Race seems to be a divisive issue among Christians

Eftsoon

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It certainly is divisive in society at large, but why here in a forum where we are supposed to be one in Christ? Perhaps it isn't divisive and I'm just hanging around the wrong threads.

Threads dealing with racial topics seem to generate more tension than topics you would presume to be controversial.

The fire surrounding BLM and CRT is a prime example of this. CRT seems to really rub Christians up the wrong way.

I'm assuming that it's just because the church is a reflection of the society at large.
 

grasping the after wind

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It certainly is divisive in society at large, but why here in a forum where we are supposed to be one in Christ? Perhaps it isn't divisive and I'm just hanging around the wrong threads.

Threads dealing with racial topics seem to generate more tension than topics you would presume to be controversial.

The fire surrounding BLM and CRT is a prime example of this. CRT seems to really rub Christians up the wrong way.

I'm assuming that it's just because the church is a reflection of the society at large.

I just assume it is because Christians tend to prefer the truth to political propaganda and have had a bad experience with Marxist ideology.
 
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ralliann

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I just assume it is because Christians tend to prefer the truth to political propaganda and have had a bad experience with Marxist ideology.
Yep, crt and blm are divisive. Those that reject that divisiveness are unfiers.
 
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Silverback

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Everyone is tired of it, whites in America have been told they are inherently racist and evil every day since Biden has been in office, and it shows no sign of letting up.

I realize people are White, Black, Asian, Native American/Alaskan, or Hawaiian/Pacific Islander...I am not color blind, and I realize someone is Hispanic as well.

That being said, Black lives are no more, or, less important than any other racial, or ethnic group. I try to take people as they come, being a lousy person is not a racial issue.

It's character that matters, isn't that what Dr. King said?
 
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Subdood

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I just assume it is because Christians tend to prefer the truth to political propaganda and have had a bad experience with Marxist ideology.
Touche. :thumbsup:

And the sad truth is that some calls for "unity" (and I wholly, WHOLLY support Christian unity) are really just veiled calls for one side to compromise their mores to the mores of the side doing the calling - a sort of virtue signaling where the calling side presumes to be the [only] side in the good.

And sadly, calls for compromise such as these are rarely, if ever reciprocal.
 
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Sketcher

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It certainly is divisive in society at large, but why here in a forum where we are supposed to be one in Christ? Perhaps it isn't divisive and I'm just hanging around the wrong threads.

Threads dealing with racial topics seem to generate more tension than topics you would presume to be controversial.

The fire surrounding BLM and CRT is a prime example of this. CRT seems to really rub Christians up the wrong way.

I'm assuming that it's just because the church is a reflection of the society at large.
You're right, it's divisive. And it's not just CRT or BLM.

We're at the point where black brothers and white brothers can look at the same news story, and see different things. Just about every news story is going to require looking up additional facts to rightly judge the situation, and black brothers and white brothers will often look at different supplementary facts. And that's when the angry arguments start. This is also why some black brothers will have more support of CRT and BLM than some white brothers, even if they don't support all of it.

Ironically, I have angered both blacks and whites for the exact same position on quite a few occasions, for different reasons.

People need to be more open minded.
 
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Sophrosyne

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It really is less about race and more about culture IMO. Blacks have a culture that they cannot escape from, it is a culture that is cemented on racism itself that they don't want to let go of as their culture was once victims of racism and to them it is all they have to hold on to and until they let go of the hate they cannot move on.
It is like Jesus said in many times and ways to many people of all sorts and types.... forgiveness is not an option it is a commandment of Christians. We don't need to forget the past but we don't need to have it control our feelings and thoughts. It is sort of like a dump, you take all your garbage and toss it into your backyard and over time others see this and start tossing some of theirs likewise. In time everyone's backyards are full of trash and people have gotten used to it as everyone else has trashy backyards it is part of the culture. Someone with a clean backyard for a long ways away comes over and sees all this trash piled up in their backyard and comments on it. This results in a fight where the person with the trash says it is normal everyone does this how dare you judge me for a trashy backyard. In time the trash attracts pests and smells and the people a city over starts to smell it downwind and there is an increasing problem with bugs and vermin and they offer to come help clean up the mess and their offer is met with a "how dare you treat me like this because I have a trashy backyard". Then a politician realizes if I praise these people for their trashiness I can be elected to office and have a cushy job and fame and fortune so instead of trying to clean up the mess he applauds it and convinces others cities to start throwing their trash in their back yards. In time a group of these "trashyards" gain more and more power and then start to give grants to encourage people across the country to trash their back yard and everyone is trashyarding. Now one day a person who is immaculate and has a clean backyard starts complaining about the trash falling in their yard and gets others who have clean yards to start supporting anti trashyard legislation to outlaw trashyarding and the fight is on. We end up bringing trash haulers in to carry off the trash in one area while others have them come in and dump more trash and politicians realize that if they push these trash fights and buy into trash hauling companies they can clean up. When things start getting out of hand they act as peacemakers and decide that in order to keep power they need to keep the trashyards around but also need to have the cleanyards around to keep this fight going between them so in the end the only one who wins is the trash haulers and politicians and the bugs and vermin and pest exterminators.
 
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SongOnTheWind

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Maybe it's not about opinion, but about truth. If we as Christ's Body searched for and received the truth instead of having itching ears, perhaps we would agree.

What does God say about the issue of race? What does God say about injustice?

I LOVE the parable of the good Samaritan. It's not always the people that others revere that will come through if there is a problem. Everyone is capable of being a good neighbour. Even a Samaritan. Even the people society at large thought incapable.

It would help us a lot if we didn't pre-judge: "I already know what you're going to say, so I'm not going to listen!" Doesn't help anyone. Who here would see themselves not standing up for justice? No one. But the Samaritan's empathy went beyond race or political affiliation or status. He went over and above the call and was so kind. If one who wasn't under covenant (Samaritans were outside of Jewish fellowship, that's kinda the point of the story) can do it, then how much more those in covenant?

I think we are being presented with a challenge and an opportunity. Up to the individual and the collective body to rise to it.
 
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ralliann

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Everyone is tired of it, whites in America have been told they are inherently racist and evil every day since Biden has been in office, and it shows no sign of letting up.

I realize people are White, Black, Asian, Native American/Alaskan, or Hawaiian/Pacific Islander...I am not color blind, and I realize someone is Hispanic as well.

That being said, Black lives are no more, or, less important than any other racial, or ethnic group. I try to take people as they come, being a lousy person is not a racial issue.

It's character that matters, isn't that what Dr. King said?
yes that is what Dr. King said.
 
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DaisyDay

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The fire surrounding BLM and CRT is a prime example of this. CRT seems to really rub Christians up the wrong way.
Well, certain Christians, anyway - by no means all.
 
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DaisyDay

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It really is less about race and more about culture IMO. Blacks have a culture that they cannot escape from, it is a culture that is cemented on racism itself that they don't want to let go of as their culture was once victims of racism and to them it is all they have to hold on to and until they let go of the hate they cannot move on.
It is like Jesus said in many times and ways to many people of all sorts and types.... forgiveness is not an option it is a commandment of Christians. We don't need to forget the past but we don't need to have it control our feelings and thoughts. It is sort of like a dump, you take all your garbage and toss it into your backyard and over time others see this and start tossing some of theirs likewise. In time everyone's backyards are full of trash and people have gotten used to it as everyone else has trashy backyards it is part of the culture. Someone with a clean backyard for a long ways away comes over and sees all this trash piled up in their backyard and comments on it. This results in a fight where the person with the trash says it is normal everyone does this how dare you judge me for a trashy backyard. In time the trash attracts pests and smells and the people a city over starts to smell it downwind and there is an increasing problem with bugs and vermin and they offer to come help clean up the mess and their offer is met with a "how dare you treat me like this because I have a trashy backyard". Then a politician realizes if I praise these people for their trashiness I can be elected to office and have a cushy job and fame and fortune so instead of trying to clean up the mess he applauds it and convinces others cities to start throwing their trash in their back yards. In time a group of these "trashyards" gain more and more power and then start to give grants to encourage people across the country to trash their back yard and everyone is trashyarding. Now one day a person who is immaculate and has a clean backyard starts complaining about the trash falling in their yard and gets others who have clean yards to start supporting anti trashyard legislation to outlaw trashyarding and the fight is on. We end up bringing trash haulers in to carry off the trash in one area while others have them come in and dump more trash and politicians realize that if they push these trash fights and buy into trash hauling companies they can clean up. When things start getting out of hand they act as peacemakers and decide that in order to keep power they need to keep the trashyards around but also need to have the cleanyards around to keep this fight going between them so in the end the only one who wins is the trash haulers and politicians and the bugs and vermin and pest exterminators.
Black is not a monolithic culture anymore than yours is. Be careful making pronouncements concerning "they" and "them" because you're saying more about yourself and your limited pov than you are about anyone else real.
 
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SongOnTheWind

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Black is not a monolithic culture anymore than yours is. Be careful making pronouncements concerning "they" and "them" because you're saying more about yourself and your limited pov than you are about anyone else real.

I don't want to put anybody down, but just being real: I find it's always trouble to speak as an authority on something one which has had no practical living experience of. Opinion is one thing, but authority has weight to it that should be earned, not assumed. It isn't always presented in an honest way, though.

They, them, other: shows already a divide, and non experiential information. Why not we, the humans? What about we the Christians? We are new creations now. Let's think like new creations. Easier said than done, I know, but we're all learning together in Christ. Why not build each other up, for a change?

Is this an example of a number of the Body's love growing cold?
 
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Sophrosyne

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Black is not a monolithic culture anymore than yours is. Be careful making pronouncements concerning "they" and "them" because you're saying more about yourself and your limited pov than you are about anyone else real.
Go tell those on the left that, as they seem to think all blacks are the same and if they don't vote for Biden, they aren't black. Also leftists don't consider conservative Republican black people as anything real, they consider them not black either so it seems the left is actually the one who seems to think that they ARE truly monolithic.
 
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SongOnTheWind

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Go tell those on the left that, as they seem to think all blacks are the same and if they don't vote for Biden, they aren't black. Also leftists don't consider conservative Republican black people as anything real, they consider them not black either so it seems the left is actually the one who seems to think that they ARE truly monolithic.
Again, I don't mean to seem harsh or put anyone down, but just because someone does something doesn't make it ok for everyone to do. When they go low, let's go high :oldthumbsup:
 
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The fire surrounding BLM and CRT is a prime example of this. CRT seems to really rub Christians up the wrong way.

I'm assuming that it's just because the church is a reflection of the society at large.

Being told that you're a racist and in the wrong if you're white, and watching black people be told that they're victims that need special treatment for their skin color is divisive and should rub everyone the wrong way.
 
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SongOnTheWind

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Being told that you're a racist and in the wrong if you're white, and watching black people be told that they're victims that need special" treatment for their skin color is divisive and should rub everyone the wrong way.
It is divisive, but so is looking at a black person and pre-judging them based on the colour of their skin. We know both are wrong. One isn't wronger than the other. Christians should be just as worked up when we see racism happening to someone that is not our skin colour. As Christians we should be a voice for justice for all, not just get worked up when now we are experiencing what others have before. It's wrong all around. What is needed now is empathy on both sides. Not just "they have a yucky attitude, so I can have one too". It's hard to turn the other cheek but someone has to be the bigger person. Imagine if CHRISTIANS the world over, of all ethnic backgrounds, led the example together? What would that do to this world?
 
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Sophrosyne

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Again, I don't mean to seem harsh or put anyone down, but just because someone does something doesn't make it ok for everyone to do. When they go low, let's go high :oldthumbsup:
Going high hasn't worked for the last 40 years as the low keeps getting a lot lower those up high are so far up there that people think they are some sort of elite gods and want no part of them they would rather live in the basement than dine in the penthouse.
 
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Sophrosyne

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It is divisive, but so is looking at a black person and pre-judging them based on the colour of their skin. We know both are wrong. One isn't wronger than the other. Christians should be just as worked up when we see racism happening to someone that is not our skin colour. As Christians we should be a voice for justice for all, not just get worked up when now we are experiencing what others have before. It's wrong all around. What is needed now is empathy on both sides. Not just "they have a yucky attitude, so I can have one too". It's hard to turn the other cheek but someone has to be the bigger person. Imagine if CHRISTIANS the world over, of all ethnic backgrounds, led the example together? What would that do to this world?
Good luck with that as too many who consider themselves Christian are part of the problem and are the ones who are content with slapping the cheeks of everyone who disagrees with them.
 
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