Dear Sisters and Brothers,

By 1959 R. N. Hogan has established a considerable reputation as a hellfire-and-brimstone evangelist. Now, in the wake of Brown v Board of Education, the Birmingham bus boycott, and the statement signed by members of the Harding community, Hogan turns his considerable rhetorical firepower on the leadership of the white Churches of Christ. In this withering assault, Hogan's most severe condemnation is reserved for those who have kept all of the law and yet have offended in one point: "Only the Negro!" His anger is plaintive, his anguish is palpable. These are Hogan's brothers in the Lord, whose hard doctrines and righteous judgments he has proclaimed since childhood; yet they have denied to him and to his kind the right to study that message in their pews and classrooms. To Hogan it is the message that matters, not the media. He can find only one value in associating with these "so-called christian" institutions: the opportunity to "get a christian education or be taught the word of God"--that is, to learn the right doctrine. Education is, properly, indoctrination. Hogan and those whom he accuses share every value but one. He does not pause to ponder that irony, but we may.

"O full of all subtility and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" Paul, Acts 13:10. This scathing reprimand was administered by the great apostle Paul to Elymas, the sorcerer, who attempted to turn the deputy from the faith. Now if this man was full of all subtility, all mischief, a child of the devil and an enemy of all righteousness because he sought to turn this man from the right ways of the Lord, aren't all people the same who are turning others from the right ways of the Lord today? If not, why not? Certainly any man or woman who perverts the right ways of the Lord exposes himself or herself to the wrath of Almighty God. I wonder if my so-called "white" brethren think that they are upholding the right ways of the Lord by barring christian Negroes from being taught the word of God in their churches and so-called christian schools? Is this practice the right ways of the Lord? If not, aren't they guilty of perverting the right ways of the Lord? And if they are perverting the right ways of the Lord, aren't they also full of all subtility, all mischief, children of the devil and enemies of all righteousness just as was the sorcerer of our text who was reprimanded by the apostle Paul? Yes, I know that I will lose some of my so-called friends because of these articles, but are they really my friends?

According to the Bible, they are God's enemies, and if they are God's enemies, why should I expect them to be my friends? Just a few weeks ago there was a so-called christian College President's meeting conducted out here on the Pacific Coast. According to the information that I received from a very reliable source, these Presidents united in agreement to keep the Negro out of their schools. The schools in California, Oregon, Nebraska, Michigan and Pennsylvania were excepted, but the Presidents of these western and northern schools failed to do as Paul did the sorcerer. They failed to point out the sin of the decision of the Presidents of the other schools. All of these men are highly educated and well informed in regard to what the Bible teaches, but are rebelling against God because of their fear of the people about them.

Please hear me: Just as sure as God rejected King Saul, these men are rejected, if they have ever been accepted. Did these men discuss and agree to refuse admittance into their schools, the Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Italians, Germans, Russians, Koreans, Mexicans, Indians, and etc.? No! Absolutely No! Only the Negro! They hate only the Negro! Do you mean to tell me that these men love God and hate the Negro? Anyone who would take such a stand should read I John 4:19, 20 and 3:15.

Surely these people will not contend that they love the Negro when they refuse him admittance into their schools that are supposed to be christian: where he can get a christian education or be taught the word of God. Every one of these Presidents are supposed to be gospel preachers and on the Board of Directors of each of these so-called christian schools; are men who are supposed to be Elders of the Lord's church and think of it, they are hindering the progress of the church of Christ among the Negro brethren [sic].

Our greatest handicap is the lack of qualified leadership, which these schools are supposed to give to the church. You often hear the cry: "take your time" "don't push this matter too fast!" Well, the Negro has taken his time for a hundred years and I think it is a terrible thing to tell people to take their time in obeying God. Take their time in repenting of their sins. Just as well to tell a man who has been in the Baptist, Methodist or other denominational churches all of his life to take his time in coming out of that human institution.

In 1959 Hogan is unique in bringing the logic of tent evangelism to the issue of race relations among Christians. In the identical terms in which he and they have demanded conversion and baptism, Hogan now calls his sisters and brothers to redress their treatment of his race. He demands an open door--the front door. Almost 40 years have passed since C. E. W. Dorris tried to force Hogan and his mentor, George Philip Bowser, to enter the Southern Christian Institute through the back door, along with other black students and faculty. Hogan has not forgotten, nor will he forget.

May God have mercy.

dhaymes, his mark +