“Fire in the Whole”: An Interview with Robert G. Callahan, II— Part 1

Robert G. Callahan, II is an accomplished attorney at Callahan & King, PLLC in Waco, Texas. He is also the author of a new book, “Fire in the Whole: Embracing Our Righteous Anger with White Christianity and Reclaiming Our Wholeness.” This is part one of our interview.

Starlette Thomas: “Fire in the Whole,” a guide to healing from spiritual abuse, invites readers to embrace their righteous anger and frustration with white Christianity. Why is bargaining or denial, a book club, or a fellowship meal not the way to change this faith tradition? 

Robert G. Callahan, II: Let me begin by defining the phenomenon that deserves our anger. White Christianity is, foremost, not about Christians who are white. Rather, it is that subset of Christianity that intentionally ignores, or does not consciously consider, the effects of racism or prejudice–in either the church or society–on the marginalized, nor cares to, having been given the resources and information to do so.

With this in mind, history has definitely shown that performative gestures (such as a book club, fellowship meal, or special prayer services) are the preferred methods that white Christianity utilizes to assuage minorities who are frustrated by the church’s apathy towards, or complicity with, injustice. 

There’s a negotiation process that white Christianity would have us enter into that asks of us, “How little can the church get away with saying or doing in order to make minorities content with the circumstances in the church?” when it should ask, “How far can the church go to dignify and uplift the marginalized?” 

White Christianity seeks to maintain power structures that center social, theological, and political views that are consistent with patriarchy and white supremacy rather than a robust understanding of the gospel’s influence on those spheres centering the most marginalized in society. Therefore, as minorities (this includes racial minorities, women, the LGBTQIA+ community, and the disabled) in these environments, if we’re not aware of what we’re experiencing, we’ll fall victim to a cheap form of reconciliation that really requires nothing of our abusers while demanding our constant presence and allegiance to a malformed image of the church that’s harmful to us.

To demonstrate this, I discuss the “Five Stages of Grief” (denial, depression, bargaining, anger, and acceptance) as they manifest in the context of spiritual abuse. For example, in denial, we may reason that our congregation can’t possibly have a problem with racism because the leadership claims that diversity is important or allocates resources to community outreach. 

Nevertheless, as minorities, we still feel like we’re not allowed to be our full, authentic selves in that congregation. Bargaining may manifest when we consider leaving but reason with ourselves: “maybe if I give the pastor this book, share this podcast, post about this musician – maybe if I stay in the church, I can change the organization from the inside.” These are all forms of negotiating the terms of our continued presence in a space that we know is no longer healthy for us. 

ST: “There is something wrong when church, the place we go for shelter and nurturing, becomes the place we feel least safe,” you wrote in “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Boogeymen often hide under the bed or in a child’s closet. Where should Christians look to root out evil? Where should they shine a light to ensure sacred space is, indeed, safe?

RG: Looking at the representation within the organization is one of the best indicators for those exploring whether a sacred space is safe. There are questions we should ask ourselves.

Does this organization know how to empower its people rather than hoard power within one group? How many of the pastors and elders look like me? 

Who’s leading worship? Even if the worship leaders look like me, what cultural expressions of worship are present? Is the music white-centered? 

I love when diverse congregations have their liturgies or scripture references read in the native tongue of those whose first language isn’t English. Are women, or members of the queer community, invited to lead from the front, pray or administer communion? 

While these items aren’t a checklist, they do provide us with some examples of what we should be looking for as we’re judging new spaces and provide us with a more faithful imagination of what the church should look like.

ST: You also wanted to create a safe space for readers “to work out their faith.” Why was this important?

RG: It’s important for us to have models for deconstruction that neither require survivors of spiritual abuse to snuggle under the same blanket with their oppressors, nor require us to walk away from our faith altogether. Precisely because there are so few places where we are given the room to work out our faith, it was crucial to do so here. 

I want people to know it’s okay to question so much of what we’ve been handed without fear that they will lose their salvation or their standing with God on the other side of it. In fact, in some ways, I feel like my faith is more genuine, having reconstructed it without the taint of white supremacy. 

To help foster this environment, I’ve included a Spotify playlist of music that inspired my writing that you can access on the publisher’s website. There are mental exercises, and suggestions of tangible actions we can take to facilitate our healing.