Traditional Evangelicalism & the Poor

Putting pressure on poor and minority peopleâ??as traditional evangelicalism doesâ??to just work harder, practice respectability, pray, have faith, pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, etc. only plays into the hands of the Empire. Moreover, we see that while blacks are some of the most religious people in America, religion hasnâ??t delivered us. Why? Not because faith is bad, but because American-style evangelicalism is oppressive and designed to protect the powerful. It glosses over corporate injustice. It turns a blind eye to evil. It distorts forgiveness and reconciliation. It proof-texts white supremacy and American exceptionalism. It privatizes faith. It places all the responsibility on the victims and practically none on the victimizers. And it consigns God to the abuses and inequities inherent in our system. God doesnâ??t want to change the system, it teaches, God wants to change you, as if God is impressed with a country where college tuition has shot up by 1,120 percent, medical care by 601 percent, food by 244 percent, housing 380 percent while the minimum wage has plummeted by 5.5 percent and the pay of the average worker has only risen by 10 percent.