Christianity and racism

[king of fools]

I need to vent and think though a situation.

I am familar with a PCA elder who I have heard make racist statements about non-whites and other ethnic groups a while ago. These were made on more than one occasion, in sort of a "guy's time" hangout. But, now that I think about it again, it's quite disturbing. If he really believes what he says, then he ought to be examined by the church as a whole. I no longer see or communicate with this individual, but it's started to sink in now a bit.

He goes to an all-white PCA church, which I'm certain that there is nothing wrong with, but that could help propagate his thinking. Fortunately, my church has a fair mix of different "people groups" and no one feels excluded on terms of the color of their skin. At least I hope not.

Anyhow, just venting. Thinking if I should find him and confront him on this or not. It's been a while.

 

[alwaysreforming]

It might be worthwhile, if you could find a way to contact him, to ask him if he is indeed prejudiced towards other races. If you can ferret the truth out of him, then you could confront him on it; if he denies it, then you could ask him to explain his earlier comments in light of his denial.

If he is harboring racist sentiments, it is a VERY serious issue in my opinion. But I think we need to discover whether its truly "racism" or maybe just stereotyping. If he feels that his race is superior, or that others are inferior just because they belong to a certain race class, then that should be dealt with as a sin that needs true repentence.

In my opinion, it is less serious if it was stereotyping in the sense that he might make a comment about certain races being more prone to belong to a charasmatic church or something like that. (Not that I agree with that)
Or about sports, etc. Sometimes we might make some "legitimate" observations on some distinctions between different races, but this should be in a complementary manner about talents, gifts, endowments, etc. and not in an unloving, racist, bitter way.

If it was stereotyping, then maybe he should be "cautioned" but if it was racism, then he should be disciplined.
:wr50:

 

[Ianterrell]

Yeah that sounds like something to check up on!

 

[Irishcat922]

Steve,
Maybe you should confront him on it, I mean let him know how offended you were by what he said, then if he does not deal with it go to his session, and ask them for advise on the matter. that's my:wr50:

 

[Mary]

Steve,

This is a serious thing. I think Always Reforming made an excellent point about racism vs. stereotyping. I have the (fairly) unique point of view of growing up white in a black city, and so I hear the kinds of comments that whites make (all too often) with a different set of ears than most other white people. I am often shocked at some of the things people say, but because I know them, I know they would never consider themselves racist. It would hurt them deeply to be called racist, too. It's mostly just ignorance. For example, I work in an office with mostly black men (I mean that the office is about 80% black men, 10% black women, 10% white men, and me.) I have been asked by people whether I'm scared to be in the office alone with the black men. And my first thought was "how ridiculous," but then I realized that the person was genuinely worried about me, and was basing their opinion completely on the evening news, not any actual interaction with blacks.

These kinds of situations are our chance to stand for Good. Saying nothing is tatamount to agreement. The difficulty becomes handling it in a way which doesn't just let the person know YOU didn't like it, but that his behavior is unBiblical. At the same time, you don't want to back that person into a corner so that the only way they can keep their dignity is by attacking you. It's a fine line, because it can be hard to be respectful to someone who has just lost your respect.

I think I'll get off the soapbox now. One more thing though. The fact that he attends an all-white church doesn't necessarily mean anything. The church experience in this country is usually fairly segregated, but there is a long tradition of that and it goes further than white vs. black. It works out ethnically too, at least in many denoms.

Mary :wr50:

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Just a thought or two...

This difficulty is partly the result of not addressing the issue immediately. Just be careful how you bring it up. If its been quite a long time, he might be reasonably annoyed that things he repented of long ago are being dredged up into the light again. You've been so long apart, you don't know his current spiritual tenor.

Also, as someone affected in an [i:697219241a]indirect[/i:697219241a] way (i.e. you are not 'minority'), you can't come across as a shocked person who simply took a long time to get to the personal confrontation stage. By not speaking up at the time, you "entered into" the sin, be it ever so slightly. You "condoned" it. You need to approach him (if you decide to) as a person who has felt the need for personal repentance in this area, not as an innocent offended one.

One more thing to consider, are there two or three witnesses available to establish the matter?

 

[FrozenChosen]

Racism is an attitude that flies in the face of the unifying power of the gospel.