Forgetting history can lead to oppression, clergy members warn
Historical amnesia can threaten liberty, the Rev. Nicole P. Guns and others warned Thursday during an Emancipation Proclamation memorial service at Gary’s First Baptist Church.
The Gary & Vicinity Interfaith Clergy Council held the service Jan. 1, marking the anniversary of the effective date of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. It took effect on January 1, 1863, and freed slaves in rebellious states.
That proclamation was the beginning of bringing freedom, not the end product, said the Rev. Joy Heine of Bethel Lutheran Church. “It took the war to end. It took the 13th Amendment, which didn’t happen until a few years after the war.”
Heine and Guns warned that remembering history is vital to preserving freedom. “Any kind of history is whitewashed like nobody’s business,” Heine said, with attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion and history erased by the Trump administration to minimize or erase the contributions of minorities.
“This is our time and our year to tell this story,” Heine said.
Guns, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Gary, preached a scripture-based sermon that recounted how the Israelites repeatedly forgot their history and had God’s protection taken away.
“There is something sacred about remembering the journey,” she said. “When we forget where we come from, there are consequences.”
“History is not always fairy tales and lullabies,” Guns warned. Before the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery was the law in the rebel states. Even with Lincoln’s executive order proclaiming freedom for slaves, this practice continued until the end of the war.
But equality was not automatic.
“Deliverance that does not lead to justice is not complete,” Guns said.
The cycle of oppression continued. Slavery, Jim Crow, separate but equal, the war on drugs, ICE and mid-decade redistricting are all signs of this oppression of minorities, she said. “It happened again. He just had another name.”
“The leadership has changed, but the culture hasn’t,” Guns said. “People experienced freedom, but they never institutionalized justice. »
“Freedom without protection from abuse is a backlash,” she said.
“We cannot allow people to whitewash our history,” Guns said.
“It is biblical to tell our story because it speaks to what God has done for us,” she said. “Let us give glory to God. »
The guns evoke the story of the Israelites who do not remember their heritage.
“God told them to remember and tell their story, so we must do the same,” she said. “This Emancipation Day is a holy day. It is a sacred day.”
Three things happen when a people forget their history, Guns said. “When we forget God, we risk being misdirected. »
“This generation had heard the story, but they had not inherited the testimony,” she said. “Forgetting God did not lead to freedom; this led to new forms of slavery. »
The Israelites drifted from God to other gods, “gods who liked to put their names on buildings, who tore down historic buildings, those gods,” Guns said, implicating President Donald Trump without naming him.
“For some, your idol may be your success,” your wallet, your privilege, etc., Guns said. But this is moving away from God.
“This danger is not always a question of rebellion; it’s more about distancing,” she said. “They have abandoned the source of their freedom.”
“We live in an age of misinformation and rewriting of history,” Guns warned. “Whatever we serve begins to shape us, begins to redirect us. »
“We are making Jesus a mascot to advance our political agenda,” corrupting what Jesus actually represents, she said.
“We are also at risk of moral vulnerability,” Guns said.
“The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,” she said. “It is not God who abandons them, it is God who removes God’s protection.”
What once could not touch them now had access. “This is the danger of forgetting God.”
“Freedom without basis leaves us exposed,” Guns warned. “You can be free in name but unprotected by systems. Freedom can be eroded from without and undermined from within.”
“Our missteps repeat themselves” when historical amnesia occurs, she said. “When freedom is not transformed, our oppression returns. »
“We are facing difficult times,” said ICC President Rev. Shelley Fisher. She denounced Christian nationalism, “where people say we are the pure race and this is our country and people are submissive to us.”
“We are the ones who educate our children, our adolescents, and even the adults in our history, on the facts,” she said. “We must resist with facts. »
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
