Christianity and Racism
Leviticus 19:33-34:
"Do not ill-treat foreigners who are living in your land. Treat them as you would a fellow Israelite, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you where once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the lord your God"
The above passage from the Old Testament tells Christians not to discriminate against foreigners. It could therefore be interpreted as strongly anti-racist. There is a very similar quote from earlier in the bible, this describes clearly the Christian perspective on prejudice "love your neighbours as you love yourself".
Jesus is shown to be anti-racist when he says:
"I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel"
This he says of a Roman centurion and Gentile
A well-known anti-prejudice story in the Bible is that of the Good Samaritan. This tells of a man who was robbed and beaten being rescued by another man whose race should have made them enemies.
"Love the lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and love your neighbour as you love yourself"
Early Christians could however be accused of racism, Jews who converted to Christianity felt that all non-Jewish Christians should be circumcised and forced to follow the Torah, they did not want non-Jews to become Christians.
Another Biblical teaching is:
"So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free men, between men and women, you are all one in union with Christ Jesus"
This quote essentially means that if you believe in God and Jesus Christ and live according to the Ten Commandments your life will be judged on what you have done not by what your race or religion is. It also states that God will judge you on your merit not by your social status.
A similar quote is:
"There is no longer any distinction between Gentiles and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, savages, slaves and free men"
The Roman Catholic Church has many teachings on racism one of the most important of these is a declaration issued in 1965:
"The church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against people or any harassment of them on basis of their race, colour, condition in life or religion."
A final quote, which seems to encompass all Christian teachings on racism, is:
"Every human being created ...
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A similar quote is:
"There is no longer any distinction between Gentiles and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, savages, slaves and free men"
The Roman Catholic Church has many teachings on racism one of the most important of these is a declaration issued in 1965:
"The church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against people or any harassment of them on basis of their race, colour, condition in life or religion."
A final quote, which seems to encompass all Christian teachings on racism, is:
"Every human being created in the image of God is a person for who Christ died. Racism, which is the use of a person's racial origin to determine their value, is an assault on Christ's values and a rejection of his sacrifice."
World Council of Churches 1980
Nelson Mandela
Born on the 18th of July in 1918, he joined the African national congress in 1942,became the secretary of the ANCYL in 1948 and its president in 1950. He also eventually became ANC president in 1991
He studied for a BA degree at fort Hare and was expelled when he participated in a student strike.
He was elected national volunteer in chief of the 1952 defiance campaign and organised resistance to prejudiced legislation.
In 1952 he jointly opened the first black run legal firm in the country and a petition by the Transvaal law society to deny him the right to be an attorney was turned down by the Supreme Court.
In 1962 Mandela was arrested on his return to the country from abroad. He was arrested for leaving the country illegally and for incitement to strike. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in November 1962. Whilst serving his sentence, he was charged and convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Shortly after his release on Sunday 11 February 1990, Mandela and his delegation agreed to the end of violent struggle.
Nelson Mandela has received honorary degrees from more than 50 international universities and is the chancellor of the University of the North.
On the 10th of May 1994 he became the first democratically elected State President of South Africa.
Through out his life Nelson Mandela has campaigned to end the racist regime in South Africa, but he has also campaign for the crimes committed against blacks during the apartheid to be pardoned, as he believes that people should look forward and not back. He does not wish to see either a black or a white superiority, he says that:
"I have carried the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity... if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die"
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929. He is one of the best-known advocates of non-violent struggle against racism and oppression. King was born into a religious society, his grandfather was Rev. A. D. Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church and a founder of Atlanta's NAACP.
On December the 1st 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a black person five days later King was elected as president of the Montgomery Improvement Association and led black residents to launch a bus boycott. Because of his actions King gained national recognition as an exceptional speaker with great personal courage. He was eventually convicted for attempting to interfere with the bus company's operations. However because of Kings and other peoples actions the Montgomery buses were desegregated, after the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional.
In 1963, he and his followers held mass demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, where local white police officials were known for their prejudice attitudes. It was of such importance that it made newspaper headlines around the world, and highlighted the struggle against In June, President Kennedy reacted to the Birmingham protests by agreeing to submit broad civil rights legislation to Congress Demonstrators in many communities came together on August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 protesters where present when King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their characters"
This is a sentiment which many Christians, past and in the present share and wish for it to come true.
The crusades
A crusade can also be called a "holy war". It was thought that God had instructed the Israelites to fight, and that he was the commander of their army. The main crusades took place in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries with the aim to recover the holy land from the Muslim "infidels". It was also taught at the time that cities captured by the crusaders should be burnt to the ground and their inhabitants slaughtered. The crusades have relevance to racism in that many where centred on removing "infidels" (Muslims and Jews) from holy areas.
My opinion is undecided when it comes to reacting to racism with violence. In general I believe that violence can in specific circumstances be the only option I think that in should definitely only be considered when all other options have been attempted and failed. My other personal view is that violence rarely ever achieves anything except in self-defence. It will make people less willing to co-operate peacefully, it will make people fear others and fear leads to hatred.
I cannot see that violence would in this circumstance achieve anything and therefore I would probably be apposed to its use.
It could however be considered a "just" response if the crime was comparable with the reaction. For example I personally believe that in some cases the death penalty is justified.
Amnesty international is a world wide organisation set up to campaign for human rights and issues like ending racism, sexism etc. Amnesty campaigns with out violence by means of letters, faxes and now emails. They would not feel that violence is an appropriate response to any crime.
