Adapted from a
sermon by
Reverend Dr Cynthia Alloway
Pastor of the
Presbyterian Church of the Roses, July 5, 2015
Speak Up!
How
do we know when God is speaking with us? The most powerful message from the
Bible is love. And when you speak
words of love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing, you are speaking the
words of God.
Second,
when you are striving to accomplish what the prophet Micah said when he commanded
us to promote justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, then you are carrying
out the intention of God.
Third,
when you are helping the oppressed, protecting the vulnerable, serving the
poor, and showing hospitality to the outcast, giving food to the hungry,
clothes to the naked, and water to the thirsty, and loving your neighbor—you
are doing the work of God.
In
contrast, when the demons of hate, discrimination, racism, and violence possess
people, so that they become irrational and shoot innocent Bible study group
members, or set fire to churches, it is not the time to remain silent. In the
face of evil, it is important to speak up and stand beside the oppressed, to
show a holy force of LOVE in the wake of hate. We are not called to sit back
quietly, but to confront the oppressor, to stand beside the victims, and to
work to prevent this type of violence from ever happening again, anywhere.
Why?
Because it is your family that is being killed and abused! These are your people
because we all have the same mother. In human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve
is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of us all. She is estimated
to have lived approximately 200,000 years ago, and she represents the woman
from whom all living humans today descend. All
mitochondrial DNA in every living person is directly descended from hers.
And
our Mother Eve is from the continent of Africa. We are all connected to Africans through our DNA. Now a quick
reminder about why there is a diversity of colors in our human skin. Dark skin
has more melanin, which is a natural sun screen. If you could choose to have
the most resilient skin, you should choose the skin with lots of melanin,
because it protects from the sun’s rays and skin cancer.
We don’t all have dark skin anymore
because as humans migrated out of Africa and up to the Northern less sunny regions,
they needed to absorb more Vitamin D from the sun. So humans adapted with
whiter skin to help absorb vitamin D. Yet, some people don’t recognize the
inherent advantage of having more melanin. Instead they have arbitrarily
decided that darker skin is inferior. This racist attitude is the root cause of
massacres like the one in Charleston and the recent burning of eight churches in the South.
Nine victims of the Charleston AME church bible study massacre
So
why are people still racist to the point of violence in this country when we
know biological differences are related to minor biological adaptation? One
reason is a lack of education or just plain ignorance. There is not enough
science education about ethnic diversity. The confederate flag wavers did not
learn that we are all related to each other as one global human family and that
there is no such thing as a superior race.
When
people feel powerless, they often look for someone to blame. At times when they
feel insecure and unhappy in themselves, they look for someone vulnerable to
pick on in order to get a momentary feeling of power and superiority. They become
classic bullies. Put a bunch of bullies in white robes and you have the Ku Klux
Klan who publicly gathered at the South Carolina statehouse after the
confederate flag was recently taken down. After that meeting, churches began to
burn.
Prejudice
and racism have caused enormous suffering across history. Prejudice and racism
both refer to a negative view of one group of people based solely on their
membership in that group. In reality, “race” is merely a social construct. It was used to
categorize people in the early part of the 17th century to rationalize
slavery in this country. At that time they did not know the results of a DNA
survey by Dr. Marcus Feldman of Stanford University that showed all humans are
99.9 percent genetically identical. (see: http://stem-works.com/external/article/859)
This finding
gives us hope for the future! We should educate one another and make our world
better by making friends with people of other ethnic groups. Positive emotional
experiences with members of different groups reduces negative stereotypes.
Having close friends from different groups builds our awareness of what it is
like to walk a mile in their shoes.
As
disciples of Christ, you have a big job to do and limited time to do it! Challenge evil, stand alongside
victims, advocate for equal rights for those who are oppressed or bullied no
matter what the reason. Maybe they are oppressed due to their skin color, or
their sexual orientation, or because they are disabled.
Your job as members
of the people of God is to welcome, promote healing, and help provide justice
for all people—even the least of these. Can you do your job? Remember the words of Martin Luther King
junior: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Speak
up!
