Nathan Stone writes for the Federalist about a likely turn in the disturbing nationwide campaign to topple monuments and statues.

The idea that Christianity is or has been infected with white supremacy is not new. Susan Abrahams, the dean of faculty at Pacific School of Religion, blamed “White Christians” for Charlottesville. Jeannine Hill Fletcher wrote a book in 2018 that purportedly showed racism was a natural outgrowth of Christianity, springing from “Christian superiority.”

This premise is wrong, first because of the existence of black saints. There is a rich tradition of African Christianity. Many of the earliest fathers of the church hailed from Africa, including Cyprian and St. Augustine of Hippo.

Furthermore, multiple men and women are recognized by the Catholic Church as saints who were black, including St. Moses the Black, St. Benedict the Moor, and St. Martin de Porres. It is a strange racist and oppressive system that recognizes the sanctity of people from across the world, regardless of their color, and bequeaths upon them the title of “saint,” a moniker that designates all who possess it as attaining ultimate equality before the throne of God.

There have been individual Christians who were racist, just as there have been individual Christians who were murderers, thieves, adulterers, and liars. But Christianity is not a racist or oppressive system. Christianity no more condones those sins than it condones slavery. Indeed, some of the first condemnations of slavery came from Christians. …

… Stained glass and statues do not show Christianity to be racist. A quick Google search would have shown this to King. So why King would make a statement that could be so easily refuted? The answer is that this outrage over white portrayals of Christ and the apostles is a blind meant to detract us from the real goal: canceling Christianity.