Woe Unto Charleston!
An Open Letter To The Clergy of Charleston, South Carolina
By Demetric Muhammad
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan was unwelcome in the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The Minister desired to grace the City of Charleston with his presence by including it as a part of his city-to-city tour in promotion of the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March. Yet all arenas, churches, and suitable spaces in Charleston have rejected Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.
As a student in the ministry class of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and a member of his research group, I wanted to write to my Charleston, South Carolina, colleagues in the ministry. All Black clergy—whether Muslim, Hebrew, Christian or other faiths—are co-workers in a unique and special vineyard filled with a burdened and pained mass of Black people, who today are stunned and shocked at the new season of lynching that has manifested throughout America. As a result, we should see each other as colleagues, brothers, and allies despite what may be theological or doctrinal differences. After all, the Abrahamic faiths are really more orthopraxic (emphasizing the correct conduct and actions) than orthodoxic (emphasizing the correct beliefs and doctrines). And one can easily see the grand opportunities for all men and women of faith to be united in brotherhood and sisterhood if we take to the “highways and byways” of the inner cities of America. For it is there among the pained and suffering Black community that we will find the modern Lazarus, the modern adulteress, the modern man with the withered hand, and the modern woman with the issue of blood; yes, even the modern blind man at the Pool of Siloam is to be found today in the “hood.”
I grew up in a wonderful Baptist church, with parents who were active members of our church. My grandmother was a Sunday school teacher and church pianist. My great grandmother was the superintendent of the Sunday school, a singer in the choir, and a coordinator of church missionaries. It was in the home of my great grandmother that I remember vividly to this day watching for the first time a movie about the life of Jesus and his crucifixion. And as a child, watching the horribly cruel treatment committed against such a good man, I said to myself that if I had been alive during that time I would have helped Jesus—I would have been with him. Even as a child of no more than 9 or 10 years of age, it disturbed me to see the movie portrayal of the crucifixion of a man that I had been taught by my parents was the Saviour of the world. I remember dreaming about it for several days after watching that film.
I became a member of the Nation of Islam as a teenager and my membership in the Nation did not diminish my love for Jesus. In fact, it broadened my understanding of Jesus in a profound way. It helped me to understand how the suffering of Jesus in the Bible paralleled the suffering of my own Black people in America. It helped me understand how the suffering of Jesus served as a model for what Black leadership would—and do—experience as a result of the horrible confluence of such forces as being misunderstood by their own people, being opposed by the government, and being maligned and condemned by Jewish groups. My membership in the Nation of Islam above everything else made me to want to go beyond a posture and disposition of just being satisfied with praising Jesus. It made me to know that what God really requires is that I strive to discipline my life according to the teachings and example of Jesus.
I share this part of myself so that you will understand that my letter to you is not written from a place of hatred for you or a place of condemnation of any of you personally. I do not write to you as one who is not familiar with the Black Christian experience. Neither do I write to you as one who does not love, admire, and see as a model for my life Jesus the Christ. I am not even writing you as a stereotypical Muslim who seeks to minimize the importance of Jesus as being just a mere “Prophet.” Not that there is anything ordinary about a Prophet or Messenger of God, but I challenge my own Muslim brothers with what I have learned as a student of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. For it is Minister Farrakhan who has always emphasized the Quranic teachings that refer to Jesus, in 11 different passages as the “Messiah.” In fact, Islamic eschatology focuses on the return of Jesus as one of the major events of the end of this world and the judgment of God.
I write to you as a brother.
And as your brother, I have to condemn in strong terms your rejection of the best brother that Black people have in the world today—the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
Dylann Roof killed 9 precious Black men and women who had assembled for prayer and worship at Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston. Yet in the immediate aftermath of that horrible act of terrorism, news reports circulated that the family members of the slain were offering Dylan Roof forgiveness. This sent a message throughout America and the world that the Black community of Charleston had forgiven the unforgivable. It said to the world that the Black community of Charleston was willing to accept the cold-blooded murder of some of the best members of that historic community without any demand for justice or prosecution of the guilty. The trauma-stricken community was portrayed as weak, helpless, and leaderless. Their response to the murder showed that the Black community in Charleston, South Carolina, is truly a “prey in the hand of the mighty.”
And I witnessed no pastors or preachers intervening to offer the perspective of God. God’s reaction to the murder of the righteous, as recorded in the Bible, is strong and fierce! Recall, dear pastors, the Bible’s book of Isaiah and its 49th chapter. In Isaiah chapter 49, verses 25-26, we read: “For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. I will feed your enemies with their own flesh. They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.”
Yet there were no reports of Charleston clergy openly disagreeing with the family members’ misguided reaction to the murder of their loved ones. And this silence and inability to apply the “meat” of the word of God is equal to mal-practice in the ministry.
The Bible is clear that even God hates, and Jesus spoke of hate in what scholars describe as a class of his teachings known as the “hard sayings of Jesus.” If as pastors and spiritual leaders of Charleston, South Carolina, we did not draw the public’s attention to the Bible, where we read in the book of Ecclesiastes such passages as found in chapter 3: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: …a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” We are guilty of mal-practice.
If we didn’t remind the believers of what the Bible contains about how God hates and his Prophets hate the wicked, we are guilty of mal-practice in ministry. The Bible is clear that “the Lord thy God is a man of war.” And his vengeance, wrath, anger, and hatred are reserved for the wicked who act as wolves devouring the righteous sheep-like believers in God. Be reminded, brothers and sisters in the ministry, of the “meat” of the word of God. The meat of his word is often deemed indigestible by weak-hearted men and women. Some examples of the “meat” of the Word include the following verses:
For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. (Isaiah 61:8)
Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, “Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!” (Jeremiah 44:4)
“[D]o not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD. (Zechariah 8:17)
Even Jesus instructed the new believers who were just beginning their journey through life as his disciples (while their family and friends opposed their following of Jesus) by uttering this “hard saying”: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
If we as men and women of God cannot teach these passages of Scripture with courage and conviction when the wicked rise up to kill the righteous, we are guilty of mal-practice in ministry and should strongly consider another line of work!
I fear that some of you who have been so psychologically imprisoned by destructive doctrinal dogmas will dismiss Old Testament scripture as arcane, irrelevant and antithetical to the grace and salvation represented by Jesus the Christ. But I caution against such an attitude. For you may distance yourself from the Old Testament and its emphasis on justice and the law of God, but Jesus certainly did not. He said, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” (Matthew 5:17)
Your rejection of Minister Farrakhan is a grave offense! One need only consider your rejection of the Minister in the light of Biblical scripture. In the Synoptic Gospels of Mathew, Mark, and Luke, we find the following cautionary verses on the subject of the rejection of Jesus’ disciples.
In Mark 6:11-12 we read, “And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
In Matthew 10:14-15, we read: “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of Judgment than for that town.”
In Luke 10: 10-12, we read: “But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’ I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day.”
Here in these passages we find that a severe punishment is to be visited upon towns and cities that reject the disciples of Jesus. Sodom and Gomorrah was violently razed by God and exists today only in history as a warning and cautionary tale. Yet Jesus says that when his disciples are rejected by cities, those cities have been earmarked by God for a worse fate than Sodom!
Dear pastors and clergy of Charleston, can not you see that the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is the best disciple of Jesus present among you today? If you can’t, allow me to help remove the scales from your eyes.
Forget doctrine and orthodoxy for a moment. Because Jesus was unorthodox; and he never used orthodoxy as a standard of judgment. In fact Jesus was so unorthodox that the Jews of his day strongly condemned him. Even to this day, the Jewish community holds Jesus in disgust and condemnation. While Islam, on the other hand, venerates and honors Jesus and his mother Mary.
Mark 9:38-40 proves Jesus attached more value to one having the correct actions than one merely espousing the correct doctrines. That passage documents a conversation between Jesus and the disciple John. In some Bible translations it is found under the subject heading Intolerance Rebuked and reads as follows: “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group. ‘Don’t stop him!’ Jesus said. ‘No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.”
Consider such an enlightened perspective provided by Jesus as you reflect upon Minister Farrakhan, whom many pastors say preaches Jesus as well as or better than most Christian preachers. And he has been to the Black Church a helper, a cheerleader, a friend, and a companion. And some of you have personally benefitted from the Minister’s love for you. Yet some of you think like John thought—that he should be stopped because he is not a part of your denomination. How foolish!
I challenge you to examine the effect of his preaching. You will find that his students and followers reflect the discipline, moral striving, and willingness to obey God just like Jesus taught and demonstrated. And while many of you struggle to bring your own congregations into what the New Testament calls a holiness lifestyle, Minister Farrakhan has modeled the way for you. The Minister is widely known for the moral reform of those who follow him. Many of us in our pre-Farrakhan days were drug abusers, thieves, murderers, and practitioners of self-destructive lifestyles. This is the man that you have rejected.
The man you rejected made a call in 1995 for a million Black men to meet him in Washington, D.C., for the historic Million Man March. Nearly 2 million men answered that call and traveled to Washington, D.C., at their own expense. And of the nearly 2 million men, most or nearly 75% self-identified as Christian. This begs the question, why did a million Christian men respond enthusiastically to the call of Muslim Minister Louis Farrakhan? As a pastor, you know that Bible scripture teaches that Jesus’ sheep “know his voice” and will not follow a stranger. The Million Man March proved that the voice for Jesus in the world today is the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan!
The man you rejected has defended the most notable of Black men, women, and groups whenever the white power structure moved against them to ruin their reputation and destroy their careers. In fact the conflict with the Jewish community and Minister Farrakhan is the result of the Minister’s defense of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. in his ambitious run for President of the United States. And while the Minister has defended Black leadership, he himself has been the subject of the most vicious and wicked propaganda campaign in American history. As a result of defending the Rev. Jackson he was branded an anti-Semite by the leaders of the Jewish community. As a result of defending the Rev. Jackson, he was ultimately censured by the United States Senate. Yet none of this deterred him in his resolve to defend his own Black brothers and sisters.
The man you rejected has used his good name and reputation with the masses of our people to speak well of and defend and support notable Black clergy. The Minister’s resume documents his support and defense of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.; Rev. Charles Coen; Rev. Eddie Carthan; Archbishop George A. Stallings; Rev. James L. Bevel; Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis; and Rev. T.L. Barrett, just to name a few. Whether you know it or not, when the Minister suffers being beaten up by the media, the Jews, and the U.S. government but at the same time defends, supports, guides, and finds ways to help you, you are witnessing him reflect the principle expressed in the phrase “by his stripes we are healed.” Again, this proves that Minister Farrakhan is living the principles and character of Jesus while most are just satisfied to “praise his holy name.” Maturity should teach us that praise alone is not enough. If praise is not followed by carrying into practice the teachings and example of Jesus, it is nothing more than an empty exercise in vanity.
The man that you rejected spoke at the Million Man March and refused to use the occasion as a recruitment tool for the Nation of Islam. Instead he gave the following humble instructions to the million men. “Every one of you must go back home and join some church, synagogue or temple or mosque that is teaching spiritual and moral uplift. I want you, brothers—there are no men in the church, in the mosque. The men are in the streets and we got to get back to the houses of God.” Which one of you as pastors would have enjoyed such an audience and steered your listeners to fill the pews of another congregation or religion?
The man that you rejected went into the treasury of the Nation of Islam to extend a grant of funding to the Rev. Dr. Charles Steele for the upkeep and maintenance of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. To which, the Rev. Dr. Steele exclaimed, “I can honestly say, if it was not for Minister Louis Farrakhan, the SCLC would be out of business.”
This is just some of the sterling record of the man that you rejected—the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. You know that he has been a great blessing to you. Your rejection of him is shameful, disgraceful, and cowardly.
Brother and Sister Pastors, your rejection of Minister Farrakhan is an offense that demands repentance.
You would do well now to beg God’s forgiveness for your rejection of Minister Farrakhan. Repent and become the bold and courageous man or woman of God that a time like this demands. Repent and join Minister Farrakhan along with your congregations for the Justice or Else rally in Washington, D.C., on October 10, 2015. Repent and join the Minister in having what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called for in 1963, namely, a “sacrificial Christmas.” This is a call for you and your congregations to unite with the Justice or Else Movement and show the world just “what would Jesus do” in a time like this. We are keeping our money in our pockets this year and expect you and your congregations to participate with us in an economic withdrawal from the Christmas spending season. Lastly, you should make haste in hosting the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in your city at his earliest convenience. Extend to him an invitation to speak in the City of Charleston as soon as possible! This is critical; otherwise, you place your city in that horrible category that Jesus warned of—a city whose fate is so horrible, it will make God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah seem mild by comparison.
As-Salaam Alaikum (Peace Be Unto You),
Demetric Muhammad