nine.

So my friend Anna asked me to write a letter to the President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for her and some of the other Equality Riders to read as they are performing civil disobedience on that campus. Here is the letter I wrote.

President Patterson and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,
I am writing to you today as a student who goes to a school that holds discriminatory policies against me. I was raised by a father that studied at your school when I was a child. We lived in your family townhouses and I was raised with your teachings and theologies. I can tell you as a kid who grew up in that environment that I was taught to love God with my whole heart. I was told that if I simply believed in my heart, and confessed with my mouth that he is Lord then I would be saved. Why then do you and other teachers of the word of God say that it takes more than that to call yourself a Christian? You will try and quickly correct me by saying that that is not what you believe, but every time you say you respect without accepting people for who they are is saying to me that you view me as less than the person God has made me to be.
Galatians says that when you teach salvation is found in anything else other than the saving grace of Christ it is a lie. What I am asking you to do today is put aside all the extra stuff you hold over people and remember that we are all one in Christ. We are no longer Jew or gentile, free or slave, male or female but we are all true children of Abraham and are now covered by the covenant that was made by him and God. What I ask of you today is simple. Remember that I am your sister in Christ. Remember that I believe in the same Savior that you trust for your salvation. Now with that being said, I ask you to accept my friends onto your campus and have a discussion with them about the issue at hand. I can tell you as a young lady I grew up with a very negative view of the church because for the majority of its people there is no room for discussion and the possibility that different does not necessarily mean wrong. Please listen to them as they speak about truth and love and know that they mean well and are not coming from a place of hatred but of absolute love for you and your students. Peace be with you, sir, and please know there are many of us that pray for you daily as you educate the future of our American church.
Peace and Truth to you,
Tennessee James

Short, sweet and to the point. I cannot wait to see change in the church.

Yours freely,
Tennessee James