The Biblical Response to Racism

Bigotry exists in many forms, and people have had fear, suspicion, and even hatred of those who are different in some way. It can even be based on geographical locations. (I've been snubbed by people in the Southern United States for being a "Yankee" — I knew an American of German ancestry who detested people in France! Strange.) The most common form of antipathy toward people who are different is commonly called racism, and I believe that both skin color and cultures are distinguishing characteristics to make it easier to hate people of other "races". The race issues will be the limiting factor for this post.

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Today's politically-charged climate brings racism to the fore in ways that are unprecedented, many times with loaded terms and false accusations leading to violence. The racism issues seem to be either excessively complicated or oversimplified, often prompted by people having political and cultural "tunnel vision" and "thinking" with their emotions.

Some jaspers will use any excuse to cry "Racism!", which I reckon to be downright stupid because trivial and unjustified accusations detract from the real thing. As a side note, a writer on proper word usage is advising people to get away from the cutesy "grammar Nazi" handle because it trivializes the evils of real Nazis. And, therefore, of racism.

As I said, racism existed for a mighty long time, but Darwin and his followers managed to make it fashionable and "scientific" until it became unpopular. (See "Evolution, Racism and the Bible", "More Modern Evolutionary Racism", and "Further Studies in Scientific Racism", for starters.) There are evolutionists today who will use abuse of science to justify racism, but the biological differences between people are extremely small.

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People groups exist, and there are definite differences. These extend to skin color, culture, languages, geography, and so on. However, biblically speaking, there are no races. I shouldn't have to say this, but bigotry has no place in the body of Christ. Jesus did not die on the cross for any particular race, and all are one in our risen Lord (Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 2:14-17, Matthew 27:50-51). We can trace backward and see that people groups came from Noah's sons, and the dispersion at Babel. The correct response to racism is not in evolutionary science or politics, but in biblical Christianity.

Our nation and society continue to suffer from strained race relations and subsequent racism. This is evidenced by the increased racial tensions experienced with tragic consequences such as killings, destruction of property, and general social unrest over the last two years in cities such as Ferguson/St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Charleston, South Carolina; New York, New York; etc. For our reference and understanding on the terms of race and racism, Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines race: family, tribe, people, or nation of the same stock: division of mankind based on hereditary traits; racism: discrimination based on the belief that some races are by nature superior.

This article will attempt to provide some understanding on the divisive issues of race and racism and how we can cope with these issues, with considerations from a creation and creation science or naturalistic evolutionary perspective. To help us understand and cope with the issues of race and racism I will address a number of important distinctions between creation and evolution as they relate to man or mankind and our social, moral relations.

I hope you'll invest a little time and read the rest. Just click on "Race and Racism: Understanding and Coping". Something else Christians may want to look at (but I'm not endorsing the entire site, haven't read more than this here article), "Critical Theory and the Unity of the Church".