Comments on: What We've Learned From "Skits That Teach"

By: Finding Hope in the Midst of Deadly Vipers (2) « signs of life

Finding Hope in the Midst of Deadly Vipers (2) « signs of life — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:02:51 +0000

[...] of Asian Americans on the internet. There was no such rapid communal response to Rickshaw Rally or the Skit Guys. Social media hadn’t developed that back much then, it was still the Stone Age, you know, [...]

By: “A Gentle Answer” Or “A Gentle Wrath” « Next Gener.Asian Church

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:44:11 +0000

[...] to be fair to Mike, he probably was not aware of the Rickshaw Rally fiasco. or about the Skits The Teach blunder or about the internal discussion that Camy Tang generated. He had no idea that Rah and other [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:17:45 +0000

Lately we all hear so much about Obama and race issues as Black/White, and it makes me always wonder if the Teachable Moment there is that there are many more races left out of the conversation if people would take time to include everyone into that national conversation that might be a good place for him/Obama to start.

By: The Never Ending Story « headsparks*

The Never Ending Story « headsparks* — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:01:29 +0000

[...] up some resources for our youth ministry. I was deeply disappointed to discover an old edition of Skits That Teach still on the shelves — the one that opens with a mocking, racist portrayal of a [...]

By: Sold Out to Jesus? Or Just "Sold Out"? « Next Gener.Asian Church

Sold Out to Jesus? Or Just "Sold Out"? « Next Gener.Asian Church — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:21:16 +0000

[...] 25th, 2007 by David Park In the aftermath of the YS/Zondervan “Skits That Teach” fiasco (h/t to Soong Chan Rah on a well-executed campaign to address the issues), I think that we saw some [...]

By: John

John — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:43:49 +0000

You’re absolutely right about the segregated nature of the Asian-American church. That’s because they’ve centered their churches around their ethnicity rather than around Christ. And that is simply wrong. The ethnically-targeted church (in contrast to an ethically targeted evangelistic ministry) is a denial of what the true Church is, where Christ unites all those who believe in Him.

You’re right also, “rarely do we break bread together, look one another in the eye, and listen to one another.” Of course, that’s largely because Asian-Americans segregate themselves and divisively break off into churches based on their own culture.

I left a post after an earlier article (in mid-Jan) about some of the inherent problems with the ethnically-targeted church.

By: David Park

David Park — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 04:28:26 +0000

Thanks Gar for the notice on the Skit Guys’ apology. Here’s what I got from Ed James, one of the Skit Guys, this morning.

Hey David,

I appreciate your email. Thanks for taking the time to write us and tell us how you feel. We are learning, I wish I had this awareness sooner in my life because we didn’t or never want to do any harm to any person.

Thanks for your grace and how you and so many are teaching us and educating us instead of the opposite (we’ve had a lot of those).

I hope if we are ever in the same place that we can meet and shake your hand.

Sincerely,

Eddie James

—–

I think it says a lot about these guys that they are responding to each and every email and addressing the issue head on. It shows that the criticism has weighed heavily on them, but that awareness in the body of Christ has increased. We are not successful however if we point out the error of others’ ways, we will be successful when we can find and abolish the racism in our own circles, as Paul points out.

By: paul

paul — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 09:12:44 +0000

i like the 3 points you learned, especially the last one; also the 2nd one. it may, ironically. betray a racist attitude of our own (as an asian community).

By: gar

gar — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 07:48:00 +0000

The skit guys have also posted an apology here:

http://skitguys.com/skitguys/apology.php

By: andre

andre — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 16:34:35 +0000

David

I wrote “True change takes place in the heart and mind – and that just hasn’t happened yet. Here’s an opportunity to christian community to be distinctive and we’re squandering it.”

Just to be clear, what I mean by “squandering it” has nothing to do with the conversation here.

I mean that as the church, we can be setting the pace in providing a picture of unity, grace, celebrating differences rather than maliciously making fun of them. Having a heart to pursue a multi-ethnic, multi-colored, community and being eager to defend that against cultural stereotyping and any form of cultural divisiveness. When we err, to act quickly, decisively and without sounding to trite – feel the pain of the brother we’ve legitimately offended.

I just think we’ve got a ways to go before we can say to the world – look to the church for a picture of God glorifying, celebratory unity