This world is clearly broken.
By this I mean the conservative Evangelical worldview that I was raised in. How did we come so far from the message of the Gospel? Do we even care? The message of love for the other falls on deaf ears. Instead I see all over social media hate intentionally and unintentionally being blasted at the other. Jesus came to redeem the unworthy, love the unlovable, and set creation back on a path that leads to God, a path of LOVE.
What does any of this have to do with Confederate statues, white supremacists, BLM? It has everything to do with all of them. When we fail to love the other, we fail to love like Jesus. White Supremacy at its core has no room for love of the other. The message aspouced by neo-nazis and the KKK runs in direct objection to the message of Jesus. The message of the Cross. The message of LOVE. The message of these groups has no place in Christianity. The message in pulpits across the country should be denouncing this demonic, evil, belief. God created man in His image, giving infinite value to each and everyone of us including the other. There is no Jew or Greek in the kingdom of God.
Confederate statues by themselves are not bad, they are not evil. However, a large portion of our population look at them and are reminded of the hate for their ancestors. They are reminded of the hate for their grandparents and parents during the Civil Rights movement and segregation a time when they were told they were not equal. They are reminded of slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow, separate but equal, even when we those things were not equal. They are reminded of systemic racism in this country going back to the days it was founded. When a large portion of our population look at this statues they see a hatred of the other. No one is trying to rewrite history. These people are keenly aware of the History of hate towards them and their ancestors, that is not a thing that is easily forgotten. They do not see love, they do not see Jesus, they do not see the Cross, they see hate when they look at these statues. Would not the loving Christian thing be to simply remove them?
I wish I could rewrite history so these people would have never suffered at the hands of my ancestors. Is that such a bad thing? For those who say, if we do not remember history we are doomed to repeat it, I have this to say to you. If racism, more specifically systemic racism was not allowed to exist in our Christian worldview there would be no fear of repeating the mistakes of the past. If we viewed the other with Christ like love this is not an issue. The only way this is an issue is if we continue to allow racism to exist in the world. So I say to every civil authority where under your control one of these statues stand, remove them. Is your attachment so great that you can not see how the other feels? Can you not see how removing them is the better way to show love, to show unity?
BLM? Where is the problem with this movement? I honestly do not see it. The people behind BLM are not saying that only black lives matter, they are saying black lives matter also. It is well established that from the foundation of this country that white lives matter. No one is saying blue lives do not matter or that all lives do not matter. What they are saying is that since the foundation of this country that seemingly black lives do not matter. Slavery taught them that, segregation taught them that, systemic racism taught them that, unarmed black men being shot by the police taught them that, your response to these things taught them that. The other in this country is hurting, feels unloved, feels unvalued, feels hate from the rest of us. Show them love, show them how you value them, show them that to you they matter. Stand with BLM, change how society views and treats them. In doing so you may finally show the other the radical love of Jesus you profess to know, profess to believe in.
Society is broken and it is our fault. When we profess this nation to be a Christian nation but show no love for the other, we so it in the face of God who sent Jesus to die for each and every one us. When we show no love for the other we proclaim to the world that the message of the Cross does not mean anything.
Behind The Keyhole 
You present a well-stated argument that I agree with. I experienced a racial bias situation recently. A young black woman perceived me as treating her “differently.” Truth is, I was treating her with an extra effort to show her that I respect and admire her and that I desired her friendship. As I looked into her eyes and saw the genuine hurt, the anguish, that my good intentions were responsible for… I apologized and sought forgiveness. An onlooker later said to me,”You are her friend and you did nothing wrong. You don’t owe her an apology.” …. but I did owe it… for all the reasons you give in this blog post. Because she are and are first of all, sisters in Jesus Christ. There should be harmony among God’s people. Anyway, since that moment in my life I have learned and grown and am still growing in this. I would NEVER fly a Confederate flag just to make a point of supporting history because it is a symbol of those who caught to maintain slavery. — I am a convert to my “new” way of thinking and I’m grateful that the Lord opened my eyes to the truth of what was unintentionally happening in my heart and coming out in my actions. I know if I had a confederate statue in my home and was planning to host a person of black ancestry, I would remove the statue. That being the case– these symbols have no place in America. They really don’t. So many times people hang onto the past simply because they follow a movement. People – indeed people of faith – should seek God’s Will on this and act accordingly. THAT would change our world.
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Thank you for your willingness to share your experiences and highlighting how God’s love is greater than anything else.
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