I believe that every person is created in God’s image, and as such, they are precious and valuable, regardless of their God-given color or race. Our constitution affirms this by stating, “all men are created equal” and “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana
Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Working through that logic, if the discrimination that existed towards people of color resulted from different races being viewed as inferior or superior, how can the solution be to think of different races as inferior or superior? In the 1950’s you would be canceled and sent to the back of the bus because you were a person of color; now, you are canceled and sent to the back of the line because you are not a person of color and therefore racist. Certainly, the poor and segregated treatment of people because of the color of their skin that occurred in our nation’s history is wrong and goes against the moral standard set by God as being created in His image. However, in our current culture, we promote the cancellation of history and create efforts to remove the parts of history we don’t like. If you cannot learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it.
In 1965, Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” There has been much debate over the years parsing and analyzing the quote to argue for many different points of view, including the notion of being “color blind” when looking at people’s skin. We do not need to be ignorant of our differences as God has created us, but embrace and appreciate God’s image as represented in every race. Why is the proposed solution to the oppression of those of color to judge another by the color of their skin and not the content of their character? Much like Dr. King urged those of color to be treated by their character’s content, not the color of their skin, we must apply that same thinking now. A person isn’t a racist because of the color of their skin.
What does color have to do with it?
If you believe we are all created in God’s image, then the diversity of color is to be celebrated. Just look at the beauty of creation all around us. Diversity exists everywhere, from plants to animals and people. Our world and all that is in it, including humans of every race, reflect God’s creativity. If you believe that our world just started from chance or mistake, what value do we have as humans? If we as humans are only superior to other animals because we have evolved more than other creatures to dominate, then what prevents your thinking from continuing to one race being superior over another? But if our value as humans was given to us by the God that created us and placed us here to rule over the earth and everything in it, we can then view those of all races, as reflections of God’s image, to be of equal worth.
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