INTRODUCTION—THE CONSEQUENCES OF SILENCE IN THE FACE OF INJUSTICE ARE LETHAL
COMPELLING QUOTES
“From one man, he created all the nations throughout the whole earth.” Acts 17:26
“All of you are equal as brothers and sisters. ” Matthew 23:8 NLT
“There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. ” Gal. 3:28 NLT
“The godly care about the rights of the poor; the wicked don’t care at all.” Proverbs 29:7.
“He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Luke 4;18-19 NLT/TPT
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Year after year, names like Philando Castille, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and many others keep piercing our consciousness like bullets shattering the illusion of our supposed national morality. They expose the reality that in crucial areas, something is dreadfully, morally and lethally wrong with the worldview and policies of American society since it is not just riddled with injustice of various kinds, but in many cases those who perpetrated the crimes have literally gotten away with murder, or just a slap on the wrist. Think about how you would feel if the person killed was your wife, your brother, your son. How would you feel? Does not the golden rule mean that we should feel similarly as if the crime had been done to us? Just a few of the innocent African Americans that have been murdered by police, by racists, and/or lynch mobs include: Emmett Till, Martin Luther King Jr., Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Aiyana Jones, most recently Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and many others.
Someone wrote a simple summary of only a few crimes to help others understand what the experience of many African Americans, esp. in the poorer economic levels, is like. Each name below is of a person killed while doing normal daily activities that most white people take for granted. This shows that all too often there is a vast difference in the experience of white people with police compared to black people, and this is backed up by research, and informed police, lawyers and judges have spoken out about this (in documentaries like “Fixing the System” which demonstrates clearly that there is structural injustice in several areas, but specifically racism, written into the very legal codes of our nation at the highest levels.
IF YOU EVER WONDER WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BLACK THESE DAYS, CONSIDER THIS …
“I need to drive my two-year-old to daycare tomorrow morning. To ensure we arrive alive, we won’t take public transit (Oscar Grant). I removed all air fresheners from the vehicle and double-checked my registration status (Daunte Wright), and ensured my license plates were visible (Lt. Caron Nazario). I will be careful to follow all traffic rules (Philando Castille), signal every turn (Sandra Bland), keep the radio volume low (Jordan Davis), and won’t stop at a fast food chain for a meal (Rayshard Brooks). I’m too afraid to pray (Rev. Clementa C. Pickney) so I just hope the car won’t break down (Corey Jones).
“When my wife picks him up at the end of the day, I’ll remind her not to dance (Elijah McClain), not to stop to play in a park (Tamir Rice), not to patronize the local convenience store for snacks (Trayvon Martin), or walk around the neighborhood (Mike Brown). Once they are home, we won’t stand in our backyard (Stephon Clark), eat ice cream on the couch (Botham Jean), or play any video games (Atatiana Jefferson).
“After my wife and I tuck him into bed around 7:30 pm, neither of us will leave the house to go to Walmart (John Crawford) or to the gym (Tshyrand Oates) or on a jog (Ahmaud Arbery). We won’t even walk to see the birds (Christian Cooper). We’ll just sit and try not to breathe (George Floyd) and not to sleep (Breonna Taylor). “These are things white people simply do not have to think about.”
– David Gray
By Bible standards, these are betrayals of the principles of the God who calls himself the defender of the oppressed (Exod 22:22–24; Ps 9:9; Prov 17:5). The Bible says that God’s people are to imitate God (Eph. 5:1) and also that we are supposed to follow His principles which include many statements that all are equal and that all deserve protection from injustice by those who claim to be godly and that it is wickedness not to oppose and speak out against injustice (Prov. 29:7, 31:8,9). Those who want to preserve any serious claim to being godly or ethical must protest and speak out against these criminal actions in every way they know how. If we don’t, it will not just harm the oppressed, it is a terrible sin on our part that will degrade the image of Jesus in our lives, stain Christianity with cruelty for many years, cripple our evangelism and severely diminish the success that God wants us to have in His work by uniting the efforts of people from various backgrounds and ethnicities and will in some cases cause people to be lost for eternity (Matt. 7:21) or least in heaven and disgraced for eternity (Matt. 5:19).
To my Caucasian friends or others who have not before realized the enormity of suffering our friends from the African American community have suffered, it is true there have been innocent people from other ethnicities killed unjustly too. In the aftermath of the Mexican-American War, many Hispanics were lynched in atrocities including Antonio Rodríguez, Refugio Ramírez, María Ines, 15 men and boys in Porvenir on the Rio Grande, etc. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/02/us/porvenir-massacre-texas-mexicans.html Many Native Americans experienced the horrors of genocide. Native Americans and Latinos are the 2nd and 3rd ethnicities most often killed by police now. Chinese and other immigrants from Asia were treated cruelly for generations and there is rising racism against Asians now according to police, due in part to the current administration blaming China and foreigners for all America’s problems (when it should blame the greed of the super rich and bankers by Bible standards in 1 Tim. 6:10 and others). There is serious racism against Arabs due to enormous amounts of media portrayal of them mostly as terrorists, etc.
There are also some white activists for equality who also have been murdered throughout history. White activists Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner were killed along with their local African American James Carney co-worker in CORE by police and KKK leaders. This was broadcast in the movie “Mississippi Burning”. RFK, Jr. believes there is very good evidence that “Thane Eugeone Cesar was a bigot who hated the Kennedys for their advocacy of Civil Rights for blacks.” And he was the one who killed his father, Robert Kennedy.
Julian Assange is a Caucasian activist who is being tortured right now, in danger of dying due to the abuse, for exposing and publishing crimes by the American military against innocent civilians in WIKILEAKS (and there are a number of journalists and whistleblowers like him who have been persecuted or killed). You can learn how to protest about their cases here and here.
There are also some cases of reverse racism by African Americans towards whites…and yes, ~85 police are killed every year. But these some as a consequences of the cruelty of racism that is pervasive in many aspects of our society.
There are many kinds of injustice that harm people from all backgrounds as much research has shown. Those are real and should be opposed as well. But these cases are dwarfed by the numbers of minorities being abused, exploited and killed in various ways. There are close to 100 police being killed. The police killing of ~1,000 African Americans every year is a horrible crimes that must stop. But research by Dr. David Williams (cited below) shows that that horrible 1,000 number itself is dwarfed by the dire socio-economic and health injustices caused by racism which kill at least ~220 African Americans every day. Some studies indicate that close to 200,000 African Americans are dying every year due to racism. Worldwide, if collect date and make inferences from studies in various fields (racism, police studies, economics, health, politics, war, and others), racism kills up to 4 million people per year. This is obscene and must be a major focus of our protests against injustice. We have to respond, protest and take action against this for a myriad of reasons.
A powerful sermon on the crime of racism is here:
The Cross and the Lynching Tree
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l6985UG0Z3k
When people refuse to follow the Bible and speak out about injustices like racism being done to others, those same forces of injustice will in time think they can get away with abuse, exploitation and injustice towards you too. And because you ignored their plight, they will be much weaker and unable to help you when you are subjected to abuse, or may even ignore you like you ignored them.
All who claim to be Christian should be fighting injustices of any kind when they become aware of it because there are over 2,000 verses in the OT AND NT that tell us that this is an essence of what it means to be Christian. In fact, you can’t claim to be a Christian or godly if you don’t oppose , speak out against and/or work in some way at every level of society that you can to stop injustice:
“The godly care about the rights of the poor; the wicked don’t care at all.” Proverbs 29:7.
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” Proverbs 31:9
God says He will let enemies harass those who ignore/disobey His principles (Hosea 8:1-4,11,12). A Greek sage, Thucydides, long ago said that those who impose tyranny on foreigners will soon impose tyranny on their own citizens. Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. said that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” History shows this principle is rock solid fact. If you don’t act against oppressors, they will certainly commit injustices, abuse and exploitation towards you, your children/relatives/descendants, and/or people in your church or community. People you know will definitely be victimized by injustice in the future much more if you don’t speak out and act against injustice as the Bible says we should (Prov. 31:8,9)
The real issues though are not black vs. white, east vs. west, democrat vs. republican or any of those things. The biggest issues are:
1) Can societies thrive without God, the golden rule and justice for all? The Bible says no in verses like
“The godly care about the rights of the poor; the wicked don’t care at all.” Proverbs 29:7.
And vast history from Russia to China and throughout the Bible confirms this as well as research that shows that one of the most key factors that makes or breaks societies is the extent to which people in that society live altruistically.
Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson pointed out that while selfish people may succeed in a few areas, at the community level, altruists are the basis of thriving societies and says,
“A group of altruists will beat a society of selfish individuals every time.”[1]
2) The Bible says that greed is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10), and right now, because people
including $50 trillion being robbed in the last few decades from the middle and lower classes of all races and economic classes below the 1% (that works out to ~$20-70,000 per person per year…think about how many could afford to send their children to Christian schools, or move out of dangerous areas, or help fund relief efforts..or even just spend more time at home raising their kids in healthy ways if they had that money available).
“People of color, women, and white men have all lost massive sums of money over the past few decades. It’s only the top 1% that has benefited from this $50 trillion transfer of wealth. Let’s say you’re a median American college-educated worker….If the ultrarich hadn’t rigged the system in their favor, your annual pay would be doubled — somewhere between $48,000 and $63,000 higher per year.” https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthiest-1-percent-stole-50-trillion-working-americans-what-means-2020-9
A major part of this robbery is due to racism. Solana Rice and Jeremie Greer, Co-Founders of Liberation in a Generation and Robert Reich, explain how the profitability of racism sparks a vicious cycle called the Oppression Economy, which has been churning for centuries. The crime of racism enables its perpetrators to rake in over ~$182 billion in profits EVERY YEAR.
Racism is Profitable | Robert Reich
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KmAWOzTM-To
And racism doesn’t just hurt minorities. It hurts everyone. This TED talk about how racism hurts minorities first, but it eventually ends up hurting everyone. Dr. McGhee mentions a couple of ways this has happened. For example, when many city parks, zoos and swimming pools that had been white only, and they were required to open them to everyone by civil rights laws, many racist cities instead closed them down for everyone. The 2008 crisis was caused mostly by predatory lendors targeting minorities. When they couldn’t pay the exploitative fees, they defaulted, and this caused banks to crash, then many lost jobs, businesses closed, 10 million lost their homes, and ~$19 trillion was lost as well as millions of jobs. And there are other ways.
https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_c_mcghee_racism_has_a_cost_for_everyone
Please don’t fall for the media propaganda that influences people to divert attention from this holocaust by saying “all lives matter”. That is not at all what Jesus did as the defender of the oppressed and it wastes and consumes time that needs to be focused. There are major reasons that using this phrase compounds the problem. But the simple truth is that if you fight against the worst cases of injustice, that is following God, it is most effective, it protects your integrity and in the end, there will be a lot more people ready and willing to fight injustices you are concerned about too.
BRIEF DEFINITIONS/SUMMARY OF TYPES OF RACISM
Before we go further, let’s make a clear definition of racism and the different types of racism that are hurting people.
The simple definition of racism is treating, speaking to or acting towards any person as inferior or not worthy of equal respect and protection due to their skin color/ethnicity, etc.
There are at least 20 forms of racism overall in ~3-4 categories. This is a brief overview:
INDIVIDUAL RACISM:
This is racist beliefs or attitudes of individuals regarding superiority of people of one skin color over another that exist in people’s minds and worldviews but which are not expressed in words/actions. This is almost impossible to separate from interpersonal racism and other forms of racism since our thoughts eventually become words, actions and habits.
INTERPERSONAL RACISM:
Interpersonal racism is when we engage in interactions with others and our beliefs of superiority or inferiority of people based on skin color are expressed in words or destructive actions that cause emotional or physical harm or trauma.
Examples: bigotry, steretyping, behaviors (name calling, discrimination, violence), discrimination against family members/friends dating someone with another skin color on up to KKK, neo-nazis and skin heads.
SOCIETAL RACISM:
This category of racism is when corporations, small businesses, organizations, etc. in society have racist/discriminatory laws, policies or cultures that denigrate, harm, eliminate opportunities, destroy equality for people because of their skin color. When societal racism infects spiritual organization, this becomes spiritual racism.
Examples: health care racism (doctors treating minorities different in attitudes or how much pain medication they give), financial racism (African Americans getting fewer job opportunities, lower pay for the same qualifications), corporate/business racism, environmental racism (minorities more often living in polluted/poisonous areas), media racism (villains mostly being portrayed as minorities), spiritual racism (any of the 20 types of racism entering the church).
SYSTEMATIC/STRUCTURAL/INSTITUTIONAL RACISM:
This category of racism is when racist laws/practices are ingrained in government institutions like the military, police departments, the justice department, housing department, education departments, NGOs, etc. or there are racist attitudes in government and public institutions that are pervasive and denigrate, cause disadvantage, cause harm, eliminate opportunities, destroy equality for people, because of their skin color/ethnicity.
Examples: Police racism (killing minorities at far higher rates), educational racism (funding for minority schools is often 50% or less than white schools), economic/housing racism (governments gave billions of low interest loans to whites but not blacks), political racism (billionaires eliminated over 1 million black/minority/youth votes to get Trump in office), racial profiling/surveillance racism, military racism, justice system racism/prison racism (drug laws give punishments ~18 times more severe for almost identical drugs used more often by blacks compared to whites), court racism, reverse racism, cultural racism (denying that the above types of racism exist or are severe).
Many of these forms of racism can be intentional or unintentional, overt or covert, etc. But they all still do very serious harm.
To see details and academic references on over 20 kinds of racism against African Americans, go here:
http://blog.truth-is-life.org/rights/end-racism/racism-types/
There are also at least 12 kinds of racism against Asians in America (as well as against Hispanics, Arabs and others).
http://blog.truth-is-life.org/rights/end-racism/racism-against-asians/
GODLY PRINCIPLES REQUIRING ACTION AGAINST INJUSTICE
God repeatedly promotes full equality and equal treatment of all, especially in government laws and also by people who love God (Numbers 15:15, Matt. 23:8, Gal. 3:28). He condemns all forms of injustice and all forms of treating others as inferiors in anyway, both at government levels and also at individual levels. Prophets repeatedly confronted kings, both Israel and pagan on the topic of injustice and it’s the #1 topic in the Bible above all others. For any who love God, loving all the people He created and protecting them from oppression must be a top priority: God says:
“Hate evil, love good; maintain justice.” Hosea 5:15 (e.g. Rom 12:9, 1 Tim. 6:10, Eph. 5:11, Titus 3:14)
“The righteous care about justice for the poor, the wicked have no such concern.” Prov. 29:7 (NLT)
More are here: https://sojo.net/list-some-more-2000verses-scripture-poverty-and-justice
The decision to confront/oppose racism or condone/be silent about this evil will for sure affect eternal lives. Why? Injustice in the church has always been a primary reason people for rejecting belief in God or leaving the church. Atheists routinely point to Christians supporting slavery (betraying Bible principles like Ex. 21:16, 1 Tim. 1:10) as reasons why Christianity can’t possibly be true. Searchers in the future will do the same regarding any Christians now who support racism.
There is also a very serious chance that anyone who keeps on supporting racism of any kind will lose eternal life (Matt 7:21, Hebrews 10:26+). Claudia Allen, editor of Message Magazine, points out that to genuinely give the 3 angels message to a dying world and avoid the mark of the beast, we must fight against the wine of Babylon, which involves all false doctrines, esp. those that harm God’s people. The sharing of the 3 angels message must be done to ALL people, which means we can’t be involved in prejudice which will cripple this message. It explicitly includes creation (worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” Rev. 14:6). This doctrine of creation is the most crucial foundation for the equality of all people. And the 3 angels message calls us out of the Babylon of false doctrines, one of which is certainly racism.
At the very least those who are well meaning but support racism or don’t take action against it will be least/disgraced in heaven for all eternity because of doing such harm to lives (Matt. 5:19) and because they caused people to slander and blaspheme God’s truths (2 Peter 2:2). We will also lose our full reward (2 John 2:8), rewards separate from eternal life that are beyond our imagination (1 Cor. 2:9). The most important of these rewards is seeing many more people that Jesus died for in heaven because of our witness.
GODLY REASONS FOR UNIQUE ETHNICITIES
Why are the crimes of racism happening? Because people have forgotten what
God said about race and have accepted a wicked deception that has become
common.
God created human beings to be all one race. The human race. This is the only
race the Bible speaks of.
“The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race.” Psalm 14:2 (Psalm
33:1,3, etc.)
Unfortunately, Satan creates deceptions against God’s truths that harm lives. Sometimes they are the same old ones, but there are new ones too in every generation. In the last few centuries, he invented and propagated the sinful, lethal virus of prejudice based on skin color, racism. This has caused much suffering in various ways whether it is causing division among people (children banned from playing with other children because of skin color on up to wars and genocide based on skin color), cripples and prevents interdependence which is the highest level of successful living(we don’t learn valuable ideas from other cultures and thus lose many advantages), destroys innocent lives and families (racist violence, murders, unjust incarceration) and also to sabotage God’s work of salvation and completing the Great Commission.
Powerful forces of oppression and societal control have made this deception much more insidious and destructive, because they focus almost all attention on slavery and a couple of the most extreme forms of racism, such as the KKK or neo-nazis/skin heads or shocking police killings. While these racist crimes are tragic and sensational, research by Dr. David Williams, a Christian professor of African American studies at Harvard, and by others, shows that the number of people who are exploited and killed by the forms of racism that are largely unknown, especially to white people, is actually larger by orders of magnitude (up to 100 times higher) than what the news focuses on.
God created people with all kinds of unique and creative differences in various nations and cultures.
“From one man, he created all the nations throughout the whole earth.” Acts 17:26
He meant for us all to learn from each other and cooperate with each other to make life far richer, fuller, successful in every way on earth, and so each of us can be wiser by learning from each other and live in interdependence, which Stephen Covey says based on 200 years of research on success, is the highest level of thriving. This is always one purpose of godliness and God’s laws (1 Timothy 4:8, Neh. 9:13, Deut. 4:1-8).
Another even greater reason God wants believers from all nations to cooperate is to advance God’s work of salvation, justice and freedom much more effectively all around the world and to finish the Great Commission. We can see this from the very earliest times of the church. At Pentecost, people from many nations came to Jerusalem for the festival. There was an outpouring of God’s Spirit and people from these nations were converted (Acts 2:5). They then went back to their countries and the gospel spread far more quickly than it ever had before under Jews who had wrongly become isolationist instead of spreading God’s truths to all parts of the world as God designed they should do (Genesis 18:18, Genesis 22:18, Deuteronomy 4:6).
The eloquent Christian writer Ellen White
“There is no person, no nation, that is perfect in every habit and thought. One must learn of another. Therefore, God wants the different nationalities to mingle together, to be one in judgment, one in purpose.” Ellen White, HS, p. 137.
“If we are to carry on the work most successfully, the talents to be found among the English and Americans should be united with the talents of those of every other nationality. And each nationality should labor earnestly for every other nationality…Our effort should be to answer Christ’s prayer for His disciples, that they should be one.” 9T p. 195
ELITIST ORIGINS OF RACISM
Satan uses old ways to attack and deceive people about various truths of God, but also constantly invents new ones. In every generation he deceives people in some old ways, but also some new ways that depart from God’s truths.
From about the 1600s, researchers have shown that elite powerful people in America invented out of thin air the idea of race. They did this because oppression was so great against the poor of all backgrounds was so great that poor Indians, African Americans and whites were joining together to protest the violence and suffering being done to their families. They invented skin based racism and gave a few extra privileges to those who were white in order to foment dissent and prevent them from uniting against the real causes of suffering, the greedy elite.
A good overview of this by an African American
scientist is here:
THE ILLUSION OF RACE IN AMERICA (Must Watch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQTIXMoDh-4
Dr. Jacqueline Battalora explains in this lecture explains how the whole
concept of white and black was invented in the late 1600s. Before that, the
identify of white and black simply did not exist. They were invented as part of a divide and
conquer strategy to ensure that the lower classes of all backgrounds and skin
colors did not unite against the greedy thieves at the top.
* It is only after Bacon’s Rebellion (1670s) that we see the emergence of
“white” people, “black” people etc.
* Black, White, Asian races didn’t exist before 1600s. People were French, Zulu, Mexican, Chinese,
Korean, British, etc. Each culture has a heritage and values. Black, White,
Asian, etc. don’t.
* Virginia lawmakers wrote a letter to the British government saying they would
a divide and conquer strategy to prevent rebellion (Allen, 1997)
* Skin color identity was invented to divide and conquer, to cause
misunderstandings and conflict between poor, Blacks, Whites, Indians so they
would not unite against the super rich and powerful for economic rights.
Dr. Jacqueline Battalora- Birth of a White Nation
youtube.com/watch?v=TM6ehzu3p4c
This is more confirmation of this in an article with historical references and
quotes.
Inventing Black and White
https://www.facinghistory.org/…/inventing-black-and-white
Since that time, a steady drumbeat of injustice, crimes, murders and atrocities has built up because of abandoning God’s principle of on human race that He meant as a valuable thing to help us to learn from each and combine all the valuable principles from all nations so that we can finish God’s work and go home to heaven much sooner.
HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHED FACTS ABOUT RACISM
Amadou Diallo was killed while taking out wallet with 4 officers firing 41 shots (all acquitted). Philando Castile, pulled over by an officer and killed after he told the officer he had a legally registered weapon in his car and trying to follow all instructions of the officer carefully). Trayvon Martin walking home with iced tea and skittles and the shooter found not guilty.
Ahmaud Aubrey, just out for a morning jog, was hunted down and shot by two men, one an ex-police officer.
This is the timeline of the murder of Ahmed Arbery with video footage. I
don’t know how this cannot be called a modern lynching.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1751715728432119/permalink/2659351151001901/
A former pastor wanted to prove that looking like a suspect wasn’t an excuse for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery…He decided to prove that on Friday as part of the #IRunWithMaud movement, a virtual protest in honor of what would have been Arbery’s 26th birthday. “I just started crying when I just saw this poor young man running — as I have thousands of times in my life — get shot down,” Demsick told Insider. He said he thought: “Maybe I should run with a TV to show that being a suspicious character isn’t enough that someone should be shot down. Being a white person, that’s just not going to happen to me.” So he did.
On Friday, Demsick ran 2.23 miles through his neighborhood while carrying a flat-screen TV. His neighborhood, he said, recently did have a string of thefts. Despite that, his neighbors waved and smiled while he jogged. “Not a soul” even approached him afterward to ask what he was doing, he said.
https://www.insider.com/white-man-carried-tv-while-running-arbery-killing-vide-2020-5
Breonna Taylor, known as “Bre” to friends, was a 26-year-old first responder woman who said, “Working in health care is so rewarding. It makes me feel so happy when I know I’ve made a difference in someone else’s life. She loved playing games and fell asleep watching movies with friends. But on March 13, police officers executing a no-knock warrant in the middle of the night killed her in her own apartment in Louisville, Ky. Why? They were investigating a man she had dated previously who had once sent a package to her apartment, but who was long gone.
~1000 killings like these happen every year in America alone, and many of the names are never even mentioned on the news. It is true that there are names from other nationalities, races and backgrounds too, as well as some police. But in most cases of police shootings, the names on the tombstones after being shot by police are African American or Native American. And in almost every case, regardless of what ethnic/racial backgrounds they are from, they are poor. There are names of police too, ~85 police are killed every year for various reasons. Most of these cases are also because of the racism and/or greedy exploitation in society. If these evils of greed and race did not exist, then these policemen wouldn’t be killed either.
The research says that:
“Over the life course, about 1 in every 1,000 black men can expect to be killed by police…The average lifetime odds of being killed by police are about 1 in 2,000 for men and about 1 in 33,000 for women…For young men of color, police use of force is among the leading causes of death…Black men are about 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police over the life course than are white men…American Indian men are about 1.7 times more likely to be killed by police than are white men, and American Indian women are between 1.1 and 2.1 times more likely to be killed by police than are white women. Latino men are between 1.3 and 1.4 times more likely to be killed by police than are white men.”
Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex.
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/34/16793
Tragically, murder of young black men by police and others in society has become almost normal.
Black murder is normal | Michael Smith | TEDxJacksonville
https://youtu.be/1DxHL2i3cZo
But the killings by police are only a miniscule fraction of the number that racism is killing. David Williams, an Adventist professor of African and African American studies at Harvard, has done research and given many talks about the harm of racism and how while the police killings make sensational news, it actually kills a lot more through it’s lethal economic, medical and societal consequences. He cites many studies and 2 major truths that may seem different or opposite, but are both tragically true and complementary:
TRUTH #1: Racism is real and it is lethal. When the economic, health and societal consequences of racism are investigated, ~220 African Americans die every day due to economic and social injustice.
TRUTH #2: Racism is lethal. But poverty is even more lethal overall. Poor people from all races, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Arab, etc. in die at even higher rates in all countries around the world. They die at rates ~3 times higher than rich.
“The House that Racism Built and its Consequences for Health”
https://livestream.com/collegedalesdachurch/events/8305584/videos/185998211
PDF http://urbanhealth.jhu.edu/_PDFs/Williams_PPT_The_House_that_Racism_Built_4-25-16.pdf
PPT http://healthystpete.foundation/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Williams-St-Petersburg-2017.pptx
Dr. Williams gave a TED talk here:
TED TALK: HOW RACISM MAKES US SICK
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_r_williams_how_racism_makes_us_sick?language=en
He pointed out that:
“America has recently awakened to a steady drumbeat of unarmed black men being shot by the police. What is even a bigger story is that every seven minutes, a black person dies prematurely in the United States. That is over 200 black people die every single day who would not die if the health of blacks and whites were equal…black members of the Class of 1970 [at Yale for example] had a death rate that was three times higher than that of the average class member. It’s stunning.”
Again and again racist murders are happening in America to completely innocent people, often minorities, but to the poor of all races too. You can argue about whether the 1000s of innocent people murdered every year are due to KKK/white supremacist style racism, or racism incited by Hollywood demonizing young black/hispanic/Indian men (and women) as dangerous and not to be trusted and so greatly heightening fear and extreme reactions among some whites. But it is just indisputable that there are many tragic racist murders happening due to at least one but probably several types of racism.
SPIRITUAL CONSEQUENCES OF INACTION ON RACISM AND INJUSTICE
Why must we act against racism and other injustices?
First, we are all created by God, we are equal and have the same God given rights to a decent life and justice. We must react to crimes and oppression the same as if that oppression was being done to ourselves or our children or close friends. We cannot be godly and silent in the face of injustice (Prov. 29:7, 31:8,9). By biblical principles, those who refuse to follow God’s principles will either be
A) lost in hell and condemned to eternal death for refusing to follow God’s principles (Matthew 7:21 Jude 4, Hebrews 10:26+) since the way we treat the oppressed and poor is the way we treat Jesus who identifies first and foremost with the oppressed (Matthew 25:31-46)
or
B) the least, most humiliated people and most disgraced people for all eternity who are let into heaven (Matthew 5:19). Willful rebellion is like witchcraft to God and so only the sin of those with severe ignorance will be winked at (Acts 17:30).
Activism against racism and all types of injustice is definitely to rescue the oppressed as God repeatedly did, treating them as if they are Jesus and fully equal to ourselves, and saving their lives. It is also important in order to remove the wicked stain of all cruelty, injustice and evil from Christianity so people will not blaspheme it for evil. But ironically, the oppressors are the ones who also are in need of saving. Their eternal lives are in danger and the stability of their nation and freedoms of their children are danger if they continue their injustice.
Second, the Bible, history, Martin Luther King Jr. and even ancient pagan sages understand that if f we don’t forcefully oppose injustice when it is done in other places, the oppressive powers that abandon morals to commit crimes against others, will soon see no reason not to do similar things to us and our children. The German Pastor Martin Niemöller condemned the complicity of the intellectuals of his time in immortal words that also apply to this fight. He said:
“They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. They came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Third, Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson pointed out individuals can sometimes win in some limited field (like wealth or fame) by being selfish. But at the group level “A group of altruists will beat a society of selfish individuals every time.”
“#3: E.O. Wilson’s Theory of Altruism Shakes Up Understanding of Evolution”. Pamela Weintraub. Thursday, April 28, 2011.
So if we support racism in any way, we are betraying and harming God and people He created. But we also end up degrading ourselves, causing loss of eternal life or our reputation, staining God’s church with evil, but we also end up ruining our own communities and nations.
PROPAGANDA FALLACIES THAT SUPPORT INJUSTICE/RACISM
One of the worst things for my fellow white people to say at a time of lethal crisis like this is all lives matter. Yes, that’s true. But it is a total abdication of biblical principles for several reasons. (Thanks to Claudia Allen and Adventist activists at Adventists 4 Social Justice, etc. for these illustrations which I have adapted a little):
A) Imagine your friend’s house has out of control fires flaming in every room of his house and you have a couple embers on a wood floor which you can easily deal with. When the firemen come, your friend is pleading with them to help, saying, “My house is going up in flames.” You rush out to them yelling, “My house is on fire.” It’s time consuming and distracting from the most serious problem and real innocent people could die because of the brainwashed foolishness of trying to claim that there are 2 similar emergencies when there aren’t.
B) Jesus told a story of 100 sheep. When one was lost, the shepherd focused all his attention on the lost sheep, not those who were safe and sound.
C) Pastor Jose Cortes Jr., powerfully pointed out that people must be more important than property. When people and pastors who claim to be Christian say nothing about killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and others and only speak after riots, that is a betrayal of the values of Christianity. Things must never be more important than people.
If you know much about the history of propaganda as I have studied it, you will see that all of these reactions above are a betrayal of Christianity as well as showing that the person making these claims is under complete control of the establishment and media that are primarily responsible for the lethal crime of racism in our society. Any action that puts property as more important than property, that condemns protests or even rioting instead of killings, that ignores the biggest evils and atrocities and evils happening DAILY at the worst levels in history, is a betrayal of the principles of God that love for God and love for people must be our top priority (Matt. 22:37-4). They are a terribly backwards reversal of the priorities that Christians should have.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said:
“Riots are socially destructive and self-defeating…nonviolence is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and justice…But at the same time, it is as necessary for me to be as vigorous in condemning the conditions which cause persons to feel that they must engage in riotous activities as it is for me to condemn riots. I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard…
America has failed to hear…that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay.
And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0BWXjJv5s
DEVASTATING EARTHLY CONSEQUENCES OF RACISM, INJUSTICE & POVERTY
(***still working on this section***)
The Bible says that “The love of money is the root of all evil.” 1 Tim. 6:10. When powerful people exploit and abuse one sector of the population it never stops there. They expand over time to exploiting many others too and this research proves it.
Research on the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) shows that 140 million people — were poor or low-income in 2017, including:
- 52.1 percent of children under the age of 18 (38.5 million children)
- 40.4 percent of adults between the ages of 18-64 (81 million adults)
- 42.0 percent of our elders over the age of 64 (21.4 million elders)
- 41.6 percent or 65.8 million men
- 45 percent or 74.2 million women
- 33.5 percent of White, non-Hispanic people (65.6 million people)
- 59.7 percent of Black, non-Hispanic people (23.7 million people)
- 64.1 percent of Latinx people (38 million people)
- 40.8 percent of Asian people (8 million people)
- 58.9 percent of Native and Indigenous people (2.14 million people)
Poverty affects children of all colors, contrary to stereotypes. The notion held by many Americans that poverty is not a white problem is simply false,” says Jane Knitzer, EdD, director of NCCP, a research center at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “The sooner all Americans realize these facts about poverty, the better chance we have of eradicating it.” The NCCP fact sheet shows that among America’s poor children, 4.2 million are white, 4 million are Latino, 3.6 million are African American, 400,000 are Asian, and 200,000 are American Indian. http://www.nccp.org/media/releases/release_34.html
We need to be very specific about the Sodom and Gomorrah level evil of greed and it’s devastation of people’s lives, families, communities and nations. It’s destroying lives among minorities and foreigners more percentagewise, especially worldwide. And because every person is created equal, and because greed is the root of all evil, we must protest the injustice being done to our minority brothers and sisters.
But secondly, in the Bible and history, if we don’t protest this, it’s
inevitable that it will hurt us too and all of society. In absolute raw numbers,
according to the poverty campaign, there are more whites in poverty overall
than African Americans and that is also true for children growing up in
poverty, which is particularly devastating.
This destroys families, causes divorces, destroys educational chances, chances
to start one’s own business and a myriad of other things.
Poverty forces people into terrible choices. The first one is that people in
poverty can’t afford a Christian education and it is a researched fact that
public schools are a war on children’s minds (even the US government admits
this in their own studies), and this is especially true in the area of evidence
for God, creation science, Bible economics, godly justice areas, evidence and
proof of Jesus’ resurrection which people are kept wholly ignorant of in public
education. UP to 85% of those who are subjected to public school education
leave the church.
Secondly, but almost as bad, people in poverty are forced into debt slavery,
wage slavery and sometimes the horrible cruelty of chattel slavery and sex
slavery.
At a minimum, poor people are forced into hard choices in areas like these
below.
Poverty forces people into terrible choices.
“The median annual income for households served by the Feeding America network
is $9,175. In our 2014 Hunger in America study, the people we serve told us
about the choices they face due to limited resources:
69% Had to choose between food and utilities
67% Had to choose between food and transportation
66% Had to choose between food and medical care
57% Had to choose between food and housing
31% Had to choose between food and education
They also told us about the many ways they stretch their food budget or work to
supplement it:
79% Purchase inexpensive, unhealthy food
53% Receive help from friends or family
40% Water down food or drinks
35% Sell or pawn personal property
23% Grow food in a garden
https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger
Financial racism is a major evil. It is a huge reason for the destruction of families. Dr. Sonya Britt confirms “Arguments about money is by far the top predictor of divorce,” (www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/jul13/predictingdivorce71113.html).
When families are destroyed, it has devastating consequences, divorce being a big one with a river of evil consequences from that.
“…Upon the divorce of their parents, children experience a wide range of emotional reactions, including sadness,16) anger,17) loneliness,18) depression (which frequently lasts into later phases of life19)), heightened anxiety,20) worry, lower life satisfaction,21) lower self-esteem22) and self-confidence,23) fear, yearning, rejection, conflicting loyalties, and a sense of fault for their parents’ problems.24) An analysis by David Popenoe of the National Survey of Children found that divorce was associated with a higher incidence of several mental health problems in children: depression; withdrawal from friends and family; aggressive, impulsive, or hyperactive behavior; and either behaving disruptively or withdrawing from participation in the classroom.25) Parental divorce may also contribute to the development of mood disorders, bipolar I disorder, dysthymia (mild chronic depression), depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.26)…Older children, rather than clinging, frequently withdraw from home life and seek intimacy elsewhere.28) If divorce occurs while the children are teenagers (12 to 15 years old), they tend to react in one of two very different ways: by attempting to avoid growing up or by attempting to “speed through” adolescence.29) Early sexual activity, substance abuse or dependence, hostile behavior, and depression are all more likely to occur following divorce.
marripedia.org/effects_of_divorce_on_children_s_health
SOME METHODS OF OPPOSING/STOPPING RACISM
The names keep coming like a deafening hail of destruction, bringing fresh tears and tragedy to new families every day. Innocent people killed doing the most innocent things imaginable and much of it due to racism that is built into the structural laws, education and policies of many of the institutions in America and have been there largely unchanged for centuries, except for rare cases where protests swell to a crescendo and force those with power to make changes. It is way past time to forcefully but peacefully protest the killings of innocent African Americans and others by police, and other lethal forms of racism and injustice that kills African Americans, other minorities, Caucasians and police at much higher rates too. And there are many things that can be done.
To fight any enemy effectively, we must understand God’s truths first. Scientific research helps enormously to understand the scale and specifics of the problem. From studying God’s principles we can understand the extremely serious eternal and earthly consequences of not taking action for others and for us. We need to understand the 20+ kinds of racism that are in ~3-4 categories (individual, interpersonal, societal and systematic racism) and then how to oppose, fight and destroy them best.
This article is a brief overview of some of these things. But check the links for more details and join Adventist/Christian groups for many regular information and updates on what to fight on these issues. If you are an Adventist supporter of justice and making change at government levels already, this is a good site to join:
https://www.facebook.com/adventistsforsocialjustice/
If you want to understand more of the Bible’s concepts of justice, and especially the economic roots of injustice (all evil is rooted in greed and/or pride according to 1 Tim. 6:10) but are not sure about the ethics of Christians trying to change government policies, go here:
https://www.facebook.com/GodlyJOLT/
Now is one of the most important chances we have to make a real change in society. You can do this by
1) Learn the facts about different kinds of destructive/ lethal racism that exist in many institutions and laws in society. Study from Christian organizations that are skilled in this topic if at all possible, such as the above.
2) Join protests near you to change these racist policies. Find organizations fighting for justice in your area and they might have information on how to join.
3) Advocate for changes in the law in petitions and calls to government officials as local or national justice organizations inform you about them.
4) Educate your friends and family about the realities of racism, confronting injustices we see around us
5) Study how your daily buying and shopping habits may contribute to racism and injustice and change them. One of the best ways is to start growing your own food, since many agricultural workers, often minorities, are exploited and harmed in various ways, esp. with poisonous chemicals in the process of harvesting food for major corporations.
Local Futures: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=129994847035746&ref=br_rs
Films for Action: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=107925785982&ref=br_rs or www.filmsforaction.org
Note that while these sites have some incredibly good content that lines up with what God says we should do, they unfortunately aren’t Christian and so in a few cases they promote ideas that Christians can’t support.
6) One very practical way to take action this month is by joining the Poor People’s Campaign which many churches are joining that is opposing the evils of poverty, racism and militarism that all do great damage and ruin to many people’s lives. Join their online protest on June 20, 2020.
https://poorpeoplescampaign.org
When you have time, read their research of ~9 pages in the executive summary on the devastating effects of poverty, racism and war in this page which is ~9 pages. This is focusing on America, but it’s similar in many countries.
https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PPC-Audit-Full-410835a.pdf
They also have a facebook page (and often local state chapters too)
https://www.facebook.com/anewppc
7) and many others (see 75 ways to help).**
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234
8) Maybe most important, recognize that one of the most sophisticated tactics of exploitation and propaganda is to split people into conflicting groups that can’t unify. Pastor Barber, the main founder/leader of the Poor People’s Campaign says,
“The greatest fear has always been black and white and brown coming together and forming an agenda together. That sends trembles through the extremist body….We are not here to talk about democrat or republican…Let’s start with the facts. People are DYING because of poverty. I’m a pastor. I’ve buried people because of these politics. This system is not broken. It was never made for us.”
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wecriedpower
If we don’t unify and protest injustice, then the elite 1% who have an obscene control of more wealth than the 99% combined, and got most of that by bribing governments to give them loopholes and all kinds of breaks that normal people can’t get, can keep on exploiting us and our children in a myriad of ways.
God says greed is the “the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10), “Greed brings grief to the whole family” (Prov. 15:27), “Greed causes fighting” (Prov. 28:25), greed for land causes violence (Ez. 45:9, Is. 5:7,8), “Greedy people are…like death itself…never satisfied…they conquer nation after nation for themselves.” (Hab. 2:5) and that it will cause very difficult times in the last days. (2 Tim. 3:1,2). Many researchers such as the Christian relief agency Oxfam have shown that the 1% richest own more wealth than the 99% combined[2] and that just the 100 richest could solve poverty worldwide 7 times.[3] This is “a symptom of a failing economic system” according to the Christian aid agency Oxfam’s Winnie Byanyima. As God said greed (and its twin, pride) is the root of all evil in the world (1 Tim. 6:10). It ruins families, causes violence, ruins nations and more (Prov. 15:27, 28:25, Hab. 2:5).
Left vs. right isn’t the big issue. Democracy vs. communism isn’t even the biggest issue. According to God, greed is the source of all evil, and so the biggest conflict is always between those who have gotten wealth by criminal actions, bribery, violating God’s laws, etc. and those that have God given rights to a decent life. Other issues can be important too. But if you’re not fighting the roots of greed and pride, you’ll never make serious progress. It’s like trying to fight spider webs, but never taking on the spider that produces the spider webs.
When you have time, read their research of ~9 pages in the executive summary
on the devastating effects of poverty, racism and war in this page which is ~9
pages. This is focusing on America, but it’s similar in many countries.
https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PPC-Audit-Full-410835a.pdf
They also have a facebook page (and often local state chapters too)
https://www.facebook.com/anewppc
7) and many others (see 75 ways to help).**
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234
8) Maybe most important, recognize that one of the most sophisticated tactics of exploitation and propaganda is to split people into conflicting groups that can’t unify. Pastor Barber, the main founder/leader of the Poor People’s Campaign says,
“The greatest fear has always been black and white and brown coming together and forming an agenda together. That sends trembles through the extremist body….We are not here to talk about democrat or republican…Let’s start with the facts. People are DYING because of poverty. I’m a pastor. I’ve buried people because of these politics. This system is not broken. It was never made for us.”
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wecriedpower
If we don’t unify and protest injustice, then the elite 1% who have an obscene control of more wealth than the 99% combined, and got most of that by bribing governments to give them loopholes and all kinds of breaks that normal people can’t get, can keep on exploiting us and our children in a myriad of ways.
God says greed is the “the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10), “Greed brings grief to the whole family” (Prov. 15:27), “Greed causes fighting” (Prov. 28:25), greed for land causes violence (Ez. 45:9, Is. 5:7,8), “Greedy people are…like death itself…never satisfied…they conquer nation after nation for themselves.” (Hab. 2:5) and that it will cause very difficult times in the last days. (2 Tim. 3:1,2). Many researchers such as the Christian relief agency Oxfam have shown that the 1% richest own more wealth than the 99% combined[2] and that just the 100 richest could solve poverty worldwide 7 times.[3] This is “a symptom of a failing economic system” according to the Christian aid agency Oxfam’s Winnie Byanyima. As God said greed (and its twin, pride) is the root of all evil in the world (1 Tim. 6:10). It ruins families, causes violence, ruins nations and more (Prov. 15:27, 28:25, Hab. 2:5).
Left vs. right isn’t the big issue. Democracy vs. communism isn’t even the biggest issue. According to God, greed is the source of all evil, and so the biggest conflict is always between those who have gotten wealth by criminal actions, bribery, violating God’s laws, etc. and those that have God given rights to a decent life. Other issues can be important too. But if you’re not fighting the roots of greed and pride, you’ll never make serious progress. It’s like trying to fight spider webs, but never taking on the spider that produces the spider webs.
CONCLUSION
Whenever we think of any injustice or evil, to fight it most effectively, we must identify the primary cause. Again, the Bible tells us that greed is the “the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10), “Greed brings grief to the whole family” (Prov. 15:27), “Greed causes fighting” etc. It’s true with family destruction, false doctrines, slavery and it’s also true with racism. There can be other factors, but they will always be secondary to greed. So if you want to stop racism most effectively, focus on the root cause of greed.
The elite 1% have been using propaganda to fracture societies for centuries. It’s time we got smart and wise and figured out how to stop these injustices. Now is one of the best times ever that we will have to do this. Don’t fall for their many fallacious arguments about other side issues and spend all your time playing whack-a-mole with the jumping jacks. Focus on pulling the plug, cutting the cord, killing the power of the whole machine.
Much research is showing that living closer to Eden lifestyle could literally solve dozens of the world’s biggest problems and could save SDAs in America alone billions of dollars per year. Non-SDA activists call this idea of growing your own food, buying from local farm markets and local businesses instead of corporations whose only goal is profit and that engage in much exploitation and damage to the environment, going local.
Michael Shuman (an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur) says,
“The best way of reducing poverty and increasing equality is going local.”[4]
The Bible has many verses telling us to do good first to God’s people (Gal. 6:10), God’s people in need near us (Rom 12:13) and in foreign countries (Rom. 15:26), anyone who is poor and has a good character (Deut. 15:11, Prov. 3:27), to love our enemies and more. Research is showing that if every family just bought $10 more from local believers and/or community members, it would return $9.3 billion to local economies and help solve many problems.[5] There are ~385,000 SDA families in America. Simple math shows that if SDA families just spent ~$100 more very month on SDA/Christian businesses/local businesses, it would bring ~$340 million for local believers/community and ~$34 million in tithe. But the more people spend locally, the more benefits there will be for local communities in relationships, for the environment, in financial areas, in spiritual areas and more.
So protest racism whenever there are protests near you or online. But also focus on fighting greed and greed based corporations that are one of the biggest causes of racism on earth, partly because they cause families to descend into desperation.
[1] Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson pointed out that while selfish people may succeed in a few areas, at the community level, altruists are the basis of thriving societies and says, “A group of altruists will beat a society of selfish individuals every time.”[1]
[2] Ratcliff, Anna. “Just 8 Men Own Same Wealth as Half the World”. 16 Jan. 2018, www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world.
[3] Hagan, Shelly. “Billionaires Made So Much Money Last Year They Could End Extreme Poverty Seven Times”. January 22, 2018.time.com/money/5112462/billionaires-made-so-much-money-last-year-they-could-end-extreme-poverty-seven-times/.
[4] Shuman, Michael. “Localising Finance.” Dec 4, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PozpjriZXg, http://bit.ly/2HfTRyO.
[5] Salguero, Michael. “Why Buying Local Is Worth Every Cent [Infographic].” Dec 06, 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-buying-local-is-worth_b_4310520.