Murder, Race and Faith on Tokens Show Podcast

“He said ‘If you write positive things about white Caucasian Christians, God will bless you. If you write negative things about white Caucasian Christians, God will punish you. If God does not punish you directly, several individuals will do it for Him. And his wife made me a sandwich.’”

Since 2008, Tokens Show has been employing comedy, world-class vocalists, best-selling author interviews, and Nashville, Tennessee’s best session players, to “break down false dichotomies one show at a time.” Last year, they expanded from a live show to an NPR radio experience and podcast. One episode in particular grabbed my attention above all. Season 1 Episode 1: Murder, Race and Faith: An Interview with Jerry Mitchell.

What happens if anger is truly righteous? What happens when someone is incensed by injustice and takes action humbly?

In this episode, host Lee C. Camp interviews the MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Jerry Mitchell on his new book Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era.

Jerry Mitchell has spent his life as an investigative reporter and has recently launched Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit that exposes corruption and injustices, investigates cold cases, empowers citizens and raises up the next generation of investigative reporters.

Murder, race, and faith on tokens

In their conversation a sorrowful truth is revealed: that it is often because of our ideas about God that hatreds are fostered and justified. And despite all the beauty of religion, and despite the Christian scripture’s defense of and concern for the powerless, it is God’s supposed authority in which violence is executed.

On the other hand, a beautiful possibility is explored: what happens if anger is truly righteous? What happens when someone is incensed by injustice and takes action humbly? Not for spite, but for truth, for goodness, and to bring justice not for themselves, but for the widow, the orphan, the stranger and “the least of these”?

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We invite you to listen:

  • Tokens Podcast - Murder, Race, and Faith - An InterviewWith Jerry Mitchell
  • Lee C. Camp
  • https://s3.amazonaws.com/RavenFoundation/Murder%2C+Race+and+Faith_+Jerry+Mitchell.mp3
  • https://s3.amazonaws.com/RavenFoundation/Murder%2C+Race+and+Faith_+Jerry+Mitchell.mp3