Thread by @JoshDaws

I finished @isickadams' book Talking About Race: Gospel Hope for Hard Conversations. My thoughts to follow in this thread. 1/17

I had high hopes for this book based on some strong recommendations from well-respected pastors who have gone on the record rejecting CRT. 2/17

From the beginning of my involvement in this discussion, I've tried to remind people that it's possible to have conversations on race without relying on CRT at all. It's unfair and wrong to use concepts from CRT or accusations of CRT to shut down conversations. 3/17

@ShaiLinne's book is an excellent example of how to do this. It's my go-to book for Christians who reject Critical Theory but want to know how to think and have conversations about race biblically. 4/17

Though I had hoped Isaac's book would go alongside Shai's as another recommendation, I have some reservations that prevent it from being a book I could recommend. 5/17

Before I get to my reservations, I would like to praise Adams for his copious use of scripture throughout the book. In many of the books highly recommended by evangelicals on the topic of race, the bible is conspicuously absent. Not so in this book. 6/17

Also absent are many of the sociological terms and definitions derived from CRT that so often appear in other books on the topic. I don't in any way believe that Adams is trying to smuggle CRT into the church. 7/17

In fact, Adams provides solid biblical advice on handling disagreements between Christians in every chapter. If the focus of his book had been on handling disputes in general, I'd be more than happy to recommend this book. 8/17

However, it's his framing of the particular disagreements between evangelicals about racial issues that give me pause. 9/17

To illustrate these disagreements, Adams employs a fictional narrative about how various members of a multiethnic church respond to a police shooting. He begins each chapter with another bit of the story from a specific character's point of view. 10/17

By sidestepping actual incidents, he's able to present a more black-and-white situation without all of the messy nuances of real-world events. His characters' responses to the fictional events conveniently set Adams up with softballs to respond to. 11/17

I never saw my perspective represented in the narrative. Every white person in the story has either spent time trying to understand the issues and agrees with the "correct" understanding or hasn't taken the time to be educated by black people. 12/17

Adams doesn't seem to consider the existence of those who have taken the time to listen and understand different perspectives but reject the conclusions drawn from those experiences. 13/17

All of his advice is geared toward encouraging people on Side A of the debate to listen and learn from people on Side B while encouraging those on Side B to be patient with those on Side A. 14/17

It's all great, biblical advice IF his starting assumptions are correct, but that's the problem. We can't have hard conversations on race if you expect the other side to accept your presuppositions. Those are often what are in question. 15/17

In the end, that's what keeps me from recommending this book. Christians with a social justice perspective will have their viewpoint validated as correct. Those with a different view will be encouraged to listen and learn until they change their hearts and minds. 16/17

While I appreciate Adams' desire to see the tenor of the conversation improve, I don't believe this book (or any book) that fails to consider genuine disagreement about the very nature of the problem itself will be terribly helpful to that end. 17/17