Americans described themselves as Christian and 26 percent as “religious unaffiliated.”8

The percentage of Americans who identify with non-Christian faiths also increased from 4.7 percent in 2007 to 5.9 percent in 2014. Growth was more prominent among Muslims and Hindus. Yet it should be noted that the overall percentages of people in non-Christian faiths are fairly small and growing at a modest rate. (Population percentages for the largest non-Christian faiths in 2014 were Jewish, 1.9 percent; Muslim, 0.9 percent; Buddhist, 0.7 percent; and Hindu, 0.7 percent.)

Immigration has had an impact on our religious mix, although not as much as many Americans might assume. Two-thirds of the immigrants coming to America from 2007 to 2014 were Christians. About one in ten of the total immigrants identified themselves as non-Christian.

As is the case with our American racial mix, intermarriage is having an important impact on our diversity. Pew’s research indicates that almost 40 percent of Americans who have joined in matrimony since 2010 are in denominationally or religiously mixed marriages, in contrast with less than 20 percent of those who married before 1960.

Racial diversity and religious diversity are increasingly merging as parts of the same overall American scene. Even members of churches that are still predominantly white or all-white see reports that their denominations are changing nationwide. Pew research reports indicate that racial and ethnic minorities now make up 41 percent of Catholics, 24 percent of evangelical Protestants, and 14 percent of mainline Protestants, with all those figures representing significant increases over previous decades. There is also a wide range of ethnic and racial diversity within several of the non-Christian faiths. Muslim American Eboo Patel in his book Out of Many Faiths reports that Muslims living in the United States come from seventy-seven different countries and that Muslims are the “only faith community in the United States with no majority race.”9

How do we describe this current American religious scene? While we have noted that the term mosaic can be used to describe our current and growing racial mix, some leading commentators on our multireligious growth have suggested the term pluralism as a better descriptor. Diana Eck of Harvard Divinity School sees “pluralism” as more than diversity. It includes people of diverse religious identities living and working together for the benefit of their neighborhoods. Patel expands the definition of pluralism into “an ethic that has three parts: respect for different identities, relationships between diverse communities, and a commitment to the common good.”10

Despite all the changes described above, America remains a nation of millions of religious believers and can likely be described as the most devout among nations in the Western world. And whether Americans describe themselves as a “mosaic” or as a nation of “pluralism,” it is indeed the most religiously and racially diverse country in the world. Thus the questions for each of us Americans are these: Will we embrace this diversity, or will we fear it and oppose it (either directly or in more subtle ways)? Will we see this situation as a unique opportunity to show the rest of the world that people of varying races and religions can not only live together but also work together to advance the common good? Will our denominations at the national level and, perhaps most importantly, our churches at the local level be bold and courageous leaders in bringing us together to care for each other and join in mutual work and service? Will we love our neighbors without exception?

a It is hard to determine how much the increase in the number of “nones” reflects changes in church participation or how much it is simply more socially acceptable to be “unaffiliated.” In the past, the number of people who told pollsters that they were “Presbyterian” or “Methodist” or “Catholic” or some other denomination has always been larger than the number of persons who were actually members of these churches. Some considered it important to claim a connection, even if they were not members and not active in a congregation.

Chapter Two

The Meaning of Faith for Embracing Diversity

Religious concepts can have different meanings for theologians and for people in congregational pews. Confusion can result. In order to understand more fully the claims and ideas expressed in the sections and chapters that follow, we seek first to clarify several often-used religious concepts. Especially important are the meanings embedded in the words faith, religion, and spirituality. How these words are defined and used has critical implications for addressing issues of religious and racial diversity along with the urgent need our society faces for civil discourse, social change, justice, and peace.

Faith Is Relational and Self-Involving

Accepting the truth of a proposition, such as “the earth goes around the sun,” may not commit a person to any kind of loyalty or behavior. For most of our everyday activities, accepting this scientific truth will not make much difference. But at its most basic level, faith is relational and self-involving. It is best understood as a deep trust. A very old story tells of a tightrope walker who performed remarkable stunts on a high wire strung over Niagara Falls. He returned to the shore and asked a spectator, “Do you believe I can push this wheelbarrow on the wire all the way across the Falls?” The spectator, who had been very impressed with the performance, said, “Yes, sure.” The tightrope walker responded, “Then get into the wheelbarrow.” Faith is relational and self-involving. It’s like trusting another enough to get into the wheelbarrow. Religious faith is a deep trust in God.

Faith Is Also a Response to Generosity

Why should we trust someone? It is because they have shown us some kind of generosity. They have treated us well or have stood with us when things were tough or have taken our talents seriously and encouraged their development. The Gospels introduce us to the generosity of Jesus, who readily responds to people in need—be it a need for food or for health or for hope—and then claim “God is like this.” Religious faith is a response to God’s generosity. When a grandfather holds his hands out to his two-year-old granddaughter and encourages her to jump, she does so, not because she understands the concept of trust or can explain it, but because she has experienced her grandfather (and other family members) as loving and trustworthy. The same is true of God. When we humans experience God as loving, generous, and trustworthy, the first response generated is one of acknowledging this love and generosity. Over time, this acknowledging grows into trust. Not to respond to God’s generosity is to go on living as if that generosity did not exist, trying to “go it alone.” When divine love begins to melt the barriers we ourselves have established, then faith takes root and grows. Faith is a relational, self-involving response to the good news of God’s grace and our own experiences with the divine.

How do the gifts of love and generosity come to us? They come through other creatures and other people—through parents, teachers, mentors, neighbors, pastors, caring school boards, well-functioning governments, and others too numerous to mention. Our lives have been formed and shaped by the love and generosity and assistance of others. Faith recognizes God as the ultimate source of these gifts, even when they come through the words and deeds of those around us. A faith built on unmerited divine generosity will not be manipulative.

Any relationship of trust between one human and another is also built on generosity. If white folks and people of color are to establish healthy relationships or if Christians and Muslims are to do so, the first step is one of generosity—either on our part or on the part of the other. (Once the relationship matures, of course, we can expect some form of mutual generosity to be practiced.)

Faith Inspires Hope

Again and again, frightened people in th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction: The Radical Call to Love Your Neighbor
• 1. A Nation of Diversity: To Fear or Embrace?
• 2. The Meaning of Faith for Embracing Diversity
• 3. Realizing the Promise of America for Embracing Diversity
• 4. Challenges to Overcome and Our Christian Response
• 5. The Use and Misuse of Religion
• 6. Embracing Racial and Religious Diversity: A Critical Focus for Our Calling—Our Vocation
• 7. Mobilizing to Embrace Diversity
• 8. Finding Joy in Diversity
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Notes