Racism
has become the constant mantra of some today, especially in the political
arena. It seems that the political parties are always looking for an angle to
get the vote of certain "racial groups" by putting "race" first. So often, "race" seems to be the primary consideration, depending on whose votes are desired. There seems to be never-ceasing cries of "racism"
when someone speaks against the policies of a candidate or office-holder who
happens to be from one group or another.
This
phenomenon certainly has been shoved in our faces by both some in the media and some politicians concerning President Obama. If you
disagree with him, you are a racist. If you oppose his policies, you are a
racist. If you didn't vote for him, you are a racist. I would certainly agree
that it would be racist to vote against any candidate because of the color of
his or her skin. What we never hear is that if someone chooses to vote for
a candidate because of the color of his or her skin, that is likewise a racist
behavior.
When
it comes to President Obama, there is no doubt that there are those who
absolutely refused to vote for him because of his skin color. It is likewise true
that there are many who voted for him primarily because of his skin color.
Neither of these positions indicate a level of maturity and common sense that
is really a necessity for those who would accept the responsibility of voting.
What a candidate stands for is infinitely more important than the color of that
candidate's skin.
It
is also interesting to note that the Republicans were accused of racism when
Herman Cain was leading in the primary polls. The convoluted logic involved was
that the Republicans were just trying to prove they weren't racist because they
could now say that they "had their black guy, too," so clearly they
were insincere and hypocritical, which made them racist. And who can forget the
racial stereotypes that were thrown at Condoleezza Rice when she was Secretary
of State? At some point, the whole
racist issue with all of the "race-baiting" and accusations becomes
absurd. Americans should be better than that, but whatever the
country as a whole does, Bible-believing Christians must be better than
that.
The lunacy of racism is underscored when we look at
it from the perspective of creation. Evolution is, without a doubt, a racist
teaching. Some people are more evolved than others, which makes some
"races" less human than others. Just ask Adolf Hitler. He considered
Jews to be closer to ape than human, and certain others, such as any people
with dark skin, were just a bit above the Jews in the hierarchy of evolution
toward the white, blonde-haired blue-eyed "Aryan race." Charles
Darwin was quite obviously racist, and the title of his most famous book
reveals that fact. We normally hear the title of the book as The Origin of Species. The full title of
the book, which is On
The Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the
Struggle for Life, is rarely mentioned.
· "Darwinian
evolution was (and still is)
inherently a racist philosophy, teaching that different groups or “races” of
people evolved at different times and rates, so some groups are more like their
apelike ancestors than others."
· "Racist
attitudes fueled by evolutionary thinking were largely responsible for an
African pygmy being displayed, along with an orangutan, in a cage in the Bronx zoo."
· "Scientists
today admit that, biologically, there really is only one race of humans."
· "ABC News
stated, 'More and more scientists find that the differences that set us apart
are cultural, not racial. Some even say that the word race should be abandoned because it’s
meaningless.' The article went on to say that 'we accept the idea of race
because it’s a convenient way of putting people into broad categories, frequently
to suppress them - the most hideous example was provided by Hitler’s Germany.
And racial prejudice remains common throughout the world.'"
· "Personally,
because of the influences of Darwinian evolution and the resulting prejudices,
I believe everyone (and especially Christians) should abandon the term
'race(s).' We could refer instead to the different 'people groups' around the
world."
· "The
Bible does not even use the word race in reference to people, but it
does describe all human beings as being of 'one blood' (Acts 17:26). This of course emphasizes that we are all
related, as all humans are descendants of the first man, Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), who was
created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27)."
· "In other
words, the so-called 'racial' differences are absolutely trivial - overall,
there is more variation within
any group than there is between
one group and another. If a white person is looking for a tissue match for an
organ transplant, for instance, the best match may come from a black person,
and vice versa. ABC News claims, 'What the facts show is that there are
differences among us, but they stem from culture, not race.'"
· "If the
Bible teaches and science confirms that all are of the same human race and all
are related as descendants of Adam, then why are there such seemingly great
differences between us (for example, in skin color)? The answer, again, comes
with a biblically informed understanding of science."
· "When Jesus
said, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not
forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 19:14). He did not distinguish between
skin colors. In fact, scientists have discovered that there is one major
pigment, called melanin, that produces our skin color. There are two main forms
of melanin: eumelanin (brown to black) and pheomelanin (red to yellow). These
combine to give us the particular shade of skin that we have."
· "Geneticists
have found that four to six genes, each with multiple alleles (or variations),
control the amount and type of melanin produced. Because of this, a wide
variety of skin shades exist. In fact, it is quite easy for one couple to
produce a wide range of skin shades in just one generation..." (Note: I
have several times heard Ken Ham say, "We are all the same color. Some of
us just have more of it than others.")
I agree
with Ken Ham that we need to drop the whole idea of "races." There
are "ethnic groups" or "people groups." There are different
cultures, and these are legitimate and a part of God's plan, but there is only
one race - the human race. Continuing to talk about "race" is futile
in that it does nothing to promote evangelism or Christian unity, but it does a
great deal to further Satan's purposes of dividing people and promoting hatred
between cultures.
The
article from which I took these quotes may be read in its entirety here. There are many articles on the "Answers in
Genesis" website that touch on this subject and related subjects. These
articles may be found here.