Greetings Dear Reader,
A beloved friend, Lori, asked a question and offered a thought on my post about racism. Since this is one of the purposes of this public face to my inner mental exercise, I wanted to make time to respond to her. First, however, I wanted to apologize for not acknowledging her comment in some way when I read it. Lori is precious to my heart and I would never want for an instant for her to feel anything less than loved and valued by me.
Here is Lori’s question and thought verbatim: “Who gets to decide what is racist and what is not? I dare say anyone who finds themselves as part of the majority in that equation would serve everyone involved better by listening, not speaking...”
Since the context of the discussion was my re-reading CS Lewis’ Space Trilogy and working from my questions on it, I will begin with a quote from the same author. In his preface to The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis wrote: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which [we] can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors.”
I believe that any discussion on racism must begin here. We must acknowledge that there is a spectrum of awareness regarding racism and that there are extremes on both ends of that spectrum that are equally wrong. To the question, “Who gets to decide what is racist and what is not,” I respond that we all do, but must do so in light of a higher standard. Racism is a sub-sin of the sin of injustice. It is the error of looking on the outward appearance. It is the injustice of making a natural part of another human’s design more important than the fact that he or she is human and should, therefore, be treated with love and respect simply because he or she exists.
We must not focus on it too much and we must not ignore it. We must realize that our real enemy is glad that we fight over the cultural and natural instead of fighting together against him. I would further say that like many things we have taken the discussion on racism to reticules extremes. In our pursuit of being socially acceptable in the discussion we get distracted by social signaling when we should focus our energy on justice and love.
As to Lori’s thought, I respond with this, we all need to listen more. I chose to write about racism because of the remembrance of Doctor King being shot on April 4th. A year does not pass where I do not recall the day and how it impacted me even as a small boy. My Grandfather knew him and they served on a church council together. His death marked me as the first time I understood what racism was. We all need to do at my Grandfather taught me. “God gave us two ears and one mouth. We need to listen twice as much as we speak. The world would be a lot quieter and we would all be a great deal wiser.”
Nothing about racism is just Dear Reader. We are not, however, going to find the answer in that discussion. The answer is going to be found in the idea that every human soul has the same value. It is a value we cannot comprehend. It is encapsulated for us in this: The God of the universe chose to allow himself to become human, be unjustly beaten and killed so that every human could be reconciled to him. That is what makes every human, or for that matter, every soul of any kind precious.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
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