(moved) What can be done to improve the race relations in America?

[throughfierytrial]

I wouldn't say "education in Christianity"--too many cold-hearted people with good Christian book knowledge. I'd say Christians filled with the Holy Spirit.

You just defined Christianity.

 

[Radrook]

You just defined Christianity.

Well, that definitely is a big difference!

 

[throughfierytrial]

Biblical knowledge via biblical education is no absolute guarantee since humans aren't primarily governed by logic or reason. Instead, humans tend to use reason to justify their emotions and the behavior which those emotions lead them to.

You know better than God?
No, it is the principles of Christianity...to love God above all things and to love our neighbor as ourselves...that keeps us out of these messes. If one's top priority in life is their salvation they will learn to search the Scriptures and there find Truth...the Truth that sets us free, the Truth speaks to all matters and helps us sort out right from wrong, truth from lies and error and specifically here it tells us we are all one as Christians and all as Christians equal. We are to have great concern for the souls of wrongdoers rather than hate...it is peace-loving. It tells us this...
Colossians 3:11:
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
and...
I Corinthians 12:24-26:
But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

 

[Radrook]

You know better than God?
No, it is the principles of Christianity...to love God above all things and to love our neighbor as ourselves...that keeps us out of these messes. If one's top priority in life is their salvation they will learn to search the Scriptures and there find Truth...the Truth that sets us free, the Truth speaks to all matters and helps us sort out right from wrong, truth from lies and error and specifically here it tells us we are all one as Christians and all as Christians equal. We are to have great concern for the souls of wrongdoers rather than hate...it is peace-loving. It tells us this...
Colossians 3:11:
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
and...
I Corinthians 12:24-26:
But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

You are misunderstanding me.
The principles of Christianity if applied faithfully do drastically reduce the incidences of racism.
The holy spirit filled person is moved to apply those principles and is definitely not racist or even racist inclined.
The problem is that many who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior very often retain worldly characteristics and do not display the fruitage of the spirit.. In short, they are willing but their flesh is weak and it impels them to behave in unchristian ways. Why? Well,
there are many factors involved in such a phenomenon.

For example,

The way a Christian was raised.
Tendencies he might have inherited from his parents.
His emotional psychological stability.
His level of spiritual maturity.
His level of biblical knowledge and understanding.
His personal experiences in life.

Please keep in mind that Christians are not carbon copies of each other and their personalities vary wildly.
Some personalities are very Christ like.
Other Christian personalities are borderline.
Still others are permeated with so much worldliness that it is even difficult to detect Christ in their behavior.
So it al depends.

Now, if we naively expect all Christians to display the same level of spiritual maturity and knowledge and understanding, then we are in for a great disappointment that might very likely weaken or else result in the total shipwrecking of our faith. That's why the
Bible counsels us not t place our faith in mortal man but in God. Human beings who are fallible and prone to disappoint via their inconsistency which is provoked by their inherited Adamic sinful tendencies.

Please note that I speak from vast bitter personal experience where I had full confidence in Christians simply because they were Christian and the results were extremely disappointing. There was racism, materialistic discrimination, hateful gossiping, vendetta behaviors, and a host of other crass sinful conduct that eventually disabused me of my idealistic visions of how Christians must surely be simply because they claim Christianity as their religion.

:2 Cor 3: 2
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, 3for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?…

 

[Church2u2]

Black people can unite when a real need for it arises. Don't forget the unity during the civil rights movement. Whites and blacks and others all united.There were Jewish, white and black Freedom riders and even during the civil war white people helped the black slaves.A white man signed the Emancipation proclamation.Back then we had better leaders I think.Then there came a time when the crips and the bloods called a temporary "peace".We have to look back at history for a solution.But most of all we need to keep God first.

 

[Radrook]

Black people can unite when a real need for it arises. Don't forget the unity during the civil rights movement. Whites and blacks and others all united.There were Jewish, white and black Freedom riders and even during the civil war white people helped the black slaves.A white man signed the Emancipation proclamation.Back then we had better leaders I think.Then there came a time when the crips and the bloods called a temporary "peace".We have to look back at history for a solution.But most of all we need to keep God first.

A constant obsession over race can lead a person to unconsciously display a non-Christian personality. For example, after a church service which involved Bible study, prayer and singing hymns, the first and only thing which this sister in the faith spoke to me about was all the many things which she strongly disliked about a certain ethnic group. Weird! One would expect her mind to be on spiritual things.

 

[Dionne005]

You are misunderstanding me.
The principles of Christianity if applied faithfully do drastically reduce the incidences of racism.
The holy spirit filled person is moved to apply those principles and is definitely not racist or even racist inclined.
The problem is that many who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior very often retain worldly characteristics and do not display the fruitage of the spirit.. In short, they are willing but their flesh is weak and it impels them to behave in unchristian ways. Why? Well,
there are many factors involved in such a phenomenon.

For example,

The way a Christian was raised.
Tendencies he might have inherited from his parents.
His emotional psychological stability.
His level of spiritual maturity.
His level of biblical knowledge and understanding.
His personal experiences in life.

Please keep in mind that Christians are not carbon copies of each other and their personalities vary wildly.
Some personalities are very Christ like.
Other Christian personalities are borderline.
Still others are permeated with so much worldliness that it is even difficult to detect Christ in their behavior.
So it al depends.

Now, if we naively expect all Christians to display the same level of spiritual maturity and knowledge and understanding, then we are in for a great disappointment that might very likely weaken or else result in the total shipwrecking of our faith. That's why the
Bible counsels us not t place our faith in mortal man but in God. Human beings who are fallible and prone to disappoint via their inconsistency which is provoked by their inherited Adamic sinful tendencies.

Please note that I speak from vast bitter personal experience where I had full confidence in Christians simply because they were Christian and the results were extremely disappointing. There was racism, materialistic discrimination, hateful gossiping, vendetta behaviors, and a host of other crass sinful conduct that eventually disabused me of my idealistic visions of how Christians must surely be simply because they claim Christianity as their religion.

Dang yal, today's sermon is right there! If yal don't get that....FORGET IT

 

[RDKirk]

A constant obsession over race can lead a person to unconsciously display a non-Christian personality. For example, after a church service which involved Bible study, prayer and singing hymns, the first and only thing which this sister in the faith spoke to me about was all the many things which she strongly disliked about a certain ethnic group. Weird! One would expect her mind to be on spiritual things.

I was walking a street in Kadena, Okinawa, back in the mid 80s, lost actually. I saw a storefront with a cross in the window and entered. It was a small Christian church, and the Okinawan man inside greeted me warmly. There was just enough chit-chat (which took some effort because his English was strained and my Japanese non-existent) for him to see that I was more than the usual American nominal Christian.

That began a conversation that went into dinner and into the night. We talked about the deep things of human existence--war, peace, duty, honor, justice, respect, love, hate, patriotism, reasons to live and reasons to die. And we talked about it from the viewpoint of Christ and His body. We saw perfectly eye-to-eye on everything. I pondered how so perfectly amazing it was that two people from opposite sides of the planet could agree so closely on so many things, have such similar minds.

A few months later, I was in Washington DC. I wound up in a conversation with a man who was by all common and material judgment was very much like me. But he was not a Christian, and we totally disagreed on everything.

That made me wonder seriously: Who really is my kinsman? What really is my true nation? How can this fellow--although born on the same chunk of dirt I was born on--be my kinsman and we disagree on everything significant? And how can I say he is of the same nationality? How can I say that the man in Okinawa was not my kinsman, was not a fellow citizen of the same nation?

 

[Radrook]

I was walking a street in Kadena, Okinawa, back in the mid 80s, lost actually. I saw a storefront with a cross in the window and entered. It was a small Christian church, and the Okinawan man inside greeted me warmly. There was just enough chit-chat (which took some effort because his English was strained and my Japanese non-existent) for him to see that I was more than the usual American nominal Christian.

That began a conversation that went into dinner and into the night. We talked about the deep things of human existence--war, peace, duty, honor, justice, respect, love, hate, patriotism, reasons to live and reasons to die. And we talked about it from the viewpoint of Christ and His body. We saw perfectly eye-to-eye on everything. I pondered how so perfectly amazing it was that two people from opposite sides of the planet could agree so closely on so many things, have such similar minds.

A few months later, I was in Washington DC. I wound up in a conversation with a man who was by all common and material judgment was very much like me. But he was not a Christian, and we totally disagreed on everything.

That made me wonder seriously: Who really is my kinsman? What really is my true nation? How can this fellow--although born on the same chunk of dirt I was born on--be my kinsman and we disagree on everything significant? And how can I say he is of the same nationality? How can I say that the man in Okinawa was not my kinsman, was not a fellow citizen of the same nation?

Thanks for sharing that very instructive experience. I agree, true Spiritual brotherhood involves much more than sharing a common nationality, race, or even culture. Such things are superficial and very often completely irrelevant. For example, commonality of race did not prevent the atrocities committed during WWII by people of a common race against one another. Neither did common nationality as is evident by the holocaust against German Jews. Neither is common ethnicity any guarantee against such policies since injustices within ethnic groups is also common. However, if there is a common spiritual brotherhood which is based on genuine Christian principles, then we have true unity which warrants trust. But care must always be taken that such a display is truly genuine and not merely agreement for agreement's sake as I am sure you will agree.

 

[throughfierytrial]

You are misunderstanding me.
The principles of Christianity if applied faithfully do drastically reduce the incidences of racism.
The holy spirit filled person is moved to apply those principles and is definitely not racist or even racist inclined.
The problem is that many who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior very often retain worldly characteristics and do not display the fruitage of the spirit.. In short, they are willing but their flesh is weak and it impels them to behave in unchristian ways. Why? Well,
there are many factors involved in such a phenomenon.

For example,

The way a Christian was raised.
Tendencies he might have inherited from his parents.
His emotional psychological stability.
His level of spiritual maturity.
His level of biblical knowledge and understanding.
His personal experiences in life.

Please keep in mind that Christians are not carbon copies of each other and their personalities vary wildly.
Some personalities are very Christ like.
Other Christian personalities are borderline.
Still others are permeated with so much worldliness that it is even difficult to detect Christ in their behavior.
So it al depends.

Now, if we naively expect all Christians to display the same level of spiritual maturity and knowledge and understanding, then we are in for a great disappointment that might very likely weaken or else result in the total shipwrecking of our faith. That's why the
Bible counsels us not t place our faith in mortal man but in God. Human beings who are fallible and prone to disappoint via their inconsistency which is provoked by their inherited Adamic sinful tendencies.

Please note that I speak from vast bitter personal experience where I had full confidence in Christians simply because they were Christian and the results were extremely disappointing. There was racism, materialistic discrimination, hateful gossiping, vendetta behaviors, and a host of other crass sinful conduct that eventually disabused me of my idealistic visions of how Christians must surely be simply because they claim Christianity as their religion.

Yes, I have always understood your understanding and the implications and possible shortfalls of Christianity. It stands however that we as Christians have duties and obligations to tend to and our mind should be set on that and ont so much the acts of the world. To have faith in Christ is to have faith in His Word.

 

[Basil the Great]

Wow.... the title of this thread is the million dollar question. I wish I had a good answer. God help us all....

 

[Marvin Knox]

Its evident there's tension and anger..I can even see it cross over into the forums.

I think one obvious step is to of course hear each other out and make an effort to understand each person's point of view. However, the problem with that is that things can get heated really quickly and just deter from the intended goal.

Equality is what everyone is obviously crying from their soul, from whites concerning proper news coverage when it comes to black on white crimes..or just crimes period... To blacks with simple justice concerning white on black crimes ( these are just *some* of the things I heard) ...

However to do this it would require an unbiased mind...still a start would be nice.

Serious answers..only..

No pot stirrers.

Everyone is free to have an opinion..just let it add something to the goal of the thread.

There are many things that would help and we can't all do them all.

But one thing that can be done by every American this November is to refuse to vote Democrat and continue the legacy of Barack Obama through Hillary Clinton.

And, before I'm accused by someone of just stirring the pot, I am completely serious.

The man has played a major role in setting race relations in this country back many years.

More of the same kind of rhetoric and actions concerning race, coming from the likes of Hillary Clinton, is about the last thing this country needs.

 

[Church2u2]

A constant obsession over race can lead a person to unconsciously display a non-Christian personality. For example, after a church service which involved Bible study, prayer and singing hymns, the first and only thing which this sister in the faith spoke to me about was all the many things which she strongly disliked about a certain ethnic group. Weird! One would expect her mind to be on spiritual things.

Yes and there wouldn't be any racism in church if there weren't any racist people there.Not that I'm saying the sister you spoke of is a racist. She might have had a negative experience with someone of the certain other ethnicity that caused her to dislike them.Sometimes it isn't always about racism but it could just be a negative experience some one might have had with a person of that ethnicity that caused them to hate the entire race.This may sound petty but in a lot of cases it could be true. I have experienced prejudice in church so I know it exists there just like everywhere else.

 

[Radrook]

Yes and there wouldn't be any racism in church if there weren't any racist people there.Not that I'm saying the sister you spoke of is a racist. She might have had a negative experience with someone of the certain other ethnicity that caused her to dislike them.Sometimes it isn't always about racism but it could just be a negative experience some one might have had with a person of that ethnicity that caused them to hate the entire race.This may sound petty but in a lot of cases it could be true. I have experienced prejudice in church so I know it exists there just like everywhere else.

Well, considering that I belong to the ethnic group she savagely disparaged, it came across as outright Satanic behavior. You see, I have had plenty of negative experiences, such as getting physically attacked on a public bus and on a taxi, which tends to make me feel a bit apprehensive and a bit hastily judgmental as well. That is a natural human reaction and we are hardwired that way in order to enhance our survival chances.

However, and please note that this is a very important however, I would never dare to personally approach a brother or sister immediately after a church meeting in order to personally tell him or her about the very negative opinion I have concerning his or her ethnic group. You see, that comes across as totally unnecessary, unjustifiable and maliciously cruel and totally unworthy of one who claims to be my spiritual brother or sister and a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. If indeed I felt such deep hatred, which I don't, but if I did, then I would prefer to go to a bar, or somewhere where my conduct would better fit in with the pervading devilish spirit and not bring it to a place where people are seeking and expecting solace via up-building Christian brotherly association.

BTW
The Christian thing is to judge people on an individual basis and not blame every single member of a race or an ethnic group or a religion for the things which others in that group might have done. That is the way our heavenly father evaluates us and the way he expects us to view others as well.

 

[Church2u2]

W

Well, considering that I belong to the ethnic group she savagely disparaged, it came across as outright Satanic behavior. You see, I have had plenty of negative experiences, such as getting physically attacked on a public bus and on a taxi, which tends to make me feel a bit apprehensive and a bit hastily judgmental as well. That is a natural human reaction and we are hardwired that way in order to enhance our survival chances.

However, and please note that this is a very important however, I would never dare to personally approach a brother or sister immediately after a church meeting in order to personally tell him or her about the very negative opinion I have concerning his or her ethnic group. You see, that comes across as totally unnecessary, unjustifiable and maliciously cruel and totally unworthy of one who claims to be my spiritual brother or sister and a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. If indeed I felt such deep hatred, which I don't, but if I did, then I would prefer to go to a bar, or somewhere where my conduct would better fit in with the pervading devilish spirit and not bring it to a place where people are seeking and expecting solace via up-building Christian brotherly association.

BTW
The Christian thing is to judge people on an individual basis and not blame every single member of a race or an ethnic group or a religion for the things which others in that group might have done. That is the way our heavenly father evaluates us and the way he expects us to view others as well.

Yes the Christian thing to do is not to judge people by race but it's still done. It's like this if a woman was in a bad relationship with a man she'd probably still judge other men by that bad experience until she decided to forgive him for the wrong he'd done to her.It's about learning to trust people and getting to know people and not judging them by a past negative experience or not believing the stereotypes about a certain ethnicity.I'm sorry you had to go through those things.

 

[Church2u2]

I have faith in God that things will get better.

 

[Radrook]

W

Yes the Christian thing to do is not to judge people by race but it's still done. It's like this if a woman was in a bad relationship with a man she'd probably still judge other men by that bad experience until she decided to forgive him for the wrong he'd done to her.It's about learning to trust people and getting to know people and not judging them by a past negative experience or not believing the stereotypes about a certain ethnicity.I'm sorry you had to go through those things.

Thanks for the compassionate statement. God bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

Being colorblind and cultureblind... realizing the truth that there are equal amounts of bad and good people in every race, tribe, nation, and tongue, and near the end, even every culture or belief system, that God says that his people will be of EVERY tribe, nation, tongue, and people group, and near the end, even every culture or belief system, and that the dividing line of those who accept or reject Christ and his truth, will go right down/through the middle of not only every tribe, nation, tongue and people group, and near the end, even every culture or belief system, and/but even in your very own families and among your closest dearest friends...

 

[Far Side Of the Moon]

I have faith in God that things will get better.

Me too

 

[Far Side Of the Moon]

Wow.... the title of this thread is the million dollar question. I wish I had a good answer. God help us all....

I'd like to cash in my million dollars