Rosa Parks 2010

Today is the 55th anniversary of the arrest of Rosa Parks on 01 December 1955 for refusing to give up her seat in the front of a Montgomery, AL bus and move to the rear. Here is part of the story as told today by the Montgomery Advertiser:

When Rosa Parks refused on the afternoon of Dec. 1, 1955, to give up her bus seat so that a white man could sit, it is unlikely that she fully realized the forces she had set into motion and the controversy that would soon swirl around her. Other black women had similarly refused to give up their seats on public buses and had even been arrested, including two young women earlier that same year in Montgomery, Ala. But this time the outcome was different.

Unlike those earlier incidents, Rosa Parks’ courageous refusal to bow to an unfair law sparked a crucial chapter in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

“I didn’t get on the bus with the intention of being arrested,” she often said later. “I got on the bus with the intention of going home.”

Pressures had been building in Montgomery for some time to deal with public transportation practices that treated blacks as second-class citizens. Those pressures were increased when a 15-year-old girl, Claudette Colvin, was arrested on March 2, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat to a white person.

Colvin did not violate the city bus policy by not relinquishing her seat. She was not sitting in the front seats reserved for whites, and there was no other place for her to sit. Even under the double standards of the bus seating policy at the time, blacks sitting behind the white reserved section in a bus were only required to give up their seats to whites if there was another seat available for them. But despite the apparent legality of her refusal to give up her seat, Colvin was still convicted. …

You will find the rest of the story if you follow the link. I urge you to follow it. But, read it with wide open eyes, because it is a story that also reflects badly on many Christians. Among the strongest opponents of the actions of the “Negroes” were good evangelical and fundamentalist pastors in the South. There was regular preaching from the pulpits about the need to obey Caesar and to follow the laws. There were the same insistences back then that there are today. If one breaks the law, one must pay the price because there is little excuse to break a law unless it very directly affects the Church. Even after the Supreme Court declared the segregation law illegal after a 381 day boycott, there were still those whites who grumbled that even if the law was unconstitutional, those who broke it should still pay and be recorded as criminals.

But, segregation was not fully ended by that Supreme Court ruling of 1957. There still remained much to do. And, those who were in favor of segregation adopted some of the same tactics as the radical jihadists of today. Bombs began to explode across the South. Civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. Finally, on 15 September 1963, the unthinkable happened. American Christian homicide bombers blew up a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. Four little girls were killed. That was the final straw. Within a short time, Civil Rights legislation began to be passed by the Congress and the federal courts became increasingly involved when it became clear that Southern courts and juries simply would not apply the law and would not find the truly guilty to be guilty. I could argue that the American Christian radicals were precisely the ones that by their actions brought in more activist courts.

It is important that we remember this history today when we are dealing with Muslims in the USA. It was only 55 years ago that the final campaign began to overcome the radicals among us. Let me point out that until then, just like in many Muslim countries today, there were laws that were supported by the majority of Christians that today we find despicable. Let me also point out, that just like in many Muslim countries today, the majority of the populace did not ever fully condemn our murderous radicals and would not convict them even when they were taken to court.

In other words, within my lifetime, there were places in the USA which behaved just like many Muslim countries today. Instead of laws against non-Muslims, we had laws against non-whites. As pointed out in the bit of the article I quoted from the Montgomery Advertisers, we had laws that were not enforced fairly against non-whites, just like Muslims are not completely fair to non-Muslims. And, just like many Muslim countries today in which the majority may approve of illegal acts of terrorism and justice (or at least not condemn them strongly), so did we also have a majority of white Christians back then (in the Deep South) who tacitly approved of illegal acts of terrorism and justice (or at least did not condemn them strongly).

This is why I so strongly support the civil rights of any person, including American Muslims. You see, we too had our version of the jihadists, who even burnt crosses as a clear sign that this was Christianity at work. But, we overcame them eventually. And, we learned that we must support civil right for everyone. All too many of those who virulently argue against Muslims today, frankly would probably have virulently argued against Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and the rest of the many people involved in civil rights work. There were those who would accuse Martin Luther King of being a communist, just like there are those who sling that accusation at anyone involved in civil rights work. But, be careful. Look back and read history. Make sure you are on the side of God and are reflecting a true Christianity.