I don’t know what it is about my friend David French that drives all my other friends crazy, but man does he do so. I don’t want to spend a ton of time delving into his piece from yesterday on structural racism, but I do want to note a few things. There was a time when a lot of the segregationists got themselves in power and passed laws designed to keep segregation in place. There’s a place near mean called Avondale Estates. There’s a great brewery there called Wild Heaven.
Interesting comments. Just would like to add another perspective:
Anyone can come up with definitions that fit their agenda. For example, you might want to define systemic racism as only 'whites against all others'. But in reality, in the context of 'fixing the problem', it should be seeing as 'anything that would give a race a benefit over another, regardless of what race (and for that matter any other 'qualifier')'
In that context, it is as bad for blacks to choose blacks over whites or Hispanics just because they prefer blacks when making a hiring decision, as it is for whites to do so. (Or women, or LGBTQ+, etc..)
The truth is, there is such thing as unconscious bias, which maintains systemic (or structural, whatever) racism alive, even for people that agree it is wrong. And most people are 'racist' to some extent. We all have a tendency to hang-out with those that we like, and typically we tend to like more those that look like us, those that are from our tribe. This is pure human evolution.
I find people that are truly committed to equality still making comments like "he has darker skin, but he is still good looking" (or smart, or capable, etc..). Not really meaning to hurt, but still showing the stereotype that is imprinted in their brain (I have caught myself doing that... and I am Hispanic!)
I have a theory: part of what perpetuates the problem is that we pay too much attention to it all the time. We want to talk about it, we want to fix it, we want to 'reconcile'. And that keeps us always aware of it, and making decisions that just move the pendulum from one extreme to the other.
One step: If we stopped asking for 'race', in all applications, that would gradually stop to matter. But today, we make it matter.
Other cultures and countries do not ask for 'race' or 'tribe' in any context. You are who you are, period. Your name is all they ask.
But in the US, we are so focused on knowing your race, your skin color, your tribe, with the excuse of tracking statistics and 'equal opportunity', that we end up using and abusing that.
Let's be color blind! Lets stop asking for those things in any application.
When it comes to Jesus, it is so interesting for me that we think we need to 'talk about gospel centered racial reconciliation'. What is that anyway?
We only need to follow Jesus's most basic teaching: Love one another, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.
He did not say, love others that look like you, love others of specific race of gender or sexual preference, or love others that have the same political beliefs.
In fact, if he exemplified anything, he loved those that where the most different from himself and 'his Jewish crowd'. Like the leper, the prostitute, even worse, the tax collectors.
Moreover, he said 'AS I HAVE LOVED YOU'. I find interesting that we forget that means 'I DIED IN THE CROSS FOR YOU'. That second part is just as critical as the first.
Let's stop this stupidity of talking and counting. Let's take action and focus on living like Jesus taught us to live (regardless of your religion, BTW). Everything would come into place if we did that.
Dreamer? Maybe.
PS: 'one another' also included children and women (in an era where they were worth nothing), and the unborn... (in this era where some believe they are worth nothing).
This makes good sense, Erick. Keep up the good work in your well-balanced perspective.
But Hey, even Jesus himself did not take a chance on needless wokism. He refused to endorse the doctrinal hocus-pocus of both sides, pharisees v. zealots etcetera etcetera.
And for his refusal to lower himself into their vain controversies, he paid the ultimate price, telling Peter to put away his sword, speaking Truth to Herod and Pilate, speaking truth to his last convert, befriended in their final dying moments on crosses.
And He lived to tell about it! Forever!
You can't beat the gospel of Jesus Christ! Not with a stick, nor an antifa riot, nor a Capitol riot, nor a woke program, nor a trumpian insurrection, not even with a post-Floyd position, nor a post-trump pro-strength double double toil and trouble.
No one can defeat the ultimate purposes of the One who purposefully endured an unjust criminal judgement so that He could deliberately die a criminal death for all the world to see and then, on the third day, live to tell about it.
To all ye evangelicals out there--get back to where you once belonged, with the gospel.
To all ye bleeding-heart socialists out there--read Matthew 25!
Absolutely fantastic! A great combination of Silence of the Lambs and wolves we only wish were silent. Again, they have left the sufficiency of Scripture and embraced the absolute truth of the news cycle. Nice observation regarding inconsistency. Those against Christ will use our inconsistencies to undermine us!
Very good piece, Erick. Thank you for the enlightenment. We all need to understand the Bible more and not play into the hands of those that would mislead us.
In 1968, I was in junior high during the first year of integration. The black schools were closed and merged into the white schools. It was a very uncomfortable situation. There was resentment and anger all around. As the years passed the situation kept improving. When I look out today and see the interracial/intercultural relationships of youths it shows me how far our society has come. Those ignorant of history just don’t see it. God loves all of us,so much He created us in his image, so we should honor him by loving one another.
So many Christians depend upon a "person in a pulpit" to tell them what to believe, how to use it, and how to think about themselves that they are no longer fed the gospel, and therefore are no longer able to even recognize it!
But the "True followers of The Christ" are instructed to READ THE WORD, study it, so they may be able to discern when false teachers come their way. Verses get ignored when they don't fit the narratives that doesn't uphold the "belief" the person in the pulpit told them to believe! This fits the Word's prophecy "There will be a great falling away first..." "Lovers of self, rather than lovers of God"
I see all these things coming together right before my eyes. The real truth doesn't fit the devil's kids pleasure in the ungodly and unholy, but to find the truth, where do you go?
David’s message seems really clear to me. He wants Christians to act like the Christians Christ called them to be: willing to listen to cries of injustice and willing to sacrifice to help alleviate it.
Interesting comments. Just would like to add another perspective:
Anyone can come up with definitions that fit their agenda. For example, you might want to define systemic racism as only 'whites against all others'. But in reality, in the context of 'fixing the problem', it should be seeing as 'anything that would give a race a benefit over another, regardless of what race (and for that matter any other 'qualifier')'
In that context, it is as bad for blacks to choose blacks over whites or Hispanics just because they prefer blacks when making a hiring decision, as it is for whites to do so. (Or women, or LGBTQ+, etc..)
The truth is, there is such thing as unconscious bias, which maintains systemic (or structural, whatever) racism alive, even for people that agree it is wrong. And most people are 'racist' to some extent. We all have a tendency to hang-out with those that we like, and typically we tend to like more those that look like us, those that are from our tribe. This is pure human evolution.
I find people that are truly committed to equality still making comments like "he has darker skin, but he is still good looking" (or smart, or capable, etc..). Not really meaning to hurt, but still showing the stereotype that is imprinted in their brain (I have caught myself doing that... and I am Hispanic!)
I have a theory: part of what perpetuates the problem is that we pay too much attention to it all the time. We want to talk about it, we want to fix it, we want to 'reconcile'. And that keeps us always aware of it, and making decisions that just move the pendulum from one extreme to the other.
One step: If we stopped asking for 'race', in all applications, that would gradually stop to matter. But today, we make it matter.
Other cultures and countries do not ask for 'race' or 'tribe' in any context. You are who you are, period. Your name is all they ask.
But in the US, we are so focused on knowing your race, your skin color, your tribe, with the excuse of tracking statistics and 'equal opportunity', that we end up using and abusing that.
Let's be color blind! Lets stop asking for those things in any application.
When it comes to Jesus, it is so interesting for me that we think we need to 'talk about gospel centered racial reconciliation'. What is that anyway?
We only need to follow Jesus's most basic teaching: Love one another, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.
He did not say, love others that look like you, love others of specific race of gender or sexual preference, or love others that have the same political beliefs.
In fact, if he exemplified anything, he loved those that where the most different from himself and 'his Jewish crowd'. Like the leper, the prostitute, even worse, the tax collectors.
Moreover, he said 'AS I HAVE LOVED YOU'. I find interesting that we forget that means 'I DIED IN THE CROSS FOR YOU'. That second part is just as critical as the first.
Let's stop this stupidity of talking and counting. Let's take action and focus on living like Jesus taught us to live (regardless of your religion, BTW). Everything would come into place if we did that.
Dreamer? Maybe.
PS: 'one another' also included children and women (in an era where they were worth nothing), and the unborn... (in this era where some believe they are worth nothing).
This makes good sense, Erick. Keep up the good work in your well-balanced perspective.
But Hey, even Jesus himself did not take a chance on needless wokism. He refused to endorse the doctrinal hocus-pocus of both sides, pharisees v. zealots etcetera etcetera.
And for his refusal to lower himself into their vain controversies, he paid the ultimate price, telling Peter to put away his sword, speaking Truth to Herod and Pilate, speaking truth to his last convert, befriended in their final dying moments on crosses.
And He lived to tell about it! Forever!
You can't beat the gospel of Jesus Christ! Not with a stick, nor an antifa riot, nor a Capitol riot, nor a woke program, nor a trumpian insurrection, not even with a post-Floyd position, nor a post-trump pro-strength double double toil and trouble.
No one can defeat the ultimate purposes of the One who purposefully endured an unjust criminal judgement so that He could deliberately die a criminal death for all the world to see and then, on the third day, live to tell about it.
To all ye evangelicals out there--get back to where you once belonged, with the gospel.
To all ye bleeding-heart socialists out there--read Matthew 25!
Wolves in sheep's clothing says it all! Know your Word!!!
Absolutely fantastic! A great combination of Silence of the Lambs and wolves we only wish were silent. Again, they have left the sufficiency of Scripture and embraced the absolute truth of the news cycle. Nice observation regarding inconsistency. Those against Christ will use our inconsistencies to undermine us!
Very good piece, Erick. Thank you for the enlightenment. We all need to understand the Bible more and not play into the hands of those that would mislead us.
In 1968, I was in junior high during the first year of integration. The black schools were closed and merged into the white schools. It was a very uncomfortable situation. There was resentment and anger all around. As the years passed the situation kept improving. When I look out today and see the interracial/intercultural relationships of youths it shows me how far our society has come. Those ignorant of history just don’t see it. God loves all of us,so much He created us in his image, so we should honor him by loving one another.
So many Christians depend upon a "person in a pulpit" to tell them what to believe, how to use it, and how to think about themselves that they are no longer fed the gospel, and therefore are no longer able to even recognize it!
But the "True followers of The Christ" are instructed to READ THE WORD, study it, so they may be able to discern when false teachers come their way. Verses get ignored when they don't fit the narratives that doesn't uphold the "belief" the person in the pulpit told them to believe! This fits the Word's prophecy "There will be a great falling away first..." "Lovers of self, rather than lovers of God"
I see all these things coming together right before my eyes. The real truth doesn't fit the devil's kids pleasure in the ungodly and unholy, but to find the truth, where do you go?
Satan doesn’t care which size or how many wedges he uses to confuse, obfuscate, and divide us from the fixed truth in the name of Jesus.
David’s message seems really clear to me. He wants Christians to act like the Christians Christ called them to be: willing to listen to cries of injustice and willing to sacrifice to help alleviate it.