Can’t we all just get along? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
The time has come to wrap up this book looking at the topic of racism. As I write this, right now in America there have been two fundraisers recently. One involves a black boy who killed a white boy saying it was self-defense. Another involves a woman who was threatened to be cancelled because she used a racial slur. Now I happen to think both people did something wrong, but they do show where we are at. Some are donating to both sides because of the race of the person.
So biblically, there is a lot I agree with Longman on. I do agree that there is one race, the human race. I do agree we are all descendants of Adam. I do agree that we are all sinners and we all need redemption in Jesus.
I also agree on bad arguments such as the mark of Cain and the curse of Ham. Unfortunately, once again, while I agree with Longman on what Scripture says so much, when we come to application, it is a different matter.
First off, he speaks about affirmative action. Could it be right to punish one people group for what their ancestors did by giving preferences in affirmative action? Longman argues, yes.
His argument looks at the figures of Daniel and Ezra. Both of these people are righteous in the Old Testament. Yet when they pray, they repent of the sins the community did as if they themselves did them. They were suffering for the sins of the people before them.
Well first off, this was a punishment done by God. It doesn’t mean we can do the same thing.
Second, the society of the past was much more community oriented. If anything, affirmative action breaks the community by putting one race in the community against another and favoring one race over another. Perhaps Longman should have considered a parallel in Acts 6, such as Hebrew widows getting more support than the Hellenistic ones.
Third, is the program even helping? How long should it be in place? All of these are questions we should be asking. We can ask if minorities are getting into jobs and getting into schools, but what does it matter if they get a job if they are not capable of it? What does it matter if they get into a school if they don’t graduate? I am not saying all are like that, but these are questions Thomas Sowell also asks.
As for reparations, the same applies. How much is owed to a person? Who owes it? Technically, everyone alive is likely descended from someone who was a slave and someone who was a slave owner. That’s because slavery was a worldwide system and all races enslaved any other race they could, even their own. This also will not heal any divide. It will instead make it worse.
In the end, Longman’s book shows me he should really stick with Scripture. If he had just said this is what the Bible says and think about it as you vote, that would have been a whole lot better. Instead, when he gets to application, I see it as apparent he sticks with one side only and doesn’t understand the nuances of the positions he takes.
Next time, we start something new.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)
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