Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday .

Religious Ebonics

Wanting to sound current at the latest ministerial, I jumped into the Ebonics table debate. Ebonics, in case you've been on a fasting and prayer retreat since last November, is the African-American speech pattern the Oakland Public Schools is attempting to use as a "bridge" dialect to teach African-American children. This means Oakland teachers don't say, "Point to the squirrel that is beginning to climb a tree," but rather, "Point to the squirrel that is fixing to climb the tree."

Anyway, as guy who fancies himself a writer, and a lover of several dictionaries through my life, I resolutely condemned the silly idea. "Why, it's like teaching students 2+2=5 in order to eventually teach them that the total is 4." Pleased with my impeccable logic, I assumed my remark would, of course, immediately convince all hearers that using Ebonics to teach proper English was a ridiculous idea.

It did convince all the ministers who already felt that way. (I find that is often true of my arguments.) Then my friend Morton, an Episcopal minister spoke up. "Why, I would think you Evangelicals would love Ebonics -- you guys are the kings of religious Ebonics."

Swallowing the bite of warmish mashed potatoes in my mouth, I screwed up my face and asked, "Religious Ebonics? What in the world is that?"

"Why it's what you evangelicals practice all over North America. You redesign your services into the cultural vernacular of the masses as a sort of 'bridge' -- worship slang, if you will. You people are the masters of it."

"Hey, we're the conservatives, remember," I replied, "We're the ones who guard the faith of the fathers," I replied, defending our position.

"Baloney" he laughed back. "You evangelicals are the masters at designing worship for the secular person -- in their language, with their musical instruments, in an atmosphere where they feel comfortable. It's you guys, not us, who have popularized the idea of 'Christianity 101' and targeted services for entry-level seekers, in the 'lingua franca' of the common people. You are the guys who rush to adopt the latest in everything from staging, to styles, to TV, to your recent hip-hop praise choruses, guitars, drums, and wraparound theater seating. C'mon, my friend, you evangelicals have nothing to complain about Ebonics -- you're the masters at it."

"Well, Er, Ah, well, we call that 'evangelism," I retorted.

"A Ha!" He laughed, scooping a huge bite of cherry pie into his mouth. "The Evangelical's Trump card, right? -- 'Evangelism.' You guys think you can toss out a thousand years of tradition in worship, preaching, liturgy, and music so that you 'might by all means save some', right?"

"Well, that's what "evangelical" means, you know... Evangel, Evangelism, get it?" I replied.

"Phooey, you guys are merely better marketers than we are -- you are better at designing religious experiences to target the customer's current needs and fads. You people have no fixed tradition -- no Webster's dictionary of worship. Whatever the people speak, you speak. I tell you, it's religious Ebonics -- you're willing to sacrifice all of church tradition to morph Christian worship into today's street slang. You trade away 2000 years of birthright for a mess of pop pottage. Then you guys make fun of Ebonics in Oakland. You are compromisers complaining of compromise. Why, at Trinity, you'll never see drums or an overhead screen on our platform -- it isn't proper."

"O.K. O.K. Mort, I admit we're better than you guys at the religious pidgin stuff. But if you're all so committed to tradition, how come you Episcopalians don't hold your services in Latin? That's what I want to know." Just then our President Monotone began tapping his glass with a spoon for our closing prayer together. We never got the finish the conversation, though I think I head Mort mumbling something during the prayer about Henry VIII.

Too bad we never finished. The issue of how much to adapt religion to the masses, in order to "bridge" them could use more discussion among us all. Can you cross over a cultural "Pidgen bridge" and eventually move the people back over the bridge toward "proper" worship, beliefs, and behaviors... or English? Is there such a thing as "proper" English... or worship? Or, do we compromise the end goal when we adapt to the culture's fads and preferences? It's a good discussion to have. Especially after Super Bowl Sunday.

Are there limits?

So what do you think?

To contribute to the thinking on this issue e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu