On
The Question of Race
Introduction:
I find it most unfortunate that it is even necessary to teach on this topic since the notion of bigotry within the church should be a non issue. I am sad to say however, that the main reason for the persistence of racial hatred in the world is the fact that it is practiced and condoned within the church. This situation is quite intolerable and must be addressed by the leadership who, by the way, are the ones responsible for fomenting an atmosphere of racial animus within the church in the first place. For by failing to provide guidance to the sheep on the notion of love for the brethren, they have allowed them to continue to walk in the bondage of hatred that ensnared them when they were in the world. In the course of this teaching I’m afraid that many of you, both black and white, will find that you have been guilty of racism. But you will also have the opportunity to gain understanding and to repent of this hideous evil that you have allowed yourself to become entangled in.
Foundation Scripture: Gen. 1:26-31 Then God said, “ Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness, Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
the air, and over the cattle, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth”.
I: Race :
Before we can discuss the concept of racism, we must first understand the notion of race. Part of the reason for racism is a misunderstanding of what it is that actually constitutes a race, for you are more likely to hate someone if you see them as different from yourself. The word race in the English language is derived from the Latin word generatio; which literally means, “a begetting”. The scientific meaning of race is as follows:
1, a group of people having a common parentage; the descendants of a common ancestry, family; clan.
2. a breed or stock; a large division or class, the species and genera of which are traceable to a common origin.
There is also a non scientific connotation of the word race which, in usage, has eclipsed its much more accurate scientific denotation, which is subdividing mankind according to phenotypic differences in appearance. This has led to classification according to skin hue and physical appearance into three major categories, White, Black, and Mongoloid. As we proceed in this teaching we will see the devastating consequences that this arbitrary division has had on the human consciousness. For the purposes of this teaching, I will define the human race as those who have descended from Adam. The Bible gives the following discourse on the origin of the human race.
Gen. 2:18-25( the forming of Eve)
Gen. 3:20 ( the mother of all living)
Gen. 4:1-2 ( the first children)
Acts 17:26 ( from one blood)
These Scriptures describe the early history of man on the earth. We can see that every person on the planet can trace their lineage back to Adam and Eve. There was a brief interruption in the lineage during the time of the flood, when mankind was reduced to three sets of procreating couples. From these all of the population of the earth sprang forth.
Gen. 6: 1-7
Gen. 9: 18-19
Gen. 10:32
At this time a brief discussion of the early history of the descendants of Adam is in order. Thus far we have seen that every human on earth can be traced back to Adam and Eve. In the early generations, the family of man lived and traveled essentially as a unit, living in a narrowly defined geographic region, specifically located in the fertile crescent area of Asia Minor. Also, since all of mankind sprang forth from a single set of genes, consanguinity was an inevitable necessity for procreation. When taken together, these two factors, intermarrying and similar geographic location, would result in humans that were phenotypically very similar. This “family “ unity continued until the rebellion at the tower of Babel, after which the people were scattered across the face of the earth. They later became all of the nations, tribes and tongues that we see today ( Gen. 11:1-9).
Aside from the sociological consequences of the nationalization of mankind, there were some genetic consequences as well. Now separated by greater distances, there was much less opportunity for ( and because of a larger gene pool), much less necessity for consanguinity.(intermarrying) When you factor in the genotypic changes that occurred because of the process of natural selection, it becomes very easy to see why the family of man began to look different. These very processes are the sole reason for the specialization of man into so called “races”. Somehow down through the ages we have forgotten that, although we appear different superficially, we are nevertheless identical internally and are all of one blood: namely Adam’s. The Lord knew that this would be the unfortunate consequence of dividing the house of man, and would result in petty squabbles, wars and rivalries, as well as the self defeating notion of taking up arms against you brothers, simply because they look different from you. Apparently this was the lesser of two evils, considering the consequences of allowing mankind to stay united in rebellion against the Lord of heaven.
Strange Flesh:
At this time, let me take a moment to explain why it is so important for the church to rid itself of this horrible sin of racism, and to establish itself as the beacon of light that the Lord intended it to be. The main purpose of the devil in fomenting racism is to distract mankind from his real agenda. That is to corrupt the seed of man so that what was prophesied in the garden of Eden concerning him would not come to pass. In Genesis 3:15 The Lord spoke to the serpent and told him of the repercussions of his involvement in the temptation and subsequent fall of man. He told him that there would one day be one who would come from the seed of the woman who would defeat him. Now this was, of course, a prophecy which was fulfilled in Christ Jesus, but at the time the devil didn’t know that. He only knew that his conqueror would come through the seed of these puny humans who were inferior and made of dust. He reasoned that it would be easy to thwart this plan of the Father by simply corrupting all of the seed of man, thereby rendering them incapable of bringing forth any one who would serve as a threat to him. At that time in the garden, unbeknownst to us, we had been made unsuspecting participants in a huge celestial confrontation between the Lord of heaven and His enemy Satan.
The devil’s first assault on the genepool of man came a little over a thousand years after the creation of Adam and Eve. Certain angels left their habitation and came to earth to cohabitate with human females, and caused them to bear children to them. The resultant hybrid offspring were desperately evil and succeeded in turning the hearts of mankind against the ways of the Lord by filling the whole earth with violence and debauchery. The Lord responded to this by purposing in His heart to destroy all of mankind from the face of the earth. Then He remembered the prophecy spoken in the garden and realized that if He carried out His plan, the devil would have won by causing the Word of God to fail. So He searched all the land and found Noah. A man who feared Him and commanded his family in the ways of righteousness. So He instructed him to build an ark and to gather of all the animals and creeping things on the earth because He was about to wipe the earth clean of all that was defiling it. Noah was obedient to the command of the Lord and, in the fullness of time, God brought forth the Flood which purified the earth, yet the eight were saved as though through water, and they and the creatures with them remained to repopulate the earth and to keep alive the word of God, which He had spoken in the garden.
However this was not the last time that the devil attempted such an attack. There were undoubtedly additional attempts to corrupt the seed of man after the flood. The scriptures testify to the existence of the telltale sign of corrupted giant offspring resulting from unlawful cohabitation between terrestrial and celestial( Gen 6:4). One of the reasons that God was so displeased with the nations which occupied the promised land before Israel is that many of them were products of these unlawful unions. As such they served their celestial fathers and engaged in their despicable practices. One of His stated purposes for His people Israel was to use them to utterly destroy these rudimentary symbols of celestial rebellion: The Philistines, Anakim, and Zamzummin peoples being the chief examples of these enemies.
We see from the Scriptures that Satan will not abandon his plan of trying to corrupt the seed of man, and that even in the latter days, he will try to mingle his “seed” with that of man. This was prophesied by Daniel when he interpreted the dream of king Nebuchadnezzer on the history of the times of the Gentiles ( Dan. 2:43). These events take place during the time represented on the statue by the feet of clay mixed with iron. The clay representing the seed of man, and the iron representing the celestial component. Now this is all summed up by Jude when he speaks of the sin of going after “strange flesh”( Jude.V.5-7), and the terrible consequences that ensue from this transgression. So then, what exactly is strange flesh? Simply put, it is any unlawful sexual contact amongst creatures to whom it has been forbidden by God. This would include men lying with men as with women, in the manner of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as angels cohabitating with humans. Those who practice such things will surely suffer the eternal fires of the vengeance of the Lord. Now it should be clear to all why the devil has sought to keep us ignorant of his real plan, by distracting us with silly notions of racism and hatred based upon meaningless differences in skin hue. Shame on the church in becoming unwitting allies for the enemy in his quest to change times and law!
There is, no doubt, skepticism about the evidence of the origin of mankind so far presented. Of course no argument is necessary nor will any be made as to the certainty of divine intervention in the origin of man. The author’s position leaves no room for the possibility of some sort of evolutionary process being responsible for the presence of man on the earth, but it is clear to him that only an external intelligent directive can account for the wonderfully complex creation of which mankind is the centerpiece. Now since this should be obvious to any observer, it would be fallacious to entertain debate on this matter. Simply put, I don’t have enough faith to believe in evolution, but only enough to believe in God. Moreover most proponents of evolution theory are very much aware of its shortcomings and don’t really believe it either, but accept it rather than face the alternative which is that God does exist and is in control. One could make the argument that it would be impossible to achieve the current level of genetic diversity seen within mankind, by starting with only one set of genes. Given the state of our genome today, this argument would probably be valid. After many centuries of environmental and biological insult, no one has a perfectly intact set of genes any more. Fortunately we each get two complete sets, which is usually enough to offset any mutations contained in any non homologous gene. In the beginning, when God created man, He made him perfect in every way. There were no flaws in his biology, nor were there any external environmental or biological factors to cause mutations, so that a single set of genes could replicate indefinitely without any deleterious consequences. This is the reason why consanguinity could be successful as a means of population growth in the beginning of man’s history, but be quite risky today, since it is now much easier to encounter homologous genetic lesions if the genetic union is too closely related.
There are several other factors to consider in the early history of mankind to account for the population dynamics seen. The first is the fact of the incredible longevity of people in the beginning. Even after the flood, lifespans were measured in the hundreds of years which, of course, was plenty of time to engage in lots of procreating. This of course led to the second benefit: namely large scale multiparity. These factors can easily account for geometric population growth. So we can see that there is no biological reason to preclude a common genetic heritage for all of mankind. Moreover there is an even more compelling spiritual argument, which is presented in 1st Corinthians 15:22, where it tells us that “for as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive”. The premise is this. All of mankind was thrown in disrepute with God because of the sin of our father Adam. So then it follows logically that we all must be of Adam, otherwise those of us who are not of him are being punished for another man’s crime. In this case God would have shown Himself to be unjust, and the plan of redemption flawed, since the beauty of it stems from the fact of one Mans obedience ( Christ Jesus)overcoming the effect of another mans disobedience ( Adam). Consider the following Scriptures.
1st Cor.15: 20-22, 45-50
Rom. 5: 12-21
In light of all of this compelling evidence, it is safe to conclude that every human on this planet shares a common heritage with our father Adam, and as such we all are one family, one blood, and one “race”. The fact that God makes no distinction among the sons of men on the basis of genealogy is inescapable, since it is clear that He does not see mankind along those lines, but only as sons of Adam. The only distinctions that He makes are on the basis of covenants, which is those who have one with Him , and those who do not. Moreover those covenants are never based on external appearance, but on the condition of one’s spirit.
Beginning in Genesis chapter 12, the Lord’s focus concerning mankind switches from Adamites in general to Abraham and his descendants in particular. For the next two thousand years He makes two clear distinctions amongst the family of man: namely Jews who had a covenant with Him, and the Gentiles who didn’t. There are foolish, deceived people out there who try to support racism by invoking scriptures that are clearly pursuant to God’s warning to His people to separate themselves from the nations around them who were engaged in all matter of wrongdoing. They were in no way designed to give the impression the He was opposed to interethnic relationships. Remember, His distinctions are made on the basis of the softness of someone’s heart, not the color of their skin. This attribute of God should be obvious to anyone who purports to really know Him.
Now that we have determined that it is possible to account for the population growth seen on the earth on the basis of starting with a single set of genes, how do we account for the incredible phenotypic diversity seen in the human creature? As previously stated, mankind lived and migrated as a single “family” unit prior to the rebellion at the tower of Babel. This would have led to two genetic consequences. One, because of proximity, the preponderance of consanguinity would have been higher, and two, because of sharing the same physical environment, they all would have been exposed to similar genetic altering influences. The presence of these two factors, would have resulted in most humans looking similar in phenotype. Once dispersed across the face of the earth, and with the diminishing effects of consanguinity afforded by greater distances separating the gene pools, the differing environments that the early descendants found themselves in resulted in mankind undergoing a process that geneticists call natural selection. In brief, natural selection is a process that takes advantage of the natural spontaneous mutation property of the human genome. Certain mutated genes persist within a population group because they provide some kind of survival or adaptive advantage. Over time these mutations will cause a genotypic drift and its incumbent change in phenotype within the target population group. In order to facilitate your understanding, I will give two examples of this process.
In preindustrial age England there was a certain species of moth which was light in color and blended in quite well with its surroundings. This made them hard to be seen by the birds that sought to make a meal of them. However, when the industrial revolution occurred, along with the mechanization of society there was an unfortunate side effect. Pollution, in the form soot, coated everything and turned much of the surrounding environment much darker in hue, including buildings, tree trunks etc. Now this loss of camouflage, of course, took a toll on the now obviously exposed moths who were promptly “discovered” and eagerly devoured by the local birds. Only the darkest of the moths, those that still managed to blend in with the ever darkening landscape, managed to escape being made a meal of. They continued to have the opportunity to breed, which of course passed on the genotype for darker color to their progeny. Over time the entire population of moths shifted color from light to dark which guaranteed their survival. This example has been used in countless thousands of high school biology classes as a means of understanding the process of natural selection, and how it can lead to phenotypic changes within any population group. If an experiment had been done to isolate a portion of the moth population from predation, and then to have them subsequently reintroduced into the wild, they would have been readily able to successfully breed with their now darker brethren. They would still be the same species, and as such well able to produce viable offspring. (I wonder if the lighter moths would have attached any pejorative significance to the darker color of their brothers who were not sequestered.)
The next example of natural selection involves the prevalence of the sickle cell gene in the populations of African countries. Sickle cell anemia is a genetically mediated disorder that occurs predominantly in peoples of African or Mediterranean descent. It is caused by a SNP( single nucleotide polymorphism) change in the beta hemoglobin gene whereby valine is substituted for glutamic acid in the number six position of the hemoglobin molecule. This mutation results in an abnormal hemoglobin molecule that is very susceptible to assuming noncompliant 3 dimensional architectures. The erythrocytes that envelope those molecules are prone to forming stiff sickle shapes that make it impossible for them to negotiate the smallest of capillaries. The chronic ischemic damage that results will eventually affect all of the organ systems of the body, leading to sickness and premature death. Sickle cell is inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion, meaning both sets of genes have to be abnormal in order for the disease to manifest. If the person is only heterozygous, they will be generally phenotypically normal, but they will pass on the defective gene to at least half of their children. If the other genetic contributor is also heterozygous, then about one in four offspring will be homozygous for sickle cell and manifest the full blown disease. Sickle cell disease is 100 % fatal and usually kills before the forth decade of life. From a purely Mendelian perspective, the prevalence of this gene in the target population should be quite low, since most of those affected don’t live long enough to procreate and thus to pass on the gene to subsequent generations. However, it was discovered that the prevalence of the sickle cell gene in the population in Africa was much higher than expected. It turned out that the presence of heterozygous sickle hemoglobin in an individual is much more resistant to infection with the organism that causes falciparum malaria, which itself causes far more deaths on the African continent than sickle cell does. So by providing an unexpected benefit in one area, the sickle gene has compensated for its otherwise deleterious effects in another area.
These two classic examples of natural selection should help you to understand the process that has led to all of the currently observed differences in human morphology that exist today. However, at our core, we all remain exactly as we were at the beginning when we began to descend from our father Adam, namely, we are of one blood. If we are able to understand that what makes us look different is a consequence of the process of natural selection (which occurred as a result of the differing physical environments that we found ourselves in subsequent to the Diaspora of mankind at the tower of Babel), then we should be less likely to derive any social implications from said differences. In other words, whatever estimations that we make about the quality of a human being based on color or ethnic background are purely arbitrary, and usually anecdotal. They are no more valid than to say that someone born at 65 degrees north latitude is somehow more valuable than someone born at 10 degrees north latitude. At this point it must be stressed that whatever apparent differences that do exist amongst mankind are the result of political, social and economic factors, all of which are mediated by man and not God. It is clear from His Word that He is not a respecter of persons, and if He isn’t, then neither should we be. Let’s move on now to a discussion of how we did get so divided as a race, and how we managed to lose sight of our common heritage, and allowed ourselves to be deceived by our enemy Satan into pursuing a reckless course of division and antipathy.
The first thing that we must realize is that the very notion of nations, tribes and tongues was not the initial plan for man as envisioned by our Creator. This happened by way of concession in order to mitigate the effects of our rebellion at the tower Remember Who it was who said ”a House divided against itself cannot stand”. A study of the early post flood chapters of Genesis, reveals to us that man began to spread out across the whole earth. They settled and multiplied in diverse geographic areas, establishing cities and eventually nations. Because of the familial nature of their origin they were relatively narrowly defined ethnically. This concept of nationalization continues to this day where, with few exceptions, most nations are defined not only by geography, but also by common ancestry, and geneology, thus resulting in a rather homogeneous population. In Genesis we are given the early geneology of the three sons of Noah, and we are told that all of the nations of the earth were derived from them (Gen. 10:32). If you were to correlate the geography with the family lines, you would see that civilization spread out from the Tigris, Euphrates fertile crescent area. It gradually covered wider and wider areas of the globe until we reached the nearly global occupying proportions that we see today.
One can certainly imagine that as these early settlers migrated looking for hospitable land on which to settle, they would become quite territorial with any area that they did find suitable enough to stake a claim to. This sense of banding together for mutual protection and profit would have engendered the first notions of nationalistic thought, or the concept of “us” vs. “them”. Given the evil nature of man’s heart, it’s not hard to imagine the inevitable result that would follow this new line of thinking: namely war. Naturally the death and destruction, and all of the pain and suffering that would ensue from conflict only served to inflame the feelings of hatred and distrust that began to grow in an increasingly divided and self serving mankind. It didn’t take too many generations before man completely forgot the commonality of our heritage. They began to see each other in such disparity that from each other’s point of view, the other may as well have been from another planet. It was into this seething cauldron of disunity and hatred that the seeds of racism were planted. After several millennia of being watered with the blood of unity that was supposed to bind us, but now was considered foreign to us, those seeds became an almost insurmountable hedge of hatred and mistrust that continues to divide us to this day.
However all of this did not happen apart from the sovereignty of God who was able to use the concept of nationality to be the spring board for His plan of salvation for mankind. Out of the Chaldeans He chose a man who He knew that He could trust to be faithful in all of his ways, and through him, God decided to bring forth a nation of His own. One that would be a beacon of light to every nation on earth, and give all of them the opportunity to enter into life. That man was of course Abraham, and the nation is Israel. The focus of God narrowed in the post flood period with the second of Noah’s sons Shem. In Genesis chapter 12 we see the focus of the Lord change again from Shemites in general, to Abraham in particular. It was in Abraham that the Lord began to delineate His plans for a covenant with mankind with greater specificity, establishing him as the father of many nations. Of course 40 centuries later, we are thoroughly familiar with how God accomplished this feat. We understand that through Abraham came his descendents, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and ultimately the King who would establish an everlasting covenant with mankind, namely Christ Jesus.
Gen. 12:1-3,
Rom. 4:1-25
The symmetry of God’s plan is inescapable when we consider that through the disobedience of one man, He was forced to destroy the unity that would have prevented a number of problems amongst the family of man. But by the obedience of another, He restored that which was lost at the tower of Babel. So then because of the faithfulness of Christ Jesus, mankind has been turned from the unity of rebellion which leads to death, to the unity of the faith which leads to life. (Rom.5:12-19).
Having completed His plan for the redemption of man, God no longer “sees” nations as such, but now only makes a distinction between those who are of the faith of believing Abraham, and those who are not.
Gal 3: 6-29
Col. 3:9-11
Heb. 11:8-19
Rom. 9:1-26
It was very necessary to spend the time to show what God’s point of view is regarding what constitutes race amongst the families of man, since all too often men have engaged in the most hideous expressions of racial bigotry and tried to hide behind the Scriptures. But it is clear from all that we have currently learned that any distinction that God makes is purely on the basis of spiritual grounds, and not on the basis of external appearance. Now having laid sufficient anthropological, sociological, and scriptural groundwork to explain the seedbed from which racism sprang, let us now go on to discuss in greater detail the causes of and expressions of racism.
The first thing that needs to be established is that racism is not an inborn but a learned behavior. It is not genetically mediated, nor is it a product of biological imperatives. One of mankind’s biggest failures as parents is our propensity to teach our children the irrational act of hatred. As a matter of fact it is the naivete of youth that betrays our crimes as parents, for all children a truly ”colorblind”, until they are taught by their parents to make a qualitative distinction amongst people on the basis of skin color. These lessons are learned whether you teach them actively by instruction, or they learn passively by observation. In households all across the world, children grow up with a constant barrage of hate being directed at others; not because of some affront committed against the family, but simply because they are different. The message has been sent that some are different and somehow of inferior blood; almost subhuman. This attitude certainly belies God’s creative prowess since the Bible states that He created all of mankind from one blood. So then it follows that if one Adamite is subhuman, then we all are. In the 20th century we all are familiar with the Nazi inspired notion of a master race, one with “pure” blood and superiority in every area, and moreover the claim is that this superiority is achieved by some sort of divine mandate. Well this concept is not new, but has persisted in our consciousness for thousands of years, and is made all the more ludicrous when you consider the fact that not one of us had a single thing to do with what color house we arrived in on the earth.
Well then what can we say about the origin of racism? At its most basic level racism is a satanically inspired deception subtly interwoven into the human psyche long ago. It feeds on man’s basic sense of insecurity, fear and low self esteem, which themselves are a legacy from our loss of communion with God through the sin of Adam. The premise here is that men would rather make themselves feel better by denigrating someone else than seeking the confidence and assurance that comes from the reconciliation with the Father that is obtained through Christ Jesus. This condition reaches more tragic proportions when it occurs within the church among those that have fellowship with the throne of heaven. They bring with them the baggage of the world which keeps their minds darkened to the eternal truth that God is indeed not a respecter of persons. Finally most tragic of all is when we who are of the household of faith bear false witness against God, and make Him a party to our error, by claiming that He sanctions and approves of our racist positions held against our brethren, even to the extent of attempting to use the Word of truth to support our doctrine of lies.
How does one know if they are racist? Believe it or not , this is actually a valid question, since many people, especially Christians, are not aware that they are racists. If confronted on it, they would vehemently deny the accusations. However the fact remains that many of our Christian brethren are indeed every bit as much racist as the average KKK aficionado. Remember, the only absolute evidence of a total lack of bigotry is the state of what I will call “colorblindness” . A condition of birth, this is the nascent state of all humans which is destroyed by becoming conformed to the image of the satanically run world. But it is one that we must all relearn once we are delivered from the world by Christ Jesus. This state I will define as the condition of never, ever accounting for color in any dealings with, or situations involving another human being. That is that no pejorative or meritorious estimations are attached to anyone simply on the basis of skin color. This failing is far more common than you might realize. It tends to manifest itself in rather subtle ways, such as peoples views on the subject of “interracial” marriage, a topic that I will discuss further momentarily.
So then, if colorblindness is the hallmark of racial ecumenicism, then it ought to be easy to test to see if you are in the faith or not. For example does your countenance fall when a moving van pulls up next door and a black family steps out? Why? Have you ever met them before? Have they ever harmed you in any way? Are they known to be lousy neighbors? The answer to all of these questions is of course no. Well then, why would you be opposed to them being your neighbors, unless you have made a distinction on the basis of color? Congratulations, you are a racist! Or do you object when a black man is promoted on your job to a position that is preeminent over yours even though he has been there longer, and is more qualified than you? Again you have made a distinction on the basis of color, thus identifying you as a bigot. Of course I could apply this logic to a host of circumstances that we all encounter in our everyday walks of life, and you would find the opportunities to elucidate your racist tendencies staggeringly high. But one would protest their “innocence” thusly saying, ” I’m not a racist, some of my best friends are black”. This is of course totally invalid since the colloquial statement of “best friend” is in no way indicative of a true fidelial relationship that is based on love, trust and mutual respect. In this context it is being used as a cover screen to hide the fact that one’s heart is contrary to the command of the Lord regarding esteeming each other highly.
Some of you may try to escape the conclusion that you are racists by clever use of the concept of willful blindness, stating that “I am not guilty of any of these things”. However , there is one more test that you must pass before you can legitimately claim to be free of racism. You will face that test when your white daughter brings home a young black man and informs you of her intention to marry him. Many a mighty Christian has been exposed for the racist rascal that he is by failure in this simple test. And if that weren’t bad enough, they compound their crime by vainly trying to use the Bible to support and justify their error. There are those that were otherwise mighty in Word and power that have been exposed and caught up in folly trying to support racism from the Scriptures, thus making God a party to their sin. Again, the concept of interracial marriage will be dealt with in more detail momentarily, since this area really is at the core of racism.
Now lest you think that I am naïve enough to think that racism is only a white against black issue, I stipulate at this time that that is of course not the case. However, since whites are in the “majority” and wield the most economic, political, and social power, they are in a much more potent position to exercise the sin of racism, than their darker skinned brethren. Moreover we find that no particular ethnic group has a monopoly on the type of abject stupidity necessary to sustain an attitude of racism, but it is liberally spread out through the fabric of humanity.
So what are some other signs and symptoms
of racism?
_ Do you apply the specific to the general? In other words, if you are mugged by a black person, do you feel that all black people are muggers? Or if you see a news report that shows some black person on welfare. Do you think that all black people are on welfare? This is a very common error and is highly suggestive of a racist attitude, since it is not possible to predict one’s propensity to commit crime or to require public assistance, simply on the basis of skin color.
_ Are you a proponent of racial pride? Here again one is proceeding from a false assumption which is that there is more than one race amongst the seed of men. And moreover, that one “ race” has something of which to boast. This very attitude again serves the cause of division and the mindless hatred that has beset mankind for many centuries.
_ Are you concerned about maintaining the “purity” of your blood? Once again you demonstrate ignorance of the fact that He made them all of one blood, and that no one ethnic group has blood any more or less “pure” than any other group. If you are really concerned about the purity of your blood, then keep yourself from defiling the flesh with sin and debauchery. Marrying someone of a different color won’t make you impure, but ruining your body with drugs and smoking, or defiling it with harlotry sure will.
_ Do you
unnecessarily identify people by skin color? A very common but subtle hallmark
of racism is the propensity of the racist person to betray their color
awareness. They constantly identify the
color of people in general discussion when it is not germane to any of the
issues under consideration. Terms such as “ my black friend”, or my “Asian
co-worker” betray an attitude of distinction being made on the basis of
externals.
The Segregated
Church:
Nowhere is the evidence of racism more visible than in the confines of the church, which of course explains why it is so tolerated in the world, seeing as how they take their moral cues from us. Notice the degree of segregation within the churches in this nation, where congregations are routinely described as being White, Black, Hispanic, Asian etc. These descriptions are valid since in large part most churches do indeed fall out along color or ethnic lines. The congregations thus carry with them into the church the sense of distrust and hatred of others that they learned during their sojourn in the world. Unless this attitude is confronted by the truth of the Word of God, it will continue to fester in the hearts of the people. It will ultimately result in division in the church which is inimical to the cause of the Lord using the church as the light of the world.
Right about now many pastors would protest their innocence saying, “ we have these or those people in our church”, but in reality outside of some tokenism, most churches remain thoroughly segregated along “racial” lines. This failing is not a result of a natural sociological process, where the argument is made that folks just feel more comfortable around their own kind. To those of us in Christ Jesus, our fellow believers are supposed to be our own kind. The premise is this: if your church is located in an ethnically diverse community, and your only agenda is to provide an environment for the children of God to fellowship in, then the congregation should reflect the ethnic diversity of the community from which it draws. The reason why this point cannot be argued against is because there is nothing in the word of God that allows for making a distinction amongst believers on the basis of color or ethnicity. Therefore if matters of faith are the only consideration for the Lord, and He is the one building your church, then He will indeed be sending all of those with faith into the sheepfold. and He will not be accounting for color.
Accepting this as fact we can then conclude that any church that is inappropriately monodimensional in ethnicity, is indeed suffering from a cancer of racism. There are of course those that would again protest saying, “ well we just can’t find any of those people who are willing to come here to our church”. Well yes this is true. There are white people who won’t sit under a black pastor, but there are also some who will. And likewise ,there are some black folks who won’t sit under a white pastor, but there are some who will, so I’m afraid that that argument will not hold water coming from either camp. The bottom line is this, the church has been historically responsible for heinous examples of racism, in many cases taking official stands supporting a policy of racial animus. These atrocities range from not allowing people of different skin colors to become members, to discouraging or outright forbidding interracial marriages. In one of the most extreme cases, it has been reported that under the leadership of Herbert W. Armstrong, the Worldwide Church of God has actually forced its members to divorce spouses who were of a different ethnicity. This is a position they now repudiate in the face of today’s politically correct environment. In a similar manner to this, the Mormon church has recently changed its stance on racial attitudes. Now they are in favor of admitting black people to their churches, and ordaining them as Elders, trying to put an ecumenical façade on the smoldering heap of their past history of racism.
These changes of position of course betray the fact that God was never in any way responsible for their gross error, since He never changes, nor is He subject to the whims of a changing political environment. So then if these groups really thought that their stance was ordained of heaven, then they never would have changed them. I’m afraid that as bearers of light to the world, the church has exhibited such darkness in the area of race relations that it would make the devil proud. I’m also sure that there are many who will answer before the court of heaven for their high crimes against the cause of Christ Jesus, in promoting division amongst the body, and administering the kingdom with partiality. Nevertheless, let those that have ears to hear receive the rebuke of this epistle by repenting of their lack of discernment concerning the body of Christ, and restoring themselves to the faith by having great love for ALL the brethren.
Before we leave the discussion of racism within the church, let us first discuss some of the ludicrous perversions of the Holy Scriptures that many racists have employed in an attempt to justify their error. These fools would make the following arguments:
- Blacks are not the same blood and therefore not the same species, so it would be unlawful for us regular humans to mate with them.
_ This would be a quite convenient argument if it weren’t for what the Bible says in Acts 17: 26, where we are told that God made from ONE blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. Of course the one blood is that of the first man Adam, through whom we all die, both white and black. So then blacks are not some subspecies of humanity for then the Scriptures would be broken, and then why are blacks being afflicted on behalf of the sins of Adam, if indeed he were not their father too.
Another fact that is undeniable is this. One of the hallmarks of a species is the ability of its members to mate and to produce viable offspring. Now certainly it has been clearly established that all other things being equal, you can take any human of any color from anywhere on earth, and mate them with any other human of any other color, and they will produce viable offspring. This means that those offspring will not only thrive, but also they themselves will be able to successfully mate with any other members of the same species. So I’m afraid that silly argument is in no way valid to support a position of racism.
-
Blacks are
different since they are Canaanites, descended from Adam’s first son Cain who,
of course, was disgraced and rejected by God
because he killed his brother.
_ This argument is made by those who have enough sense to know that blacks are also descended from Adam, but are still looking for a convenient way to exclude them from the fabric of humanity. They concoct a notion of how they are descended from the evil brother Cain so again they are somehow different from “normal “ people. There is of course a very serious flaw in this argument which is this. All of the descendents of Cain were wiped out in the flood, leaving no progeny to give rise to present day black people. As clearly stated in the Bible, “all the nations of the earth were descended from the three sons of Noah” ( Gen. 10:32), who was himself descended from Seth. So then according to the Scriptures, every living human on the face of the earth today is descended from Seth, and none remain from Cain.
- The Scriptures warn against intermarriage, saying “ You shall not give your daughters to them in marriage, nor shall you take their daughters for wives for your sons or yourselves (Neh. 13:25).
- Well the essential question to be answered here is this. Who are the them being referenced here who the Israelites should avoid? Are they black folks as many ignoramuses have asserted? Of course not! Well then who were the ones that the Lord had warned the Jews to avoid entering into marriage covenants with? Were they not the heathen nations who were around them, the very ones that He was displacing since they did not follow His statutes but engaged in all manner of evil and sin? This might come as a shock to you but those nations were, by and large, not black at all. Now since I cannot accept that anyone can innocently mangle the Scriptures to this degree, I can only conclude that anyone who attempts to use the holy Word to justify their attitudes of racism have done so with malice aforethought. They are guilty of high spiritual crimes worthy of the punishment that is worse than death.
The bottom line here is this, if you are going to be a racist, as least be honest about it, and do not try to justify your error by making it seem as though you had the weight of Scripture to back you up.
Before we move on, it is necessary to briefly discuss the most sad chapter in American history, which is our foray into the hideously evil institution known as slavery. This sin will forever stand as a stark contrast to the great ideals and moral pillars that this nation was founded upon, as well as serving as a reminder of the ease with which we were carried away with hypocrisy, seeing as how slavery is so contrary to the biblical teachings that people were escaping imperial England to pursue. The reason that I must deal with this issue is that while although slavery no longer exists in this nation, we are all laboring under its terrible legacy. It continues to afflict and injure both those who were formerly slaves, as well as those who called themselves masters.
You might at this time ask yourself,” Why would anyone submit to slavery anyway”? This is a valid question and the answer is that there are many who would not, for there are some men who would rather die in battle than submit to being subjugated. This was undoubtedly the case in former times when slavers traveled to Africa and other countries looking for human commodities. Those who had that different spirit in them, Let’s call it the spirit of the “warrior”, refused to capitulate. Choosing rather to fight, and being faced with superior firepower, they were eventually overcome. Or if captured and put on west bound ships, they would frequently jump overboard, preferring to drown rather than endure slavery. Or else they would cause so much trouble that many of them were killed. This would have resulted in the process of slavery selecting for those who would be willing to capitulate.
In addition to this “candidates” for slavery were frequently chosen and sold by their own people. I hardly think that any society would be willing to parlay any of their best and brightest and most fearce of countenance, preferring instead to keep them to enrich their own cultures. But surely they would have sold their weak and undesirable. To simplify this sociological commentary, let me state it this way. The only way that a man can be enslaved is for him to be emasculated( spiritually, not necessarily physically) since it is only in this condition that he can be trusted not to strike out against his captors when an opportune time presents itself. On the other hand, those men that have the spirit of the warrior will never capitulate. Even if defeated and captured, they will always seek for ways to obtain freedom, or at the very least attempt to harm their captors in some way. This is why prisoners of war are never left unsequestered or unguarded, for their captors know that to not do so will result in escape or attack, or sabotage or any such thing that will cause the enemy harm. These men would never consider their captivity anything other than a consequence of warfare, and thus consider it their duty to harass those who they see as enemies.
So then we can see that as a result of these factors, most of the men who would have represented a threat to slavery never made it to this country. The few that did endured many decades of further emasculation at the hands of their captors. They were forced into hard labor without compensation, they were beaten and arbitrarily killed. They watched as other men raped their wives as they were powerless to intervene. They endured the destruction of their families in the selling off of their children. After several generations of these atrocities, what remained of black men in America had been reduced to an emasculated shell of humanity. The faded glory of their proud heritage was now only a distant memory, serving simply as a painful antithesis of the chains to which they were now bound.
Even though slavery in America has been abolished, we are all still enduring the lingering damage to our national psyche. The profit gained through the subjugation of a people has been more than offset by the damage to the unity of this great national experiment of God. This damage manifests itself in the form of continued discord among the citizens of our great nation with the persistence of the attitude of us and them. Many white people in this nation continue to view their black countrymen as undesirable and inferior. Many, when given the opportunity, have no qualms at all against hindering them in whatever way they can. This dehumanizing behavior can only be justified when you see those who you are victimizing as “not the same as us” or somehow less human than us, in other words, inferior in someway. This attitude is absolutely essential for the promulgating of slavery since everyone agrees that being enslaved is a horrible abuse of humanity and given the choice, no one would want to be a slave. So therefore there must be a negative witness from everyone’s moral barometer on the prospect of slavery. The only way to make the process work, is to view those who are slaves as less human than you who would be masters. In other words they are something akin to a beast of burden, whose continued existence is merely to be of service. Now even though we have realigned our national consciousness with what is considered to be good, moral comportment, vestiges of this imperial attitude persist amongst many white people. Since it is no longer politically correct to manifest overt racism, its expression has now been relegated to the realm of subtlety, where it is no less of a threat to the unity of the nation.
Moreover black people themselves have not escaped the lingering effects of chronic emasculation and the loss of self identity. For they regularly fail to seize upon the fact that overt racism is hard to prosper and if they were willing to avail themselves of all of the opportunities that this nation provides, then no one could hold them back. The analogy is this. Consider a prison where the captives have been incarcerated for a very long time. Suddenly the decree comes down that all of the prisoners are to be immediately released and restored to full citizenship status. The doors of the cells are unlocked and the prisoners are instructed to open them and depart in peace. However many of the prisoners fail to even try the doors to see if indeed freedom is at hand, so they remain in their captivity. Even though there are no longer any physical locks to hold them, they remain in bondage to the psychological chains that they have been imprisoned to all of their lives, so they never walk in the liberty that has been restored to them. Moreover some of the guards who view the prisoners with disdain, lie to them and tell them that they are indeed still prisoners, and that they should remain behind bars, even though they are powerless to stop them if they truly want to leave. So when the prisoners listen to the testimony of the lying guards over that of the power on high, they remain, for all intents and purposes, as bound as they were before they were set free. What black people in America have to realize is that America is no longer in a position to institutionally deny full rights and liberties to all of her citizens. She has acknowledged that black men are indeed fully men and not merely 3/5 of a human. And having made such a declaration she must also stipulate that black men are part of the ALL men being created equal and as such they are also recipients of the certain unalienable rights that we have been endowed with by our Creator. Nor can she any longer selectively apply the Constitution which is the foundation of our government and provides for the safety and national security of all of its citizens. So then black people must not reject the freedom that is indeed within their grasp. As long as America continues to promote the image of one nation under God, then she will not deny anyone who is a constituent of that covering. If she is really one nation under God, then America will always side in with the cause of righteousness which is self evident and not dependent on the interpretations of Americans. In other words do not lose out on the blessings of America because of the arrogance and stupidity of Americans.
Interracial Marriage
Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty of the matter, which is the real foundation of most racism especially white on black racism. It is the irrational fear of white men who feel inadequate sexually when compared to black men. This notion is of course highly stereotypical and is constantly reinforced by the media. It has, over the long haul, led to a compensatory fear and distrust amongst white folks manifested toward black people in general, and black men in particular. The epitome of this angst is reached in the idea of “interracial” marriage. The most feared of which, is between a black man and a white woman. This is a most deadly union engendering the ugliest of emotions by being the nidus for the eruption of all kinds of deep seated fears and hatreds, which in their most satanic expression, have resulted in murder. Now again there are many who reject this characterization, and no doubt many of you who hear this will be hot and bothered, but it does not change the truth of this matter. You see, the evidence is far too compelling, for there are many, as previously stated, who would strenuously protest their innocence when questioned on their attitudes on racial bias. They offer up all of the aforementioned defenses, such as “ I have black friends” or “I don’t have anything against black people”, and, “some of my best friends are black”. But all of that equanimity flies out of the window if that person’s daughter comes home with a black suitor. Now starts the lectures about how “we” don’t intermarry with” those” people, and “what would the neighbors or the rest of the family think”, or how much trouble such a marriage will have. And of course the grand prize winner; “ I’m just thinking of your children, and all of the trauma they will suffer growing up with a nebulous sense of racial identity”. Now all of these piddling excuses may fool you into thinking that your reluctance is born out of a genuine concern for your children’s happiness, but in reality they are nothing but manifestations of abject racism. Consider this. What marriage does not have the opportunity for difficulty and failure, regardless of the ethnicity of the partners? The argument is made that there will be enormous stress on an interracial marriage because of social incompatibility. This excuse assumes that there is some intrinsic “compatibility” between men and women of the same ethnicity. This is quite erroneous since no two people are intrinsically compatible. As a matter of fact we are all intrinsically incompatible, seeing as we all are by nature carnal minded narcissistic and self centered. It is these characteristics that make any of us poor choices for mates. This explains why there is no protection from marital discord by marrying someone from the same ethnicity, as evidenced by the astronomically high divorce rate amongst all couples, regardless of the skin colors. On the contrary, what makes two people “compatible” is being born again and both husband and wife walking in the spirit of God’s word. This is to serve each other through love and patience, and in this any two people can make a successful relationship.
Now what about all of this concern for those poor biracial children? What children regardless of color, are not faced with difficulty in growing up and becoming useful members of society? Surely there are many examples in our society of confused, dysfunctional, and socially moribund children that are monoethnic. What excuses do we offer for their shortcomings? And as for your neighbors, they are just as petty and irrational as you are, and they already don’t like you anyway, so this will not change if your daughter marries a black man or not.
A case in point to dramatically illustrate this awful deception of the devil is as follows. I know of a man of God, a pastor of a very large and successful multiethnic church. A man who is full of the Holy Spirit and power, and has studied under some of the best teaching that the body of Christ has ever had to offer. While teaching in his congregation one day, and giving his views on interracial marriage and why he personally was opposed to it, he related a story that had happened on one occasion many years ago. When his daughter was a little girl of five or six years old, he came home and found her playing in the yard with a young black boy of the same age. After the boy went home, he called his daughter in to talk to her, and then proceeded to tell her that “we” (as in white folks), don’t go with “them” ( as in black folks). He explained that we can be friends and go to church together, but that we should not marry them. Now what was it that he saw that raised such an alarm in him? Was this young boy abusing his daughter in some way, fondling her or some such thing? No. Was he somehow enticing her into sinning in some manner? No. Well just what was it that this born again, Spirit filled Christian saw that made his blood run cold? This was an innocent scene of two kids playing, but that is not what he saw. His mind immediately fast forwarded to the future where he saw his daughter married to and involved in sexual congress with this “nigger”. At that point, all pretense toward tolerance and loving thy neighbor and any other such Christian notion went out of the window, and that man then proceeded to commit one of the most grievous of sins. He poisoned his daughter’s heart by ripping away her veil of colorblindness, resulting in the inevitable consequence that from then on, she would always see black people, not as brothers and sisters, but as them and us, and that for some reason they are unworthy to be husbands to us. Think about it for a minute. What is she going to think when, in the absence of any actual wrongdoing on the part of the black boy, her father makes such a warning regarding cohabitation, other than that there must be something wrong with “those” people? Now on what scriptural basis was this warning given? Was this a case where he came home and found the young boy trying to convert his daughter to Buddhism , or teach her the ways of the Koran? Was he invoking the scriptural admonition about not being unequally yoked together with unbelievers? (2nd Cor. 6:14-18). The answer to all of these questions is of course, no. But this situation unmasked the hidden racism buried deep within his heart, a condition he had grown so accustomed to over a lifetime, that not even the teachings of the Scriptures, nor the power of the Holy Spirit could manifest or dislodge it. But a little six year old black boy, who posed such a “threat” to his daughter, was the litmus test that revealed this awful failing in his character. Now lest you think that this is an isolated incident, I would have you know that this scenario plays itself out across the land numerous times every day. As a matter of fact, most of you who are racists, got your introduction to it in much the same manner as just discussed, for racism is a learned behavior.
The good news is this. You can also unlearn this behavior, and moreover, as a child of God you must free yourself of the shackles of racism if you are going to consider yourself in the will of God. When this man of God was confronted on his racism, his pride would not let him see his error or receive correction, so he continues to do damage to the body of Christ to this very day. For this error I’m sure an answer will be demanded by the Great Shepherd, and of course none will be forthcoming. In the presence of the Lord no deception can prosper, and with the veil lifted he will see clearly the color and fabric of the tapestry which is the body of Christ; a cause against which great despite was done in fomenting division and administering the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. In that day the only thing that will exceed the loss of reward, will be the magnitude of the grief and sorrow felt upon the realization of the tremendous harm done to the Body in rejecting the truth of God’s gift to all men, and through self delusion and fear, having served the cause of the adversary.
What shall we say then? Let us always be mindful of the fact that God is not a respecter of persons, but that He receives those who receive Him. The only color that He is concerned with is the red color of the blood of Jesus. Anything more than this is error and those who resist this admonition do so at the risk of hellfire. Always remember that Christ has no fellowship whatsoever with Belial, and neither should those who would be called by His name. If you hate another because of the color of their skin have you not cast you lot with the evil one? And as such will you not be found worthy of the same fiery indignation? Yet I would show you the most excellent and glorious way. If you would be of Christ Jesus, then you can most effectively demonstrate your love for Him by fervently loving those whom He also died for. Having received them to Himself, He gave them the honor of His Name. So then those of you who profess to know and love Him whom you have not seen, nor discerned the color of His skin, will also be of this mind, that all who have called on His name are brethren, and the color of their skin is irrelevant. So then, let us perceive by the Spirit and no longer know anyone according to the flesh . Amen.