The Oxford Languages dictionary defines racism as, “Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.” In its very definition, one can find a solution to racism. One race is never superior to another. All men, women and children are created equal.
The Bible reminds us that there is, “One God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all”
(Eph. 4:6, NLT). One child of God is never more important than another child of God. One child of God is never superior to another. One child is as worthy of respect, love, and honor as another.
Let us honor the child of God in our neighbor regardless of their skin color! Let us see a child of God in everyone. Let’s us never look down on our neighbor because they are physically different than we are. Let us search for the child of God in others that is our equal.
A white male born in a mansion is not more special than a black male raised in a ghetto. Each are equally loved and valued by God. Each has the same spiritual potential for greatness. Each are worthy of support and success.
Reform will happen over time, but the sooner popular thought is educated with the truth about our common standing, the faster progress will occur.
Let us educate our children to know the truth about their neighbor, that regardless of their skin color, they are equal. Let us examine our thoughts with honesty and see if there is any prejudice being harbored that needs to be admitted and corrected. Let us be willing to talk with our neighbor about the importance of seeing each other as equals.
Jesus Christ gave us a rule for healing when he said, “Know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). As we collectively know, talk, speak and share the truth with each other around the world, that all men, women and children are created equal under one Father-Mother, God, this truth will take hold, and racism will disappear.
Thanks for this Evan. My experience is that when young children play together, they see people, pure and simple. The bible also says, “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God”. We are ALL the children of God. Thanks to everyone for sharing.
(Luke 18:16)
“AMEN”, Rick of Sunderland!
Our Father. Not mine or yours. But Ours together, which is ‘We are not divided, All one body we’ hymn 264
I believe you I have never read of mother God. There is only one true God. Mother would make 2. Right? I believe in the one true God the creator of the heaven and earth and all that is in it, and above. Thanks that bless you
Since God is Love Life Truth Soul Spirit Principal Mind, None of these beautiful and great qualities have any gender. Father-Mother God! One God
Oh, how we as a world, need to awaken to the truths of this treatment. Thank you ever so much, Evan.
Thank you so much for again addressing this important subject, Evan. What wonderful points you make! Thank you. I appreciate your points about talking with children and others, about the importance of respecting one another as equal. As we discuss our values, we help to make them clear. Christ Jesus taught us that our highest priority must be to love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves. And so, we must truly express love, thank God for His creation, and value all children of God as equally worthy of love and honor. I am humbled by Jesus’ teachings, and know that I have much to learn in order to be as good as I want to be. I’m sure that I have a way to go, to see others as Jesus saw, perfect. But I am so grateful for you and others who speak out about the baselessness of considering race as a reason to be less than loving, respectful, forgiving, kind, and brotherly.
Thank you yet again Evan. Straight to the point!
For me, Hymn 601 is very clear and uncomplicated in expressing where our path will take us;
With one accord in one place,
With joyful praise of Gods grace,
We join together in one Divine embrace.
A rushing mighty Spirit descends from heaven, hear it
I have touched your heart, and made whole your heart
Now, go walk in my light
ALL can hear of it, hearts revealing it, gently moved by your might.
Of ONE accord, of One Mind
Our healing mission we find
We pray together our lives in worship bind.
The comforter is with us, it’s presence here assures us
I am guiding you and uniting you through the Love of Gods son
I am blessing you, I am healing you,
I am making you one!
Thank you for pointing out this hymn. It is new to me from the new hymnal.
I like to keep in mind this piece from Science and Health page 340:
“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.”
Thank you once again, Evan, for your timely comments.
Thank you David for this clear passage from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy. That says it all☆☆☆
I am so grateful for this supportive and strengthening SpiritView community; for Evan’s alert and attuned initiating theme each day. We are healing as we unite in prayer: One God, One Mind, harmonizing the world with Love.
Amen. I receive the electronic version of The CS Monitor and it is shocking to me that so many folks who respond to its articles are clearly racist. When I have responded as you suggested they do not respond. I don’t know if they are CS or not, but it is disheartening to think that those who are CS would overlook all that the Bible teaches us and MBE’s writings teach us, that it is error that must be routed out and clearly seen for the nothingness that it is.
Dear Fatimah,
I am so very sorry to hear your comment about racist comments to the CSM articles. The majority of subscribers are not CS, however I’m sure many of those comments were from CS’s. They must live in a bubble and do not hv many friends of color. To mortal sense some of these puzzling incongruities will never make sense. The Monitor’s mission is ” to injure no man but to bless all mankind.” Love, Truth and justice will eventually win. Christian Scientists should be the most loving, caring and inclusive people on the planet. We certainly have the resources. It takes humility to realize one’s errors. Mrs. Eddy speaks a lot about self-examination. The article “Ways that are Vain” in the First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany pg 210 addresses this. In part it says “This mistaken way, of hiding sin in order to maintain harmony, has licensed evil…All that error asks is to be left alone”, p 211. And on p 213, “Be ever on guard against this enemy. Watch your thoughts and see whether they lead you to God and into harmony with His true followers.” God, Christ and Christian Science is on the side of justice and equality for all.
“We shall overcome…” Please don’t despair!
Sending love…
Thank you for your comments. Fatima and Cathryn.I too have been dismayed at some Christian Scientist’s comments that seem to excuse racism or play it down. I love the quote” All that error asks is to be left alone.” The peaceful protests are a sign of people standing up to error and changes are finally coming. The turmoil in the world is the stirring up of error to come to the surface to be seen an healed. This is a sign of progress. I thank Evan for his wonderful comments of Truth that we all are the children of God.
Rick makes such a good point of children playing with each other.. innocence meets innocence..
But something happens as we grow and take on false beliefs about ourselves and others..
We need to re-examine. In her article The Way (Mis355) Mrs Eddy says “mortal mind must pass through three stages of growth.” The first is “sel-knowledge” the second “humility” and the third is “manifested in love”.
My sense is we need to do this work to restore our innocence so we to can be that child that sees the good in all..
Then we too can work together, play together and live together in our original innocence..
The thought came to me that as a reflection of God in Soul that we are all crystal state like a prism reflecting every color possible in the universe. It is our thoughts and actions that give us our hue and that hue can instantly return to its pure state when we drop whatever mortal thought or act unlike that original state which is our true being in the divine life. Looking at the outward appearance of our being can be beautiful in the many arrangements that reflect that central origin but that is only the surface of the mighty things reflect from within. Love can sparkle and dance in the sunlight of truth and give warmth and acceptance to the needy human heart.
Thank you Evan and all for your post and contribution in this thought that governs all.
Well described Josef, prism is the simplest, clearest symbol, of how light from God shines through us. TY
The Daily Lift today reflects on “Nothing is either good or bad, but Thinking makes it so”. I believe here in the US, much progress has been made along the lines of racism, with the election of a two term president, mayors, congresspersons, police chiefs, officers, business, tv, sports persons, celebrities. Is there more to be done in realizing equality? Of course. Humankind is a work in progress. I have a long time friend who considers herself “darker complexioned”. I happen to have been brought into this world with lighter complexion, but that does not make us any different as children of God. In Truth, like flowers in a garden, with varying hues and colors, we are all unique individuals, blending like in a chorus of harmony, all expressions, reflections of our Creator, no matter what we have been blessed with in our outward appearance… all equal in the mosaic of belonging.
Carol, Until a year ago, I was getting a degree in Black Studies. Unfortunately, I had to take a break from it due to me being the only white woman in my classes, and at times, called out for my whiteness. I was blessed to be raised (mainly) by the most lovin’ woman ever, a black woman, Ms.Anna. I want to give back in some way, and continue to listen. There are MANY EXCELLENT BOOKS: You may also find most of them on Audio –Or find discussions on You Tube of the authors: Recent is B. Stevenson’s connecting lynching to the death of Alfred Floyd.
A DIFFERENT MIRROR by Ronald Takaki, THIS STOPS TODAY -ERIC GARNER’S MOTHER SEEKS JUSTICE AFTER LOSING HER SON, by Gwen Carr, ONE PERSON, NO VOTE – How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy by CAROL ANDERSON, MASS INCARCERATION IN AN AGE OF COLOR BLINDNESS by MICHELLE ALEXANDER, WHITE FRAGILITY By ROBIN DiAngelo, JUST MERCY BY BRYAN STEVENSON, CHOKE HOLD by PAUL BUTLER…Just Pick !
OUR CULTURE MUST AMPLIFY BLACK VOICES. To educate yourself is a beginning.
Thank you Evan and all. I loved the way Evan brought out that racism is based on one person thinking they are superior to another. It made me realize that the error of “superiority” can manifest itself in “hate” not only in terms of race, but also in politics, social standing, fashion/beauty/style, education, etc., etc., etc. Below is a link to a Sentinel article I found on the subject of superiority that I’d like to share to provide even more food for thought..
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/pwz34swqnc?s=e
I was thinking along those same lines Brian. Thankyou for stating it so clearly and for the link to the article. Thanks Evan and everyone for this blog. Much Love to you all.
Evan,
I like your post and if we see it from the point of view of “A white man born in a mansion is equal to a black man born in the ghetto” it is easy to accept “equality” because in that example, we feel higher if we are white because we have been put in the higher example in the example. But, what about a women who has a job that makes 10 times what her husband makes – her husband is equal to her too because he is a child of God. What is the comfort level now if you are male? Or, what about a POC (person of color) who grew up in a mansion as equal to a white male that grew up in a trailer park? Or, what if I owned a car that cost more than what a white male makes in 5-6 years of working? I might feel just fine and that all were equal but “he” might not feel so equal and his identity may take a hit from that “material” fact. Just an example but how does it make you feel? Do you still feel equal to others when those material facts are presented in the other direction? Just something to think about. Can we still maintain the facts of God’s creation if we feel materially lower? Probably not. Thus we see how a material view of things could still be present and governing us instead of the spiritual which would set us free from valuing us based on matter. This pertains not just to wealth but for anything which could tempt us to feel different from society’s norm – gender, race, perceived disease, perceived disability, or feeling like we do not fit into a nicely defined category that society defines for us. God has made us equal, yes, regardless of what society defines. But have we really reached that level if we are feeling very comfortable about how society has defined us? True freedom comes when we feel comfortable when society defines us in a negative way and we still know we are God’s child because we understand “matter” isn’t very intelligent. 🙂
I was thinking my way through this and continue to wonder, maybe naively so if it really was a race issue. You have one person going into a store and breaking the law with a history of criminal behavior, possibly under the influence of drugs and another person … I have no idea actually, and I make no excuses for his behavior. I so appreciate CS’s work to uncover the Truth. These are simply thoughts as it can all be very overwhelming.
Amen. Thank you so much for addressing this important topic so directly. We must see each person as God’s divine idea and look for God’s qualities.
Decades ago when i began my teaching career in a 6th grade class with mixed races i used some teacing ideas offered by Ford Motors to lessen racism. For a few days i would tell the kids with brown eyes they could line up for lunch first. Next the blue eyed kids could go. But kids with any other color of eyes had to go last. This was done for recess dismissal too. A few kids, and then more, grumbled that brown eyes shouldn’t always be first and other colors should not always be last. It didn’tmake sense.. After a few days we discussed whether eye color should really be a basis of priveleges. You guessed it, we then discussed whether skin color should make people better or worse than each other. For my class, it was a great way to begin practicing good treatment for all.
As an elementary school teacher,Jane Elliot started Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes Education the day after Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Her teaching is in demand all over the world. Possibly you know Jane, Soaring Dove. Jane was almost fired for teaching anti-discrimination and there was tremendous backlash from the parents, to have her fired. YouTube: BrownEyes, BlueEyes
Thank you Evan, as always you pull so many right-thinking ideas together on this subject. I have to say however, that you there is one sentence that may be interpreted as stereotyping our racial situations. The sentence could also have read: “A black male born in a mansion is not more special than a white male raised in a ghetto.”
RESPECT is a very big word . Through our teachings in Christian Science let us help everyone to LOVE and RESPECT themselves . GOD is LOVE , There is no color in LOVE .
There would be no unhappiness in this world if not for comparison.
Remember when you point a finger at anyone, there’s three pointing back to you!
Axioms of some outside of the Science of Christianity. But applicable.
When those who are Christian’s comment in anyway supporting bigotry or hate, because of any difference physically, they haven’t been listening for His voice. I have heard them and say, what would Jesus have said about that?
That they should blush next time they go to worship God and give thanks for the “Prince of Peace”.
Divine Love, Good, Guides, Guards, and Governs.
Dear Evan, can’t thank you enough for your loving and simple to understand spiritual view on important daily events.
For God there is no racism but rather His precious creation in so nice various shades and colors. I love them all and they are so lovely and beautiful, expressing all God’s qualities in several forms – thank you dear God, for it!
I understand all that to be the “compound idea man”, as Mrs. Eddy writes in SH under the toppic “what is man”. Am grateful for Christian Science. ♡
Thank you, Evan and all. Of course, at the base of racism is FEAR—-fear of the unfamiliar or different, fear that we ourselves might not be as special as we want to think we are, or that we might lose our individuality if blended in with other races/religions/colors. But God still sees us as perfect, individual expressions. We must help racist thinking lose that fear.
Spiritual beings don’t have divisive colour! Qualities of thought
Are what defines man or woman……..humility, joy,right activity
Cannot be suppressed. The moon reflects the sun. The sun is the
Source of light but. moon ,as reflection still enlightens the night.
This is to me a good symbol of mans relation to God…regardless
Of race. Helps when understanding this problem in society.
https://thebiblespeakstoyou.com/035-teach-me-to-love-healing-racism/
The above podcast is especially helpful at this time. It reminds us to love with the love that reflects God’s love, divine Love Itself.
I was just pondering this when someone said something to me that made me feel a negative reaction coming on… then I thought, “no…forgiveness needed here, for this is part of Love.” This I did, and felt my peace return.
It is perhaps simpler than we may realize.
Error is complex, yes, but Truth is Simple…pure…
And… the Only Real!
Sue