Wednesday, November 6, 1968
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
9
Non-violent army supported by racist church advocator
By Diane Samms Kansan Staff Writer
White Christians have been encouraged to form a "white, nonviolent army or reconciliation" by a KU assistant professor of religion and human relations.
"The Christian faith is partisan," Shelton said to the participants of the University Christian Movement's (UCM) white racism course. "We must help push the Church away from its apolitical stance—this is a dodge," he added.
He said the non-violent stance comes from the root of the Church—from the life of Christ. Non-violence is a way of life, he said, and cautioned that it is not a method to obtain justice.
In his lecture, "The Church as Racist and Reconciler," Shelton tied in the history of the American Church with the imperatives that the Church is beginning to realize.
Racism has caused a pluralism in Church, he said. He traced the racist history from the southern Protestant Church's permission, then support of slavery to the Church's current stance of beginning to deal with the problems behind racism.
He told how southern Church leaders during Reconstruction
GI bill helps students
There are 506 KU students attending school on the new GI Bill of 1965, according to Mrs. Elizabeth Edmondson of the registrar's office.
The enrollment is a gain of about 100 over last year and has been on a continual rise since the Vietnam conflict began, she said.
supported their pro-slavery stance by scripture from Paul's letters which admonishes slaves to be obedient to their masters. The Ku Klux Klan, he pointed, out, was built on a Christian base.
The sociological justification for racism in the Church is that congregations tend to be residentially-based, Shelton said. In 1948, a survey showed that only six per cent of Negro Protestants belonged to predominately white denominations.
Speaking to the theological bases of racism in the Church, Shelton said the Calvinistic tradition, with its Doctrine of the Elect, has come to be interpreted as "those who have made it." This view, he said, is reinforced by the middle-class Church, whose function is to "support the status quo, the prevailing values of the social order."
in community agencies which the Church now supports. He cautioned that leadership in the ghettos must remain within the hands of neighborhood leaders.
Shelton sees the Church as having a "central role in the lives of a small number of people in both the white and black communities." He said he would have the Church pick up its confessional role as a community formed on the basis of the common experience of human sin.
The Bible, Shelton said, is the "language of love in action," and cited the Old Testament concept of the suffering servant.
Black churches are beginning to demonstrate a separate identity from white churches, Shelton noted, adding that the black Christ and the black Madonna figures in Detroit churches are symbols of that identity.
Shelton offered proposals for the Church if it is to become more relevant to the issues of the day. The development of an individual self-image — "probably the beginning point," Shelton said — would involve one's working
He also called for a study of the Church and its function as a community. "There will be more violence." Shelton said, and added that the Church must deal with that realization and decide what stance it should take.
Though Shelton sees the Church as "a major contributor to white racism," he is quick to add that "it offers the most significant possibility for reconciliation in the future."
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SENIORS
Three days in a row for the class of 1969
Thursday, Nov. 7 SENIOR COFFEE!
9:30 a.m. in the ballroom of the Union.
No classes at this time for seniors, so be sure and come with your senior class dues card and pick up your senior class sweatshirt, hat and calendar. Also, vote for the instructor you want to win the senior class HOPE Award. Free coffee and doughnuts.
All seniors welcome. You can pay your $12 dues then and get your card.
Friday, Nov. 8 SENIOR CLASS PARTY!
7:30 p.m. at the National Guard Armory. Two bands, "Young Raiders" and "Rising Suns." Free admission and free beer to all "card-carrying seniors." Admission for unseniors is $1.50. Wear your hats and sweatshirts!
Saturday, Nov. 9 SENIOR DAY!
Honor Thy Senior, living group underclassmen, by choosing your own traditions, such as breakfast in bed, gag gifts, skits, or whatever ways you choose to Honor Thy Seniors.
Seniors, wear your hat and sweatshirts to the victory over Oklahoma; our mass showing of big blue regalia will honor thy football team. The winner of the Senior Class HOPE Award will be announced during halftime of Senior Day! Happy Senior Day!
Class of 1969
"Seniors are our business. Our only business."
John Hill ★ President
Brent Waldron ★ Vice-President
Andrea Sogas ★ Secretary
Merry Sue Clark ★ Treasurer