Race Relations

There's this teacher on my team at school, a christian he calls himself, who is racist. This teacher told me openly that he would disown his daughter if she ever dated a black man. Now this teacher talks about praying for others, going to church and alot of other "christian" things. But I cannot reconcile the racism with christianity, I just can't.

It seems so simple to me. (My wife always tells me my thinking is too black and white, but the way I see things, you're either right or your wrong. If your wrong fix the problem and if you're right, be gracious about being right and be humble, cause you're gonna be wrong again soon.)

Back to my point. Racism is sin, I think we all agree on that. It is a sin of pride against God for saying, "God, you made this person (insert race here) and sorry God, but they're just not as good as I am because of it." Dangerous. Foolishness. After all, who chose to be born white or black or brown? It was God's pleasure to make you that way. So if you want to hate someone for something they had no power over, go for it. What you're really saying is, "God, you messed up."

People are born evil, but not I think racist. They are taught or have had life experiences that have conditioned them one way or another. I met this kid once who said he hated black people. He was a short, fat white kid from Chicago who used to get beat up by black kids everyday. Conditioned. He was not a christian. Here in the south I see alot more segregation than I did up North, or maybe I'm just more attuned to it. I've heard kids quote their parents telling them to hate another race or "my dad told me that (insert race here) are dirty, or weak, or lazy, or worthless."

Can I in good conscience, as a christian, say that I would disown a daughter for loving someone who had no control over where or into what race they were born? I could not. It pains me to hear a man who claims to be a christian say words like that and it hurts the cause of Christ.

All this to say, take people as they come. Make your descisions after you know a person. And don't judge a race by one person.

You know what I've found out? That sometimes un-churched people are kinder than those of us who claim to be christians and go to church every Sunday and Wednesday. I would say unsaved people are kinder, but I can't see anybody's heart so that is impossible to say.

Christians, real Bible-believing christians, should be the kindest, most gracious, giving people in the world and I include myself here. We should be the most stable, balanced and helpful. We need to be the example for everyone for what is truly good, what is truly fulfilling. Not money, not things, not a promotion at my job. All that is great, but it has a place and it can't be a place of prominence.

In short we need empathy. The ability to feel someone elses pain and to understand their situation. When I empathize with someone, I show interest, genuine interest. I show that I care and that I understand and want to help. That's love. That is what we should be showing everyday.

I know, not an amusing musing, but it's been on my mind.