How Mammon Created Whiteness

Here we are in Week 2 of our Lenten Series on Race & Repentance: Reckoning with Whiteness.

This past week I preached on how Mammon (wealth + property + money) functioned systemically in Scripture. The big idea: love of money that Jesus spoke about (and Paul, too: “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim 6.10)) wasn’t *only* about desire. Yes: our desires/loves get warped by valuing money above God. AND Mammon functions socio-politically as well: ordering our time, relationships, work, attention, justice, etc according to it’s logic and telos. 

In other words: human systems and structures are conditioned by and operate according to the logic and goals of Mammon, which are at odds with the logic and goals of the Kingdom of God.

And here’s the kicker: Whiteness (as constructed/invented in the 14th Century and as it matured and took legal form/shape up through the 20th Century in America) was a strategy of Mammon.  

This week, in preparation for our weekly discussions on Sunday, March 7 at 9:15am and Tuesday March 9 at 8:30pm here are three videos we’ll use as additional resources for our conversation:

1. Systemic Racism Explained (4:23) 
2. Holy Post (Phil Vischer) Race in America Part 1 (17:52)
3. Holy Post (Phil Vischer) Race in America Part 2 (26:05)

Each of these videos sets to explain how Mammon is racialized in the United States through Whiteness, and how that works to create and sustain inequality and injustice. There are literally hundreds of ways this works; these videos I think do a good job laying out a few of these ways succinctly. 

I know you may only have time to watch 1 or 2; don’t worry if you can’t get through all of them. 

And a bonus, if you’re still looking for more on how “Whiteness” as a way of being and seeing in the world was invented by Europeans as they encountered African and New World peoples, here is an article that talks about some of that.

Okay y’all. Take some deep breathes. Feel all the feels in this. Talking about racial justice as a church made up of majority white people is hard, and as Fr. Ben reminded us, we will notice and face triggers and trauma in our bodies as we reckon with this. As always, Fr. Spencer, Fr. Ben and I are available to process more if you need and our prayer team is just an email away. 

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Matt