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Jun 17 • 4 tweets • 4 min read
On this day in 2015, a white supremacist gunman bursted into Mother Emanuel AME, murdering 9 African American Christians huddled around the Scriptures.

Yesterday, I was in Sen. Tim Scott’s office in Washington D.C. to advocate for increased gun safety measures. It hits deeply.
These are the #emanuel9. Each of them precious in God’s sight. Each of them whose lives were senselessly taken because hate has a home and is able to so easily access a weapon that belongs in war zones.
This is the Bible study material and a Bible from that horrific and tragic day.

It’s on exhibit at the African American History museum in DC.
Then, in response to the #Emanuel9, @BreeNewsome climbed a flagpole to take down the confederate flag.

I was so sad to have missed her at the @ProgressChicago conference with @CharlieDates.

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More from @tweetraychang

Raymond Chang Profile picture
Jun 18
This is the outcome of the CRT mania. A CRT mania that began with people (including many Christians) misrepresenting what CRT is to the public and seeking to discredit it because it sought to distract people away from actually addressing racism.

Our education is truncated: 🧵
My younger school years, we didn’t really talk about histories that didn’t make America sound like a perfect country. Our bipartisan governmental system was propped up as a perfect system where I was led to believe that every person had a voice that was heard.
I pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and felt weird about it, but didn’t have a conceptual framework for knowing why.

Little did I know that “one nation under God” was added later - & signaled a type of Christian nationalism.

religionnews.com/2021/07/02/pat…
Read 14 tweets
Raymond Chang Profile picture
Jun 18
Soon enough, if things don’t change, churches will have to become closed and isolated communities.

I shared with every senate office the following:

Most churches in the US are under 100 people. Most can’t afford metal detectors. If they get funding, it’s still inadequate. 1/
People can find ways to sneak by metal detectors unless they have a security guard. Most can’t afford a security guard, this especially leaves churches like ITPC in Laguna Woods (which is made up of elderly people) especially vulnerable.
It’s not like municipalities and states are going to hire enough police officers to guard every house of worship throughout the week. And if there was only one officer, if a group of people were intent on killing, it would be pointless.
Read 5 tweets
Raymond Chang Profile picture
Jun 10
Listening to the Jan. 6 hearings & thinking about how I had to pause, pray, & reflect when I arrived here. I never thought the @uscapitol would become a crime scene - perpetrated by fellow US Citizens. I also never thought so many Christians would find a way to explain it away. Image
Hearing the first hand accounts of the Capitol police, members of the House of Representatives (& their staffers), & my former students who were in DC during the events, it is disheartening to hear so many Christians justify & seek to revise the plain history we witnessed.
As Christians, we must be careful not to put any party above our commitment to truth.

We must not allow our political commitments to skew our views in ways that distort the facts and the truth.

Please, take off your partisan goggles and consider what is being shared.
Read 4 tweets
Raymond Chang Profile picture
Jun 9
Just returned from DC. Meetings with GOP senate offices on gun safety measures were good overall. Some highlights:

- Most of the GOP offices were actively working on finding solutions to the mass shooting problems. Almost all were focused on mental health.
- Every office was uber generous with their time. We got way more time than we were schedule for. One office gave us an extra hour.

- Everyone cares about the victims of gun violence. They may not like the emphasis on guns as the problem, but they care.
- There is a major tension between federal vs. state legislative efforts.

- Most were focused on processes (where things go wrong) & emphasized community based solutions.

- Everyone is asking is how do you prevent mass shootings & maintain 2A individual right to bear arms.
Read 20 tweets
Raymond Chang Profile picture
Jun 5
In the US, we make an explicit claim that we are for liberty and justice for all.

I love this ideal.

However, one of the reasons we struggle to get to justice is because of an idolatrous commitment to liberty at the expense of justice - by those who identify as Christian.
We should value and cherish our liberties, but not when they come at the expense of justice. Justice at is core is a commitment to righteousness - it is a commitment to making things right.

Sadly, people often think of justice as retribution, not righting the wrongs.
I once had a discussion about liberty & justice with a fellow Christian who said that she was mentored by a prominent white evangelical leader. She said he told her, “If you ever have to choose between liberty & justice, always choose liberty.”

This is where things breakdown.
Read 10 tweets
Raymond Chang Profile picture
Jun 4
Hello @Grace4NY @tedlieu @AndyKimNJ @CongressmanRaja @SenDuckworth @YoungKimCA @RepJudyChu @maziehirono @RepStephMurphy @MichelleSteelCA @RepStricklandWA @RoKhanna @RepJayapal @MarkTakano @RepBera @DorisMatsui @BobbyScott @KamalaHarris @kaikahele:

Please read (& share) this🧵
1st, it’s amazing to have a whole tweet filled with elected Asian American leaders in federal government. 👏🏼

2nd, We at @aachristcollab just released a statement on Uvalde yesterday that has already garnered signatures from nearly every state in the US.

…ianamericanchristiancollaborative.com/statement-on-u…
I’m going to DC this coming week to meet with some GOP leaders. I am a Christian and believe that there are many Christians who are seeking bipartisan common sense gun safety measures at both the local & federal level.

I live in @SenDuckworth’s IL, but also lived in HI & CA.
Read 9 tweets

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