Prejudices

This world, this country, is in a state of protest with some racial issues being cited as the cause for all this. Emotions are running high and some strong measures are being proposed and/or implemented, leaving of a portion of us fearful of the future. Reductions of police protection and other measures are causing concerns about the safety of families in any crisis situation, related or not related to the current turmoil.

This is about prejudice.

The truth is that almost everyone has at least one prejudice and some of us have many. When people are different from us, from how we live, from how believe, the temptation is to “put down” the other group as a defense for who we are and how we live. I guess you could say that we are sometimes prejudiced over cultural differences, not always, but sometimes.

Growing up in a rural area as a farmer’s daughter but going to school in a town, I experienced (perceived) prejudice that I was a country girl. In my mind’s eye, I thought I saw that others looked down on my because we didn’t have a lot of money. We had a ton of love, food and abundant life on the farm but I had to head to the fields to do my part to keep the farm functioning, growing crops and animals. I didn’t get to join clubs, go to many school events and socialize in the same ways that the “city” kids did. I felt inferior and shunned. That’s how I felt. I don’t actually remember any single incident when an individual deliberately acted in any way that showed they felt me beneath them. I felt it because I perceived that is how they felt.

In the Bible, there were cultures that seemed to have prejudices toward other groups and they segregated themselves from each other for many reasons, including lifestyles and beliefs. The Samaritans were not viewed favorable by Jews even though they were descended from the ancestry group. Jews believed in Jehovah God and Samaritans believed in other gods, for one example. They looked down on each other and maintained social barriers from each other. Also, gender differences in most cultures in those days elevated men to a different “class” than women, so much so that there were restrictions about public conversations with each other.

In this country, many prejudices are seemingly evident. Those who lived in northern states clashed with those who lived in southern states. In the country’s early history, this was sometimes over the issue of slavery. In other cases, it was related to the manner of speaking, country of origin or choice of church denomination. Baptists and Catholic feared the practices in the other churches. Irish and Italians didn’t always see eye to eye. Even food preferences separated people sometimes.

Every area of life presents its own set of differences and sometimes prejudices. Students who excelled in schools were sometimes perceived as haughty simply because of their good grades. Students who struggled were sometimes perceived by high achievers as “dumb” or “stupid” and even as lazy sometimes. Those blessed with family wealth could purchase the most expensive or trendy apparel were then judges by some of those with much less as having their noses in the air, while those with homemade clothes were perceived by some as “trashy” or some other negative conation because of their dress.

The thing is that I have repeatedly said perceived. Prejudices are sometimes manufactured in the minds of the one who is perceiving when no prejudice from another group exists. Barriers are erected between groups because of this perception, true or not, simply because of culture or lifestyles differences. These grow and are passed to children as reality, resulting in separations of people that can carry through many generations.

There are many prejudices that can be seen in our country right now: ageism, classism, nationalism, racism, religious practice, stereotyping, and more.

Right now, racism is the hot topic in response to a white cop killing a black man during an apprehension. None of us knows if this was related to race, related to an anger issues on the part of the cop, stemming from fear or other reasons. Whatever caused this cop to press his knee into the man’s neck until it caused his death had been perceived as a racial issue. Resultant of this is a worldwide review of racism. We don’t know why this happened but it is now seen globally as an act of racism.

Cultural and ethnic representatives from those who think it was racist versus those who think it was a renegade cop have hit the news globally and the divide is heating up and growing. Past or learned grievances from many different instances of real or perceived prejudices are raising their heads all over the world. This divide is infiltrating every segment of life in this country with many reviewing this impact of religious freedom, freedom of speech, social programs, law enforcement, educational opportunities, career placements and much more. There are also those who are calling for careful research and analysis of situations before we perceive prosecution against members of a race, a group, a belief system, a region.

Voices around the world are getting louder and divisions are growing deeper, in some cases. We need help and we need help now. We need to turn to the Bible, to God and His Son, Jesus, and get guidance from a source of truth and love.

Sometimes, we pull verses from the Bible knowing that the verse message is out of context. However, the lesson contained can still guide us in our pursuit of learning to live like Christ. As we move forward and look to the Bible for direction, we can contemplate and apply the following as we review our views and lifestyles:

Romans 10:12

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,

Galatians 3:28

28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Romans 12

3 Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.