Roman Catholics believe that Jesus made everyone how he wanted them to be and this in turn means that every single person is equal regardless of their creed, colour, race or gender-Jesus created us all so we are all children of his, In view of the fact that in the bible it says “Every human being is made in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26).
A Roman catholic church published a report in 1965 about racism a quote from it read “The church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against people or any harassment of them on the basis of their race , colour, condition in life or religion”(Nostra Aetate, Second Vatican Council). It also mentioned about all human beings being equal and condemnation of Nazi practises during the Second World War. Jesus said when he addressed the Pharisees that there is good in all mankind no matter what the colour of their skin is, or their beliefs or their race. As the bible says, “Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone” This basically means we are all sinners and on some occasions judge people wrongly because of the colour of their skin and that no human being perfect. So Roman Catholics would have no ill feelings towards people of different races, beliefs etc. Christians and Roman Catholics alike would say Jesus always taught that God’s kingdom was open to everybody. It did not matter whether you were black, white, male or female. What mattered was how you responded to Jesus’ invitation to God’s kingdom. Jesus believes that all cultures, class, and creed should be able to live together in peace and harmony As Jesus himself was not at all worried about how other people judged him, he just did what he thought was right. So similarly Christians and Roman Catholics would not treat anyone differently.
Quakers believe that racism is wrong and that they should try to work for harmony and against prejudice. They believe that Christ died for everybody and therefore everybody should be equal. In 1989 the community relations of London yearly meeting wrote “At the deepest level of all, members of the human race are one family” This therefore means that everybody shares the same God and are all equal. The Church of Scotland is an equal opportunities employer committed to the principal of equal opportunities for all its employees without reference to gender, race, social position, political belief, age or disability. They believe that to have a society that is fundamental to the gospels picture of the kingdom of God they must oppose practises and attitudes which exclude people. The Salvation Army are apposed to any type of discrimination related to race or natural origin. They strongly believe in the biblical principal that the bible states in the quote “God made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth” (acts 17:26). Methodists believe that discrimination on the basis of racial or cultural characteristics is completely against our common humanity and the Gospel. They believe that racism leads to bitterness and violence. They have also issued this statement on racist harmony: “We affirm that racism is a direct contradiction of the gospel and Jesus”. The united reformed Church believes that all human beings are made in the image of God at the summit of Gods creation, so there are no separate species within humanity. There is only one human race!
The United Reformed Church published this picture of its views on racism
This clearly shows how the united reformed Church is totally against racism as it causes a lot of pain and misery. The Baptist Principal is Egalitarian. Baptists believe that every person is loved by God and equal before him, consequently they are apposed to all forms of prejudice and discrimination.
Liberation theology means having to use force to fight for what you believe in. It sees God as a liberator who sets people free, who stops injustice. An example of this would be if what the government is doing is wrong you should fight against it whether it be with violence or not. Black theologians argue that their people have suffered oppression at the hands of racist whites. Feminist liberation theologians lay heavy importance upon the status and liberation of women in a male-dominated society. Oscar Romero used liberation theology to transform and bring justice to El Salvador and its people. His country had extremes of poverty and wealth, he believed that the situation in El Salvador was wrong but he did not believe that he should get involved in politics. Oscar Romero’s friend spoke out against the government and he was shot-this changed Romero’s mind, he felt that by accepting the government’s views he was helping to prolong injustice. He became a leader of a powerful opposition movement that thought that Liberation Theology was the only way to achieve a democracy were everybody equal, and finally a democratic government was established in 1991. Many Christians have different views towards liberation theology, Roger Foster an evangelical Christian leader said “You cannot apply the truth of God without being political” so he believes that liberation theology is right. The Bible approves of Liberation Theology as the next quotes demonstrate, “Everyone must obey the state authorities, because no authority exists without Gods permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God”(Paul 13:1)and “If an authority is doing things that are against the teachings of Jesus then, we must obey God not men” (Peter 15:29)This is means that if the administration or ruler is doing something that goes against Jesus’ teachings and/or beliefs you must go with God, so you must fight for what you believe in, what is right, and fight against them.
In January 2003 a survey was carried out in Ireland, 2000 Roman Catholics were asked. The survey was conducted to find out the Roman Catholic view on racism.
(Sources from a Beyond racism article)
This graph shows that less than 2% of the 2000 Catholics asked were racist and that 95% of them were not. This information clearly shows that the majority of Roman Catholics do not prejudge or discriminate people of other races and believe in equality. Roman Catholics believe that if there is no distinction between Jews, gentiles, barbarians and savages there is no distinction therefore between blacks and whites. That Bible reference also means that there is therefore no difference between people of different religions. Previously to this survey the same 2000 people were asked about there view on Protestants, almost 99% of the people asked gave a negative answer about their opinion on Protestants. So this brings up the question that if Roman Catholics do not believe in racism but believe in treating everyone equal, why then do they act differently towards Protestants (people of another religion)?
One particular Christian who is famous for his work in opposing racism is the American Baptist minister, Dr Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King grew up in America in the 1950’s were the division between blacks and whites was very clear. At this time America was run by racist whites that believed they were superior to blacks, because of this the black population of America was treated immorally and unfairly. The country had showed its discrimination in broad daylight. Reading the bible Martin became strongly influenced by its pacifistic content in which Jesus taught people to ‘Love their enemies’ and not to fight back. King thought that if we believed in the saying ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ we would all be blind , this meant that if everyone fought back everyone would be worse off and no one would gain anything. In college King became more familiar with Mahatma Gandhi (who was a Hindu) and his philosophy of non-violent social protests. During discussions with followers of Gandhi he became more convinced than ever that non-violent resistance was the most powerful weapon available to the oppressed black people in their struggle for freedom. Martin Luther King was hurt and unfairly treated many times and yet he still refused to support the idea that white people were evil. Some black radicals believed this. Instead, Martin taught that Christian love was the way forward; Love was the supreme moral norm. ‘Love’ he said, ‘is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend. His convictions of course came from the Bible, Jesus’ words. He supported non-violent protest as his way forward. It had worked for Gandhi. Even when Martin received death threats and his own home was bombed he insisted that the black community must not fight back.
One of the many things that the black people were deprived of was the simple freedom to choose were to sit on a bus, having to give up your seat to a white person if there were none left. In 1955 a black lady named Rosa Parks refused to obey the city’s rules of segregation on buses and a bus boycott was launched. This is where Martin could put his beliefs into action; he took the non-violent approach and led a bus boycott. As a result of his unwavering dedication, King became known nationally as a courageous leader and as an outstanding speaker. Montgomery's buses were desegregated after the Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional, but this was only because Martins vision and leadership was holistic and ground upon the principles of non-violence. Martin soon became a hero and it brought him recognition as the head of the civil rights protest, which campaigned for equal treatment of blacks and whites. But the effectiveness in achieving his goals was limited not just by the division among blacks but by the increasing battle he got from political leaders, despite these leadership conflicts, King remained committed to the use of non-violent techniques. Noting their success in the bus boycott, King and other black ministers from the South wanted to build on the foundation they had just laid. Martin set up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to expand the non-violent struggle against racism and discrimination in the United States; this helped to advertise his non-violent campaign. Seeking to organize a protest campaign that would be successful and free from conflict with the student movement, King oversaw mass demonstrations in Birmingham, Ala., where police were notoriously racist.
In 1960 a form of non violent protest called a sit-in was introduced in which black Americans would sit in cafes and big shops that always separated blacks from whites. Martin joined in with the protests and hundreds of cafes and shops stopped separating blacks and whites but other parts of the U.S. still split up blacks from whites. So another type of passive protest was initiated, ‘the freedom rides’. During these freedom rides and marches many people were killed and injured but slowly King began to win his fight along with the black nation of America to liberate themselves from the white lead policy. Even though he was receiving many awards and honours and much recognition, Martins leadership was being challenged by the likes of Malcolm X, an advocate of Black Nationalism and "Black Power" proponent Stokely Carmichael. King and his staff were able to keep his opponents at bay long enough during 1965's march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., to achieve the Voting Rights Act of that year but later marches drew harsh criticism. Though many of the civil rights movement's budding leaders did not share King's views on non-violence he remained committed to the philosophy. In 1965 the voting rights act was passed which enabled blacks to vote as well as whites. Keeping his word he made a stand with bus boycotts, sit –ins and freedom marches which were all non-violent. Martin believed and preached that fighting back was wrong and he believed that prejudice and discrimination was ignorance.
Many people were influenced by Martin to fight non-violently as he believed and said that “violence solves no social problems it’s just a spiral of destruction, the only way to stop this chain of brutality is to stop the violence”. King once said “Jesus was an extremist, an extremist of love and goodness” this persuaded Martin that love and peace was the only way around the problem so he became an extremist and his message can be summed up in a quotation from a speech he made in 1963: “I have a dream that one day all god’s children, blacks, whites, Jews, gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the black peoples old song ‘free at last, free at last thank God almighty, we are free at last”. He took these thoughts with him to his death and he had achieved his dream-he had helped to liberate the black people of America. He had faith in the Bibles words, a quote reads “God is not partial, in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him” (Acts10:34), It meant that God does not choose from race, he chooses from who is righteous. This is one of the reasons why Martin Luther King truly believed that the Bible condemned racism and he was doing the right thing. While his views at the time seemed radical to many, Martin Luther King is remembered and respected today as a willing victim of the civil rights movement and an icon of change through non-violent means.
King was truly dedicated to liberating the black people of America with non-violent strategies, this speech he once made clearly outlines the principals in which he believed in, “I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the alters of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and non-violent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land 'and the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.' I still believe that we shall overcome." Martin meant that if the violence is ended and only if the violence is ended everything bad will be overcome. Martin did something that changed the way America viewed and treated a huge portion of its citizens who were historically faced with racist, restrictive laws as part of their daily living. He owed this to his vision and leadership which was very biblical and pacifistic. Because his tactics of protest involved non-violent passive resistance to racial injustice it was the right prescription for America. Hope in America was waning on the part of many Black Americans, but Martin Luther King provided this nation with a road map so that all people could locate and share together in the wealth of this great democracy. Martin Luther King was a drum major who was able and ready to lead a nation to greater heights through peace.
Sexism is a prejudice and discrimination against someone on the basis of gender. It is the attitude that one sex is in some way better than another-usually men are better than women. This has roots in sexual stereotyping, where women are seen solely as mothers and as the object of male sexual desire. I believe that sexism is very wrong because no were does it say that one gender has a particular superiority over another and if it did it would have no basis to do so. I think this because everybody is different; all men are different, all women are different. I think that if someone were to be sexist it would be painting all women or all men with the same brush and would be based on a generalised stereotype. I think that if people were to think that there is a difference because of sex why not say that there is a difference because of race, religion or even hair colour. I think that both men and women play a vital role in the world and so a supreme gender cannot be chosen. I think that if God was a man or a woman then there would obviously be a difference but God is neither, so this tells us that there is not a better gender. I think that the only creature that is superior to anything is God who is superior to everything. I think that although everyone one is physically different they are all spiritually the same and so must be treated exactly the same, not differently because they are a different sex. So because of these reasons I do believe ‘everyone is equal and must be treated exactly the same’.
Other people for instance Jews which say that women don’t have the right to divorce may think otherwise. Protestants also think differently because they think that as Jesus and all his disciples were men it shows that men are superior. I think that the disciples may have had the right qualities to be one of Jesus’ followers and they all just happened to men. It doesn’t say anywhere in the Bible that Men are higher or lower than women. Some people may also say that sexism is right because Adam was made before Eve, others could say it was a draft before a masterpiece- these are the things that can’t be answered, So I think that we should base our thought of sexism on the knowledge and information that we have which is that no one is the same so you cant categorize people in this sort of way. A Protestants View might be that men were made to be stronger than women, there job was always to go out and work and they earned the family money. Their view of women would be that women were there to cook, clean and give birth. A protestant would then say that this was sufficient information to say that men were the head of the house-superior to women. I would say that men to be the earner and women to be the cleaner at home is wrong way to think- I think that this is saying that the only reason for women to live is to clean and reproduce! Even if a woman’s role was to clean and give birth I don’t think that this means that she is lower than a man. I think that men and women have to work together to add to man kind so in my opinion you can’t be superior to someone if you share the same responsibilities. I think that the Bible has proof that sexism is wrong, an example of this would be in the quote “Love thy neighbour as you love yourself”- I believe this is as simple as it gets, everyone is your neighbour (whether it be man or woman)so you must love everyone and treat them all the same sp that backs up the point ‘everyone is equal and must be treated exactly the same’. But although the Bible has proof that sexism is wrong I think it contradicts itself many times for example in Deuteronomy 22:28 it says about how a man could divorce his wife but nothing about a woman who wants to divorce her husband. This is wrong, if men are equal to women why do they get the right to divorce and women don’t? The Bible also says that if a woman is raped the man who raped her must pay her father compensation -I think this clearly shows that the Bible can be sexist as it says the girl has no choice in the matter as she is her father’s property. A 16th century Protestant reformer Martin Luther declared that it was a woman’s role to ‘remain at home, sit still, and bring up the children’ he and other Protestants used the quotation Timothy 2:8-15 to justify these attitudes. The quotation Timothy 2:8 states that in church women should be silent and must not teach or have authority over men- I think this is a definite show of sexism and were the saying ‘everyone is equal and must be treated exactly the same’ is not accounted for. Protestants and other people who think that sexism is right also say that according to the book of genesis, it was the woman Eve who first introduced sin to the world-this was to show how weak women were, so the Bible itself can be the cause of injustice to women as it can say that they are lower than men.
Some Christians have a different point of view; for instance one Christian said “All men are not equal to all men. All women are not equal to all women. So how are all women supposed to be equal to all men?” this is one of the reasons that people can use to support sexism. The creation story has always been a point for discussion as many people say it shows how men and women are equal and others say how it shows that men and women aren’t equal. Genesis chapter 2 is the creation story retold for a second time. The opening two chapters of the Bible I think clearly show how God made man and women to be equal. We read there that God said "It is not good for the man to be alone." In Genesis chapter 1 the phrase "it is not good" is mentioned. It is the first ‘not good’ in the whole Bible! In Genesis chapter 1 God says the phrase "it is good" five times and "it is very good" once (1:10; 12; 18; 21; 25; 31). So to read that something is not good should make us sit up and pay attention. The thing that is not good is that the man is all alone and so God decides he will make a helper suitable for him. The word suitable tells us that Man must have a partner who is his equal. So animals were paraded before him but animals were not his equal therefore a special creation was needed. Adams equal was then made, the first woman ever to have been created. When eve was created Adam declared "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman for she was taken out of man." a suitable helper was found for the man, a woman was created who was equal in status with him. The creation story says about Eve, that she was "not made out of Eves head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved" Again I think this proves how men and women are equal, that they should be loved by one another and should be treated exactly the same. God did not decide to create another male, but in his never-ending knowledge created Eve as a partner for Adam. Eve was someone who was equal with him but different from him. Without affecting the equality in any way the Bible affirms that men and women are not the same. Interestingly it doesn’t spell out in any great detail what those differences are but nonetheless God deliberately chose to make male and female differently. So I think that the creation story in the Bible is a very good piece of evidence to approve sexism as a wrong doing and that it supports the view “everyone is equal and must be treated exactly the same”. But some people with opposing views would say that God choosing to make Adam and Eve different means that God wanted one to over power the other so it does not back up the point ‘everyone is equal and should be treated exactly the same’.
Christians do not have women priests. In the Catholic faith, it is preached that everyone should be treated equally; some people say a priest is representing Jesus so he has to be male. But Jesus was not overweight and yet many priests are. Jesus is believed to have dark hair and yet there are blonde haired priests. So it is there fore right for priest to be women, this then makes men and women equal. Men and women are indeed created equal and so are to be treated equally. Look at Galatians 3:26-29, "For through faith you are ALL children of God in Christ Jesus. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, and there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. That verse basically says we are all equal, God doesn't see a man or woman as greater or less than the other and neither does the Church. However, we are different in our roles! Each one has the same value, but a unique role. If you understand those roles, you will also understand why some things only men can do and some things only women can do. In a passage in the bible St Paul says: "Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:21-26) But he also says: "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ." And further: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her, to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of
water with the word....".That's the crucial part: They are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church. But then the question so what's left for the woman could be raised, well a Roman Catholic priest said “the role of the woman is to love and teach man what love is”. In that way, all women are crucial. Especially in a spiritual sense, Women help the men to fulfil their roles. The best example of how highly the Church thinks of women is Mary. Not only the Church, but God Himself: He elevated her above all other human beings (after Jesus), and she is a woman! Why? Because she has a very special role in God's plan. She is the Mother of God, and without her we could forget it altogether. It was through her ‘Yes’ that Jesus could be born - the Savoir. So unless we understand the different roles of men and women, we will be sexist and so will disagree with the saying ‘everyone is equal and must be treated exactly the same’. Most Christians believe that in Christ everyone is equal before God and that the bible is and isn’t sexist, in the way that the sexes are different but we are all equal. So I believe that men and women were created spiritually equal but physically different, independent and interdependent.
