Over the last few days I have watched the news with absolute horror, and with devastation in my heart. I have seen a man die while a police officer knelt on him. I have seen people mown down by cars, trampled on, tear-gassed and shot at. I have seen bravery and compassion, anger and despair.
And I have watched as white people, white Christians, have tried to justify the police brutality, have tried to say that George Floyd’s treatment was acceptable, have tried to portray protesters as terrorists. And I have been deafened by the silence from many others.
I have heard many attempts at justification for racism over the years. All awful, all hateful, all despicable. All are baseless. The quote at the top of this page is from Genesis 1 v27. This makes it absolutely clear that humanity, not just some parts of humanity, but all humanity has been created in God’s image. Some Christians believe in the literal six days of creation; some Christians accept the theory of the big bang, and evolution (I’m in the latter category), but it really doesn’t matter which camp you’re in, if you believe that God is the creator. Because that means that God created us, all of us. And whatever we have done to this planet and to each other since that moment, when God created it, it was good.
When we deny justice to black people, or any people, we are denying their humanity. When we deny human rights to people, we are denying their humanity. When we deny their humanity, we are denying God – for what can exist if God did not create it?
There is one source for all life. One Creator and one creation. The Bible does not tell us that God created white people, and then at some other point God created some more people. All humanity was created at the same time and God said that it was good.
When we stand by and allow black people, or Jewish people, or Asian people (need I go on) to be persecuted, or murdered or in any way to be treated worse than we would want for ourselves, we are failing. We are failing as human beings and we are failing as Christians.
The psalmist tells us (Psalm 139) that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Jesus told us to “love one another” (John 15). Scripture was written down by many different people. We don’t know all of them, but I can say categorically that not one was British and not one was American. Many were Jewish, some were Greek, some were Middle Eastern. Jesus was not white.
We have no claim to superiority. We have no right to dominance. We have no monopoly on goodness. Far from it. We have failed, and failed, and failed again. May God forgive us.
I am angry and I am in pain. I want to add my voice to the many others saying Black Lives Matter. Because they do. Because God tells me that they do and because God is grieving at the injustice we are heaping on to people who have suffered too much at our hands. May God have mercy on our souls.
God, Life and Me 