America in Crisis
Racism-- Is it Real or Just Words?
All we hear today is that everything is racist. Everything? That in itself is ridiculous! What is racism? Racism is a prejudice. A prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. We want to take a closer look into this, and we will start at the beginning. In the beginning, God created all mankind in His image, and all people were created equal. Well, God can not be racist if He created us equal, and yet, we call His Word “Racist”. Adam and Eve had no nationality, we do not know what color they were, it has never been a concern, but we do know that the human race came from the two of them. We are all nothing, but the dust of the earth. Our Declaration of Independence says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
So why have we become so divided, and I ask, divided over what? We do not mean to minimize or deplete anything about history, but let us look at it in the right lens, the lens of truth. And I hope that we can look at it without jumping to conclusions, because that is what we like to do, and that too, is racist, because that is the problem here. When we look at our history, we say, “This country is so bad, and so racist, and our founding fathers were evil men.'' I say, “Should we be judging all of them?'' We have to stop condemning the whole. There may be one rotten apple in the bushel, but that does not make the whole bushel bad, when we do this are we not just as bad? When someone murders someone, should we blame the whole human race? We may all belong to the human race, but we are all individuals. There were many of our forefathers who wanted to abolish slavery, but because of the few that didn’t, they could not risk not passing the Declaration of Independence, and without it, we would not have become a country. There are people who will say, “That would have been a good thing.” If that is so, then we would not have our freedoms which we have enjoyed for almost 250 years. And slavery would still be in place. Many black people fought in the Revolutionary War because there were many black people who were free like Peter Salem, Salem Poor, Barzillai Lew, Blaney Grusha, Titus Coburn, Alexander Ames, Cato Howe, and Seymour Burr were just a few. In the Civil War many black people also fought on the side of the North, like the predominantly all black 54th Massachusetts, their bravery was matchless. Why did these people fight? Because they believed in and loved America. Today American symbols like our flag, and the Pledge of Allegiance, and even the Statue of Liberty are all called racist. Is that why thousands of people are coming into this country, because we are so racist?
As we look all thoughout history, we see that many people of all nationalities were slaves. They were uprooted and taken to other countries, and when kingdoms rose, and kingdoms fell, they were still slaves. We have slavery today, it’s called Human Trafficking, and thousands of people are missing, and live in the shadows in fear and abuse. You see, when something is said to us long enough, it causes us to believe that it is true. If words do not lift us up, then they will bring us down. And we have been brought down to the point that now we have become divided. And why? Who wants us to be divided that the word racism is on the lips and in the mouths of so many people today, and why today? All we hear today is white people, especially white males are racist, and black people are victims. So I ask, “Why are there so many mixed marriages?” We are all Americans. Yes, many people have come a long way in their thinking, and I think that we had gotten there till some people wanted to replant the seeds of the past. Today we have so many minorities who have become heads of businesses, lawyers, and professionals in all areas, and politicians, and even the President, and Vice President of the United States. In American history we have had many, many famous black people who have done great things like George Washington Carver and Frederick Douglass to name a few and there are those who have even become millionaires, and billionaires, and not just black people, but people of so many different minorities. Is racism really our problem or are we just meant to believe this? We have come a long way from the 1960’s. But we have allowed others to think for us, and to tell us what it is that we need to see, and what we need to believe. In doing so,we have given up our freedom. Maybe this is why we hear so much of this today because there are those who do not want to let go of the past.
Only love will heal and restore, only God’s love. Our division is because we lack love on both sides. Our churches have gone lukewarm. We hear ministers preach about racism, and social justice, which is nothing more than politics. It only takes for you to look up its history to see the truth, history which is told in the true light for sadly people in high positions have allowed our history to be rewritten. Only God’s Word can teach us about love and justice, and if we put God's Word into practice then we will see hatred and division become less and less. We will help our brother in need. We will lend a helping hand. We will care for the homeless. We will become color blind, and we will care for our fellow man in any way that he may need help, no matter what color, nationality or religion he may be. Because we have already become as one, with so many mixed marriages, and with their children who are mixed in many different nationalities. America is a melting pot, and our color is red, white, and blue and no one is going to tell us that that is not true. We are only one race, and one family, and one country under God. So let us lay down the weapons of distrust and anger and hatred and politics and let us pick up one another in love, and in appreciation for each other, because we do need one another. We only have one home while we are alive and that is earth. Let’s live in unity! United we stand, divided we fall. Let’s come together and stand and not fall. We can, if we love one another.
“If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if His love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” Philippians 2:3
“My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know Him if you don’t love. This is how God showed His love for us: God sent His only Son into the world so we might live through Him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.” 1 John 4:7-11
Let us not allow the real enemy, the father of lies, the devil, to stir us into such hatred and division, and let us come together as brothers and sisters and be united in love. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
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