Christian solidarity seeks racial harmony, justice for individuals, equality of opportunity, and respect for all persons because they are made in the image of God.
Racial harmony occurs when we recognize our essential sameness. The human race is the only race. The differences in hair, eye, and skin color are only genetic traits and have nothing to do with humanity. From a Biblical perspective, humanity is universally fallen because of the failures of our common ancestor Adam (see Romans 5:12-14). This has affected every aspect of all human beings.
Harmony is further found in those who believe in Christ because of our adoption into a new family—the family of God. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17). We are saved from the death that Adam brought into this world through rebirth into God’s family: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Therefore, Christians have a higher identity than our worldly nationality. Truly, we are dual citizens of heaven and earth at the same time, but our ultimate loyalty is to the Kingdom of God.
That is why the emperors of Rome killed our ancestors. We would not recognize Caesar as the highest authority. The worshipful phrase “Jesus Christ is Lord” became an act of sedition. People of every nation, tribe, and tongue were thrown to lions, lit on fire, or murdered in other equally creative ways because of their confession of Christ.
We are a multi-cultural, multi-lingual family; but, we are a real family. The more I personally identify with the reality that God has transformed me to the very core, the more solidarity I will experience with those who have also been transformed by the saving power of God, regardless of differences in surface traits (see Ephesians 2:1-10).
Contrast all this with Marxist ideology. Marxism seeks to divide people in as many ways as possible so that there will be revolution. Men versus women, rich versus poor, black versus white, or whatever other distinction can be made to divide people. Then these distinctions of race, class, and gender are transformed into one’s identity. Those who follow this theory of identity typically believe that these distinctions create an almost impenetrable barrier of misunderstanding.
This means that identity is a function of which group you belong to, not a function of who you are as an individual. In current Marxist philosophy, I cannot escape the point of view that comes from being in whatever race, class, gender groups I find myself. As a white male, I am inseparably part of the patriarchy and if I am damaged as an individual as other groups who have been historically treated unjustly, that is just too bad for me. Social justice for groups is more important in Marxist ideology that whether one individual gets trampled now and then.
Social justice is an attempt to secure justice for groups of people rather than for individuals, which stands in utter contrast to both historical Western thought and Christianity, its forbear. It seeks to create an absolute equality for everyone, even if that means everyone is equally poor and miserable. European reform movements sought to bring the aristocracy down to the common level so that they could all be the same. The English, but especially American, tradition sought to do the opposite. It sought to elevate even the most common to the same status as the aristocracy by recognizing individual rights. In a Christian worldview, rights are not observed because one belongs to a certain social group, but because of the inherent value of the human being who is made in the image of God. Justice is universally applicable to all persons, regardless of class, gender, or race.
That is not to say that injustice cannot be institutionalized, because it obviously has been with slavery being the most notable example, but it occurs wherever one group of people dehumanize (or deindividualize) another group.
The solution is still to guarantee life, liberty, and property to individuals, because to do otherwise means that the rights of groups must trump the rights of individuals, which is how the original injustice was created in the first place. Take one look at the history of the Soviet Socialist Republic and you will see that the subordination of the individual to the all-important needs of the State created the most twisted human rights abuses ever known. The same could be said for Maoist China and Nazi Germany—the common denominator is their ideology can be traced to Marx.
Marxist ideology does not protect individuals. It creates injustice by vengeance. If there is an undervalued group in society, Marxism exploits that rift by enflaming the underdog with revolution. It says we must destroy the oppressor. No individual belonging to the oppressor group can possibly be innocent because they were born into a different race, class, or gender.
Ernest Hemingway was a socialist himself, perhaps not red, but certainly pink. His novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is sympathetic to the Spanish Communist movement. But even he notes that injustice was done when the communists began killing off those in society they determined were the “haves.” Some of the good townspeople and shopkeepers were slaughtered because they were members of a higher class. Hemingway seemed to be torn by this injustice, but the characters in the book felt is was necessary to make their revolution pure.
The reality is that wherever Marxism is believed, injustice certainly follows. This is an intolerable evil. As the venerable Thomas Sowell once remarked, “The grand fallacy of the political left is that evil is localized in some set of ‘oppressors’ from whom we can be ‘liberated.’ That is also its great attraction, for it allows people to attribute their dissatisfactions to other people.” Unfortunately, an ideology built on theft and revenge will always produce murder and injustice.
Are we doomed then? Is there any alternative? Yes! The Bible teaches personal responsibility, value, and equal protection of individuals. Justice is secured for every individual regardless of whatever group he or she may be perceived to belong to. This is the great idea behind Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird. Even though Tom Robinson was a poor, black field hand, he deserved justice because he was a human being, made in the image of God. Atticus Finch was honor bound to protect him because injustice to Tom was injustice to us all.
To be sure, injustice can be institutionalized and the world has never been without ready examples at hand. Nevertheless, we combat institutionalized injustice by guaranteeing justice for individuals, not groups. Furthermore, we cannot provide equality of results, only equality of opportunity. Imagine how powerful the State must become to guarantee equality of results? This is exactly the legacy of the USSR and all of the civil rights abuses—millions dead, enormous human tragedy, and people enslaved for nearly a century. Open your eyes, America; this horror-show is knocking at our door.
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