No one with a modicum of awareness will deny that racism—the inclination to judge a person solely on the basis of his skin pigmentation or ethnic background—has been a human problem for centuries.
Paul addressed this problem before the haughty Greeks in Athens; there he affirmed that:
“God made of [out of] one [masculine – one man, an allusion to Adam] all men to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26).
This concept ran counter to the ancient Greek notion that they were superior to others. Many have been racist out of ignorance or weakness. Others, with a more ingrained disposition, have sought to defend it.
Many past advocates of evolution were racist to the core. Charles Darwin’s, The Origin of Species (1859) was even subtitled “The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.” The notion of a “superior race” that later was argued by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and so brutally implemented by Adolf Hitler clearly had Darwinian roots.
But many religionists — of all ethnic backgrounds — have been racist as well. There are, of course, black militant groups that are intensely racist also, as indeed there are racists in all ethnic segments of humanity. Jesus, in his parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), renders a death-blow to racist ideas.
Why racism is morally wrong
Racism is morally wrong for the following reasons:
1. It denies the basic unity of the human family as the offspring of God. Adam and Eve are the grandparents of us all (Genesis 3:20).
2. The denigration of any human being, made in the image of God, is an assault upon the Creator himself (cf. Genesis 9:6).
3. Since Christ died for all people (1 Timothy 2:5-6), any attempt to castigate a segment of humanity, suggesting its unworthiness, reflects upon the Savior’s sacrifice.
4. Racism militates against one intended design of Jesus’ mission — to eradicate all ethnic barriers (Galatians 3:28).
May God help us be more like the little boy who, returning from his first day at school, joyfully told his mother, “Mamma, I’ve found a new friend.” “What color was he?” she inquired. His pure response was, “I forgot to ask.”
-by Wayne Jackson
–submitted by Jerry Sturgill
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