Tennessee Baptists Join Chorus Speaking Out Against White Nationalist Rallies

Tennessee Baptists are the latest group to speak out against the white supremacist rallies planned for Murfreesboro and Shelbyville this weekend.

Both cities were chosen by the League of the South — in part — because of recent racial tension (though a
shooting by a Sudan-born man at a church in Antioch is also cited by organizers). Murfreesboro
resisted construction of a large mosque completed in 2012. Shelbyville pushed back against refugee resettlement, even though
resettlement agencies said they never placed anyone in Bedford County.

In both cases,
Christians and churches played some role in the tension with Muslims. But Randy Davis, who is executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, says most churches are full of compassionate, loving people.

“There is a narrative out there that evangelical people are racist,” Davis said at a press conference Wednesday. “We are not.”

Ministers in Murfreesboro have also
appeared in a video with the mayor ahead of this weekend’s rallies to ask for unity. And other theologians in the region have felt the need to make a statement.

“Like most Christian denominations in the United States, we Churches of Christ folks have had our historic sins of racism and prejudice,” Lipscomb University theology professor Lee Camp wrote in an open letter. “But many of us have been working hard at racial equity and social justice, confessing our historic wrongs, truth-telling and reconciliation. We don’t want such racist rhetoric setting us back as a Christian community.”

A Scene Of Defiance

In Shelbyville, it’s become a common sight for residents who drive by the site where the white nationalist rally is slated to take place — members of the community holding up signs that say “Shelbyville loves.” A group of citizens pledge to show up every day in defiance of the upcoming event.

As four o’clock rolls around and traffic begins to pick up, just one man stands at the busy intersection. He’s been here each afternoon since the rally’s announcement, sometimes alone.

Within minutes a young couple arrives with their nine-year-old son. It’s their first time doing something like this, say the parents. Their son, Daniel Perdones, carries a sign that says “boo to hate.”

“We don’t want racist people here,” he says. “It can hurt people’s feelings and it can be not nice.”

Some minutes later, a few others show up.

At one point passengers in a truck stop at a red light across the street begin yelling “Make America great again” repeatedly. But the group, which says the demonstration is not political, is mostly greeted with honking and a few cheers.