You all know that I'm not the most consistent blogger. I'm here when I feel something strongly enough in my heart that I need to talk about it, and that's not all the time. But let me tell you - when I saw what happened in Charlottesville, my heart definitely felt something strongly - I just needed some time to collect my thoughts before I put them down in writing.
Before I get into the Biblical implications of prejudice, I'd like to address the matter from an historical angle for a moment. On the surface, one of the big issues was that people wanted to take down some statues of Confederate icons in the south, and those marching wanted to preserve history. I submit to you that even the people in those statues didn't want that history to be preserved. After the end of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee never put on his uniform again. He refused to fly the Confederate flag because the Confederacy was a failed experiment, and they lost the war. As a brief aside, I do find it mildly ironic that some of the same people shouting online "You lost - get over it!" to Hillary voters are the same people still proud of the Confederacy. The Civil War was a rebellion against the President and against progress that was put down. Can you imagine if we'd lost the Revolutionary War? Do you think that we'd still be flying American flags all over the place if we were an extension of the British colonies? Those marching who revere Lee may have also missed this quote of his: "We should live, act, and say nothing to the injury of anyone. It is not only best as a matter of principle, but it is the path to peace and honor."
And speaking of flags, some of the demonstrators had swastikas and were performing Hitler salutes. Flying a Nazi flag in Germany is not something that is done - the swastika was banned because it represented hatred, subjugation, and death. The neo-nazi movement in America seems to have missed the point that the people who actually went through the Holocaust and survived the Nazis do not revere their ideals. We could certainly learn from that.
Historical elements aside, let's get back to the soul of this blog - what does God think about all of this? It is crucial that we look at this not only because God is sovereign over all things, but also because there were some who were spouting hatred of other races and religions that identified as Christians. I don't know their hearts, but it's my duty to lovingly chastise brothers and sisters who are not living according to His word, just as I would expect them to do the same for me, so that we can find better relationship with God and walk the proper path.
In keeping with God's perfect timing, I'm in the middle of the Bible study "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore right now, and a session not long before these marches directly addressed prejudice from a Biblical perspective. Beth was talking about family strongholds - what have you "inherited" from your family line that you need to break free from? Abuse? Alcoholism? Prejudice? And I absolutely love what Beth has to say about the latter:
"Prejudice is a grievous sin fueled by fear and ignorance...[that] propagates from the false notion that, if people are different, someone has to be better."
Someone has to be better - now what could be less Christian than that? I've mentioned before that being saved entails admitting that we are all sinners and declaring yourself to be no better than anyone else. And back to the title of this article - God didn't say that some of us were made in his image, but others were some random patterns he had sitting around. Every one of us was made in his image. EVERY. ONE. OF. US. When we seek to subjugate others, we are like the ruler who enslaved the Jews in Egypt. Look at this portion of Exodus, chapter 1:
8Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. 10"Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land."
Do you see how it was fear that led to the prejudice? We fear the unknown. We fear those not like us. And it's so much easier to just decide they are less than to actually get to know them and their individual character. No one said it was going to be easy to follow God. But it's still right.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord commands us to love one another. Will you reach out with me and love everyone - like or different? Will you speak up when you see hate? Will you pray for the love and peace of God to descend on anyone whose heart is full of fear?
God says in Isaiah 54:10 "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed." We may not be able to achieve His unfailing love, but let us take the love He has given us and share it with the world.
