Chicago-area church called out for 'fasting from whiteness' for Lent: 'Wokeness gone mad'

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Chicago church bans some hymns while 'fasting from Whiteness' for lent

Rev. Eugene Rivers III, director of the Seymour Institute, calls out 'misguided White liberals' for their move to 'racialize' lent and says the Chicago church is diminishing the importance of the holiday with a 'wokeness gone mad gimmick.'

Boston Rev. Eugene Rivers III, director of the Seymour Institute, called out "wokeness gone mad" Thursday on "Fox & Friends" after a church in suburban Chicago announced they would be "fasting from whiteness" during Lent.

"To racialize the most high holy season in the Christian calendar is a case of, at best, wokeness gone mad," Rivers told "Fox & Friends." 

"If these misguided white liberals want to do something, they need to challenge the theft and misuse of tens of millions of dollars by the Black Lives Matter organization. If you want to engage in some kind of penitent activity that focuses on justice, stop playing the race card."

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Rivers referred to a new report claiming BLM leaders spent $6 million of donor funds to purchase a mansion in California after reportedly bringing in roughly $90 million in 2020.

(Fox News)

According to First United Church of Oak Park's website, the church is doing a mix of "giving something up’ and ‘taking something on."

"In our worship services throughout Lent, we will not be using any music or liturgy written or composed by white people. Our music will be drawn from the African American spirituals tradition, from South African freedom songs, from Native American traditions, and many, many more," it said.

"For Lent, it is our prayer that in our spiritual disciplines we may grow as Christians, united in the body of Christ with people of all ages, nations, races, and origins," the church added.

Rivers argued that the Chicago church is diminishing the importance of the holiday. 

"We are not connected in any way to some goofy … wokeness-gone-mad gimmick which diminishes the significance and moral grandeur of Christ's sacrifice for the world," he told Lawrence Jones. 

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Rivers' sentiments were shared by Chicago Pastor Corey Brooks, CEO of Project H.O.O.D., who told "Fox & Friends First" that it's "the worst kind of moral preening" because it's essentially meaningless gesture. 

"It tries to make them seem more morally virtuous, but all the time it's nothing but hot air," he told host Carley Shimkus.