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Ambassador
Andrew Young
NCC bio of
Ambassador Young
Note: For health reasons, Ambassador Young will be unable to attend the inauguration event in Memphis as he planned. He did, however, address specific issues related to the work of CUIC in a pre-taped interview. Below are excerpts from that interview. |
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Transcript of Ambassador Andrew Young’s Video Statement for Churches Uniting In Christ Inaugural Event National Civil Rights Museum, January 21, 2002 |
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OnenessThe
church is, in fact, the body of Christ remaining here with us on earth…
the body of believers coming together in the breaking of bread…We’re
pulled together in a context where we should know better than to try to
judge or evaluate others, but essentially learn from each other how the
Spirit has moved in each of our historic, ethnic or cultural
circumstances. Reconciliation
As
we learn to understand and appreciate the differences between male and
female in our families, between young and old, it makes it easier for us
to see that God bears witness through other people’s religious
experience. So that the religious experience of a Lutheran, for instance,
might be quite different from that of a Roman Catholic…As we approach
this diversity—not as emphasizing the difference, but seeking in our
brothers and sisters the revelation of God in Christ which has been their
experience with the Holy Spirit—then we do become reconciled and we have
to seek the presence of Christ in our loved ones and our enemies. The Lorraine MotelWell,
it’s a very difficult symbolism, I mean, because it is a moment which I
identify specifically with the cross. And one of the hardest things for us
to realize—and one of the things that Martin Luther King reminded us of
all the time—was that there is no remission of sins without the shedding
of innocent blood. That unearned suffering is redemptive.
That we don’t overcome the world by emulating the world’s evil:
We overcome the world by loving the world…That was all right so long as
it was his preaching, but when we had to watch him shot down on that
balcony in a pool of blood, it was very real. But, I always say that my
reaction was not hatred of the people who shot him, my reaction was not
even wanting to know or care who shot him. My reaction was, “Doggone
it—you’ve gone on to glory and left us here in this hell!” Triumph over TragedyIt’s almost more than symbolism of the cross and resurrection: it’s a reenactment of the cross and resurrection in our time that makes Memphis both a tragedy and a triumph…And we come together, as churches, reflecting on the tragedy of our disunity and hopefully willing to die in Christ that we might be reborn as one. I know that the South and America—and maybe even the world—was totally transformed by this death in Memphis…Race and poverty, these are the two phenomena that are dividing the human species on the planet today. And this is where we need to become reconciled. This is also what the prophet Isaiah was talking about, it’s also what led Muhammad to write the Koran. There is a oneness of spirit that we must find in order to survive on this planet. And I think Memphis is as good a place as any to start. |
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