Racism

Discerning What Is Best
with Dr. Rex M. Rogers

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 03 February 2025

After 25 years of dominance DEI – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion – seems finally to be on its way out. Why is this a good thing?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #190 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

DEI, “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” is now Dead On Arrival, or at least Dead Man Walking.

“Diversity and inclusion,” were first used politically in the 1990s. The focus was initially on representation—ensuring more women and minorities were included. This was followed by the addition of “equity” in the 2010s. The Black Lives Matter movement accelerated the use of the term equity regarding what they considered systemic racism in the 2020s in the woke explosion following in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody.

Remarkably quickly, DEI was promoted, adopted, and then used as a bludgeon to virtually take over American culture, inculcating socialist, Marxist race and gender categories in the minds of impressionable school children, demanding, or forcing by threat of canceling, adults in education, business, government, even the military to accept these freedom-destroying categories. Then these ideas were marketed not just with religious zeal but in essence as a new religion designed to displace Judeo-Christian values and Christianity. Not everyone pro-DEI was or is anti-Christian, but the philosophic foundation of DEI is indeed built upon anti-Christian values.

One enormous problem with DEI is that it subjugates or abolishes merit or meritocracy in favor of discrimination based upon race, ethnicity, or gender, all in the name of something made up called “inclusion” and something damaging called “equity” – not equality before the law or equality of opportunity, but equity of result, meaning leveling, sameness in the name of fairness and racial justice. Along with this, many proponents of DEI demonstrated not freedom of choice but a willingness to use authority to force acceptance of their views.

DEI destroys a key part of the American Dream – equal opportunity for all, meaning the freedom and chance of advancement based upon one’s talent and work.

DEI displaced this in favor of race or gender quotas and advancement as a matter of entitlement or restitution for society’s past sins like pre-Civil War slavery.

But this equality to equity switch is deceptive and dangerous. Equality of condition or playing field says, “It’s up to you.” Equity says, “It’s up to the government or some other authority to make something happen for you.” In other words, if necessary, resources will be redistributed based upon the left’s vision of fairness.

With warp speed, DEI became the religion of record for much of American education. DEI categories, including gender fluidity, are being promulgated daily in many public institutions of learning, not as theory but as established narrative.

Yet all the while DEI is a failed and dangerous un-democratic philosophy that does not improve education achievement for anyone, including minorities.

“There is something curious about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)…Modern political ideologies, such as socialism and fascism, have been understood as secularized versions of Christianity for a long time, at least since the French Revolution. The question is, do DEI statements clothe Christian concepts in secular garb? The short answer is Yes.”

“DEI is The Doctrine That Ate America. If it is not stopped, DEI will supplant the country’s Judeo-Christian value system and push America farther down the road of decline.”

Lest I be misunderstood, I am not speaking here against working for a better America that improves opportunities for all. I am not speaking against anyone because of their differences. I am not speaking against anyone, including those who make sexual preference choices with which I morally disagree. For example, “If someone is gay, straight, trans, black, white, brown, male, female, faith-based, or atheist. If that person is truly qualified for a job based on merit and experience alone, they should get it.”

This is common sense. This is a free, open, pluralistic society. This is a color-blind society as argued eloquently by Martin Luther King, Jr. Until the last twenty years, this was America.

But now DEI’s juggernaut has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society, discouraging recruits to join the military, displacing incentive with disincentive in the workforce, coopting professional training with DEI seminars, and undermining workforce effectiveness and morale, as witnessed among fire departments in Los Angeles County that were decimated by DEI baloney and budget cuts, rather than reinforced by firefighting training.

In my view, DEI does not help racial minorities or any other so-labeled under-represented group. Rather, it replaces your freedom with someone else’s power, removing individual choice and establishing government or other authority. Meritocracy does the opposite.

Meritocracy promotes excellence, advances civilization and culture. Even if inadvertently or unintentionally, still, DEI promotes mediocrity, denigrates civilization and culture. Meritocracy promotes independence and freedom. DEI promotes dependence and constraints.

In January barely a week into his second administration, President “Trump went about systematically dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion practices throughout the vast federal bureaucracy, federal contractors, and receivers of federal grants.”

“Trump signed a second anti-DEI executive order, ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”…The following day, Trump signed a third executive order, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.’”

“The second executive order, No. 24, laid out in detail what the departments and agencies needed to do to expel DEI. Mainly, they would have coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget, the attorney general, and the director of the Office of Personnel Management as they ceased all DEI activity.”

“The executive order, for example, called on the bureaucracy to take the following actions: ‘Terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions (including but not limited to ‘Chief Diversity Officer’ positions); all ‘equity action plans,’ ‘equity’ actions, initiatives, or programs, ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.”

These DEI executive orders, along with others stating the federal government will recognize only two biological genders, male and female, and still others banning trans individuals from the military and athletics are, to put it mildly, extensive, transformational, draw a line-in-the-sand actions.

Some consider these actions lacking compassion or hateful or discriminatory or fascist, but none of these changes declare anything but what American society and culture considered normal, reasonable, moral, and common sense just since my days as a youth. None of these actions punish people but only state their sexual proclivities will no longer be the standard by which the rest of society must operate. They just will not be able to leverage their choices for advantage against others, for placement in the U.S. military, or for cheating in athletic events while endangering girls and women.

Will the decimation of DEI in government contribute to similar changes in business? Yes, it’s already begun. Corporations finally have cover to do what they know is good and wise for their customers and company without someone suing them or calling them racist or haters.

Walmart, McDonald’s, Ford, Harley-Davison and John Deere, now Target, are among the well-known consumer brands that reduced or phased out their DEI commitments in recent months. Others like Tractor Supply announced they will no longer conduct political cause related marketing initiatives, including Pride Month.

Will the end of DEI mean a setback for Blacks, minorities, and women? No, not if companies and American culture advance the ideals that made the country thrive in the first place: free enterprise, merit and work ethic, liberty and justice for all, rule of law blindly applied, opportunity for all.

“True diversity comes through the practice of nondiscrimination, outreach, and compliance with existing civil rights law and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Honoring the First Amendment freedoms of speech and religion can and should result in diversity of thought and goodwill among diverse groups of people. Institutions can and should abide by the First Amendment.”

DEI is now DOA in the federal government and U.S. military. It’s now up to non-governmental and private agencies, including churches, to provide open doors for all who wish to work.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. Or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more podcasts and video.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/ or my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers or https://x.com/RexMRogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 05 August 2024

Have you thought about race and racism in terms of your Christian faith?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #163 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

The tragic death of George Floyd, May 25, 2020, in the hands of a police officer and resulting nonstop social unrest plaguing American cities exacerbated an already fraught milieu in which it is almost impossible to conduct a deliberative conversation about race or racism. Some four years later, the situation has not appreciably improved.

With what seemed like a coup removing President Biden from the ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democrat Party nominee for President of the United States, 2024. She is of mixed-race heritage—and East Indian mother and a Jamaican father—something she has referenced periodically throughout her career.

Recently, Republican candidate former president Donald J. Trump attended the National Black Journalists conference. At the conference, ABC’s Rachel Scott asked Trump about his comments regarding Ms. Harris and other Black politicians and journalists. After a bit of back and forth on whether the question was nasty, Trump eventually said, “She was always of Indian heritage…I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black.”

You no doubt heard or read some of the meltdown online or in mainstream media. Accusations and counteraccusations have been intense. So, race is now a campaign issue.

This podcast is not about the politics of Harris or Trump, nor a defense of either candidate’s positions. Rather, I want to suggest that this is a moment for us all to apply our Christian worldview to life and culture.

I cannot defend partisan or ideological talking points as the answer to all our questions or problems. I cannot defend party or ideological leaders as the inerrant source of answers to all our questions or problems. Reason is, they will always fail us.

So, I am back to my Christian worldview, i.e. my understanding of biblical theology and the philosophy of life God commends and commands. Perhaps I may misinterpret, or I may still be learning, or I see through a glass darkly and always will because I am not omniscient, but I can trust the Sovereign God of the Bible and His Word, and I can labor to apply the Word as we are commissioned to do in the Cultural Mandate (Genesis 1:28).

And besides, if you or I are going to discuss race or offshoots like systemic racism or White supremacy or White fragility or racial stereotypes or critical race theory or Black Lives Matter the organization vs Black lives matter the slogan or civil rights or defacto vs dejure segregation, or even justice and liberty for all…wouldn’t our perspective be more trustworthy if we based it upon an avowedly Christian worldview, rather than mere partisanship or ideology?

Where does our Christian worldview lead us in this matter or race or racism?

First, God created every human being “in his image,” and as such each person is temporally and eternally significant, possesses dignity, and is the highest order of creation (Genesis 1:26-27).

Second, all human beings, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, or any other demographic, are who they are because the Sovereign God created them for his purposes: “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands” (Acts 17:26).

Now, let’s think for a moment about how black, brown, red, yellow, and white people are alike:

We are all created by God in His image. No person who has ever lived, whatever their race, is anything but a human being created by God in His image.
All nations from one man, Adam. We are all human beings, actually, one race, the human race, all descendent from the first couple in the Garden of Eden.
The times of our lives, the place where we live, and our specific demographics are all appointed by God.
We are all uniquely gifted, individually significant with ultimate value, no matter our life’s circumstances, family bank account, education achieved, or our gender, nationality, race, or ethnicity.
All human beings of all races are endowed with reason and moral responsibility, thus freedom and accountability.
We are all mandated by God to develop culture, meaning work and invest ourselves in honoring God and human flourishing.
Because of what’s called the Fall in the Garden of Eden, we all possess fallen, deceitful, sinful, depraved hearts.
Consequently, every human being on earth needs to experience salvation by grace through faith in Christ.
Every human being of every race and ethnicity is blessed by fulfilling God’s purposes via faith, family, fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace), free enterprise.
In heaven someday, all races, ethnicities will be represented because heaven in one sense will be the most diverse community ever.
No individual is reducible to just his or her race, for while part of the beauty of Creation, this characteristic is not the sum of existence. While demographics are important, they are not the ultimate definition of a human beings’ character or value:

Think about this: God loves every human being, and we are to love our neighbors, so racism has no place in God’s design.

But racism exists. It will always exit, because it lies in the deceitful, sinful heart of all human beings. Racism is not just a “white problem.” All people, whatever their race, can be or may have been guilty of racism at some time. Racism will always be with us. But this does not mean we should ignore it, much less advance or excuse it. We work to remove and eliminate it because we are to “love our neighbor as ourselves.”

Consequently, I see no reason why, realizing that many black Americans have struggled or suffered the effects of racism, that the American people should not discuss this problem and take reasonable actions to change the social system.

To do this is simply caring for our fellow human beings even as we recognize that someday we will likely need them to care for us.

So, while these biblical principles do not straightforwardly tell us, for example, what we should conclude about tense debates about police brutality or defunding the police, or about the morality or practicality of reparations these biblical principles should guide our attitudes as we conduct such discussions.

Biblical principles do not state outright whether Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or DEI, is good or bad as such, but biblical principles should guide our thinking about all human beings, about work, merit, access or fairness, justice, right and wrong.

Biblical principles make it clear that race as we now know it is not ipso facto a bad thing, not some human anomaly, but a difference in human characteristics God allowed to develop for our blessing and benefit.

Scripture says this about the Church or Body of Christ: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

So, we can say that race is part of the variety, indeed the beauty, of God’s creation. Race is a gift of God.

We can say that racism is sin, no matter who expresses it. What God meant for good, sinful mankind has twisted for evil. Substituting one racism for another and re-segregating America is not the answer. Loving our neighbor is the answer.

When I evaluate the presidential candidates, I make my selection that has nothing to do with the color of their skin. I’d think it wiser to think about what they believe, what policies they support, whether I believe these policies are good for me and all Americans, including our grandchildren’s future.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers or https://twitter.com/RexMRogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 11 December 2023

Jews are known for many things, not least of which is as survivors. What can we learn about God’s purposes by studying the Jewish people?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #122 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Jews are in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. Not that it’s their fault. But in the wake of the Israel/Hamas war, antisemitism, i.e., hostility, prejudice, or discrimination, a form of racism – has become a plague throughout Europe, Australia, and in North and South America.

“We know from history that Jew-hatred, the world's oldest and once again most fashionable form of bigotry, is the chameleon of all hates – forever taking on new hues to suit the scapegoating needs of the day. It has always been thus, and it will always be thus.”

Antisemitic incidents in the United States rose nearly 400% in just two weeks after 10/7, this after such incidents reached their highest ever recorded in the U.S. in year 2022.

In a recent congressional hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray “noted in his testimony that while Jews account for less than 3% of the U.S. population, around 60% of religious-based hate crimes target Jews.

Jews are, sadly, no stranger to antisemitism, or more bluntly stated, “Jew hate.”

In the Middle Ages, Jews were called “Christ’s enemies” or “Christ-killers.” They’ve been the victim of what’s called “blood libel,” an antisemitic canard which falsely accuses Jews of murdering Christians in order to use their blood in the performance of religious rituals. In Russia, Jews were massacred in periodic, systematic pogroms, a Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.”

And worst of all, beginning with Kristallnacht or the “Night of Broken Glass” in 1938, Hitler and the Nazis killed about 6 million Jews in what they called the Final Solution and history calls the Holocaust.

Meanwhile, a list of notable American Jews is astoundingly lengthy – in every field of human endeavor. And this can be repeated in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

So why, then, are Jews hated historically and globally? Perhaps the principal reason is “because God has a special plan for the nation of Israel, and Satan wants to defeat that plan. Satanically influenced hatred of Israel—and especially Israel’s God—is the reason Israel’s neighbors have always wanted to see Israel destroyed,” and it is the reason why Jews have been despised and persecuted their entire existence.

Ostensibly, the current outbreak of antisemitism on college campuses, in the streets, and, unbelievably, in Congress, is due to opposition to Israel’s policies regarding Palestinians and Gaza and in particular how Israel is prosecuting the war to eradicate Hamas as just retribution for Hamas’s pre-civilizational atrocities against innocent Israelis Oct. 7. But the immediacy and intensity of venom aimed at Jews who had nothing to do with what is taking place in the Holy Land indicates this is an indiscriminate broad-brush racist attack with deep roots in Western Civilization’s ongoing moral collapse.

Yet Jewish people have set a high standard, making contributions in virtually every sector of American society and Western Civilization. Consider these names:

Emma Lazarus, Levi Strauss, Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Benny Goodman, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Jerry Seinfeld, Mark Zuckerberg, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Henry Kissinger, Sandy Koufax, Wolf Blitzer, Stephen Spielberg, Bernie Sanders, Monica Lewinsky, Natalie Portman, Gal Gadot, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Elena Kagan, Doug Emhoff.

This is a small sampling of names quickly grabbed off the internet.The number of notable Jewish Americans who have made our lives immeasurably better is legion.

Prior to World War II, the global Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million. Then the Holocaust occurred. Since then, the population has slowly risen again, and as of 2021, was estimated to be at 15.2–19.9 million. Today, Israel’s population (including disputed territories) – 9,000,000. And in the United States – 7,600,000.

Certain biblical teachings and subsequent political developments relative to the Jewish people, descendants of the Old Testament Abraham and Israelites, have given rise to misinterpretations, false accusations, jealousy, and recriminations.

Jews are called God’s chosen people (Gen 12:1-3; 13:14-15). People misinterpret this in several ways, including thinking Jews are given some special spiritual pass to heaven. But this doesn’t make Israel more special; it makes God more special because he keeps his promises. God was setting up the lineage through which Jesus would come. This really is the crux of why God chose Israel to be his chosen people.

God gave Abraham’s descendants the land of Israel (Gen 13:14-15).

The Jewish Diaspora resulted in Jewish populations the world over, most subject to persecution, followed in the 19^thC with Zionism and a beginning return to the land. To this day, Arabs, or Palestinians, and others fight what are now called Israelis over Israel’s right to exist on the land as the modern nation-state was established in May 1948. So, who owns the Holy Land? If Palestinians are not allowed to live in the land of Israel, what should be done with these hundreds of thousands of people whose ancestors lived in the land?

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam claim Jerusalem as a holy place. Who has claim?

New Testament Church Age teachings re Israel vs the Church, including Replacement Theology, which “affirms that the Church has completely replaced Israeland will inherit God’s promises to Israel; the covenants, then, will be fulfilled only in a spiritual sense. In other words, replacement theology teaches that Israel will not inherit the actual land of Israel; the Church is the “new Israel,” and ethnic Israel is forever excluded from the promises—the Jews will not inherit the Promised Land as Jews per se.” This theological debate occurs within conservative evangelical Christendom.

What lessons can we learn?

“The persecutors of Israelwill come and go, but the persecution will remain until the second coming of Christ. As a result, conflict in Israel is not a reliable indicator of the soon arrival of the end times.”

Scripture makes it clear that “there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him” Rom 10:12. Or the Bible states it another way: “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too” Rom 3:29.

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Gal 3:28.

Also in Scripture, the Apostle Paul reminded us that “we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” 1 Cor 12:13.

And in heaven one day, the Word says, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language,standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands” – Revelation 12:9.

Jewish people are just that, people, human beings made in the image of God, like all human beings loved by God, and like all human beings, Jews are sinners in need of grace or sinners saved by grace.

If you are Jewish, God bless you and may you be safe, surrounded by support, and given every opportunity of liberty and happiness.

If you are not Jewish, as I am not, then we need to remember that Jewish people, like all humanity including Arabs, Palestinians, Iranians, Russians, you name it, are our neighbors, and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Clearly, the Lord is not finished with this world. No climate change, no wars or rumors of wars, no natural cataclysms like the sunspot archipelago releasing solar storms, no nuclear nightmare, no genocidal mania perpetrated by any demonically driven people, no end of the world scenario is ever actually going to end the world until God determines the End Times have come.

And throughout the history yet to come, Jewish people will remain, at times under duress, but remain and flourish because the Lord of Heaven deems it so.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 04 August 2023

Have you gotten weary of racial division and discord? We’ve certainly experienced it since the George Floyd tragedy in Minneapolis: riots, destruction, calls for defunding the police, charges of so-called white supremacy. But let’s pause a moment and ask, what does a Christian worldview say about race?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #101 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

The tragic death of George Floyd, May 25, 2020, at the hand of a police officer resulted in nonstop social unrest that plagued American cities, and created a milieu in which it was and is almost impossible to conduct a deliberative conversation about race, racism, police brutality, or police actions.

So much angry momentum fogs the air that anyone questioning the wisdom of what’s taking place does so at risk of reputation, maybe employment, and in some cases personal well-being. At least this is true on American campuses if not also in some corporations or other public venues.

The point is, it’s risky to disagree with the prevailing acceptable narrative endorsed by much of Big Media, Big Social Media, corporations, various celebrities, the political left, and other cultural opinion elites.

This said, I am not suggesting there were or are no issues, i.e., no racism, never any police brutality, no room for police reform. I am, however, suggesting that much of what’s become accepted mantra does not bear up under objective analysis.

But my point here is not to argue politics as such, much less to be partisan.

Rather, I want to suggest this is a moment for us all to take a breath and to attempt to better understand, and to work to apply our Christian worldview to life and culture.

Where does our Christian worldview lead us regarding race?

First, let’s begin at the beginning, noting that God created every human being “in his image,” and as such each person is temporally and eternally significant, possesses dignity, and is the highest order of creation (Genesis 1:26-27).

I’ll repeat that. God created all human beings, “Red and Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

I don’t know if Adam and Eve were White or Black or Red or Yellow or some other racial hybrid unknown to us today. I do know God created humanity, beginning with these two people, and you and I, along with 8 billion others in the world, descended from them. So, the DNA for racial variation was built in, and God allowed these differences and distinctions to develop later, like he did with various animal and plant species.

For example, there are more than 400 dog breeds recognized around the world. While I believe God created dogs, I do not believe all the breeds we know today were present in the Garden of Eden. While I don’t buy into evolution from one species to another, I do believe God created, as he said in the Genesis account, various “kinds” of animals that allowed for inter-breeding, tapping gene pools, which in turn allowed the development of new breeds. So, while we don’t see, and there are really no fossil records to indicate, one kind or species evolving into another, much less monkeys becoming apes becoming human beings, we do find record of gene pool variety developing within given species or kinds. This continues to this day within kinds of animals that are sexually compatible, meaning they can mate and reproduce.

Same for human beings. We are all descended from Adam and Eve, via Noah and his wife, their 3 sons and their wives, from whom Gen. 9:19 says, “from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.” These scattered people represented a vast and varied gene pool, some of which were later isolated to allow for the development of dominant characteristics, including skin color, hair color, body shape, physical attributes or capabilities.

Think of the blonde-haired people in Scandinavia or both the short pygmies and the tall Dinka or Tutsi people in Africa. Even among Native Americans there was great variety in biological stature and appearance across a continent. While Darwin once argued for multiple races of humanity, though there are variations, clearly God created one human race.

In modern terms, race goes hand-in-hand with skin color. This is the predominant characteristic and the first thing that enters people’s minds when race is mentioned.

So, let’s think about how Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, White people are not as different as we may assume, but how we are similar if not alike:

As noted, God created all human beings—including every racial variation—in His image.
In Scripture, we also learn that all nations come from one man, and that people’s time, place, and demographics are appointed by God.

All human beings, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, or any other demographic, is who they are because the Sovereign God created them for his purposes: “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands” (Acts 17:26).

Each human being is uniquely gifted, individually significant with ultimate value.
All human beings are endowed with reason and moral responsibility, thus freedom and accountability. No exceptions.
Human beings are directed by God to develop culture, meaning we are to be stewards of the world God gave us, investing ourselves and our creativity in a way that cares for our families and for the environment so that humanity can flourish.
In Rom 3:23 we learn that all human beings are fallen, sinful. We have deceitful, depraved hearts in need of forgiveness and redemption (Jer. 17:9).
Every human being, regardless of race, needs salvation by grace through faith in Christ (Jn 3:16).
Human beings are blessed by fulfilling God’s purposes via faith, family, fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace), free enterprise. This is part of the Cultural Mandate (Gen. 1:28).
No individual is reducible to just his/her race, for while part of the beauty of Creation, this characteristic is not the sum of existence. While demographics are important, they are not the ultimate definition of a human beings’ character or value: Scripture says, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
All races, ethnicities will be represented in Heaven, the most diverse community ever (Rev. 7:9).

So, as we can see and easily demonstrate from Scripture, Red and Yellow, Black and White people share far more in common than anything that makes them different.

Meanwhile, contemporary culture and the ideology of the Left constantly pounds a drumbeat of difference, division, victimhood, blame, oppressor and oppression, discrimination, recrimination, hate, all of which is based upon the sins of lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 Jn 2:16).

The Word of God teaches us that God loves all, and we are to love our neighbors, so racism has no place in God’s design.

Still, racism exists, for it is rooted in the deceitful, sinful heart of all human beings. Racism is not just a “White problem.” Despite what we’re being told today, racism is not just about economic power, haves and have nots, though this can be involved.

Racism is about sinful attitudes. All people whatever their race can be or may have been guilty of racism at some time. Racism will always be with us. But this does not mean we should ignore it, much less advance or excuse it. We work to remove and eliminate it because we are to “love our neighbor as ourselves.”

Racism is sin, no matter who expresses it. Substituting one racism for another and re-segregating America is not the answer. Loving our neighbor is the answer.

We are called of God to live justly, to love our neighbors, to bless and do no harm, for one and all. Race is part of the variety, indeed the beauty, of God’s creation. Race is a gift of God. Shouldn’t Christians celebrate the gift of race?

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 18 January 2021

My fav Martin Luther King, Jr quote, shared during his phenomenal “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963,

““I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

If you’ve never heard this speech it’s worth your time to watch it on YouTube.

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Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 18 December 2020

It’s been a slow build for about 5 years now, significantly faster and more in the last few months, the number of biracial, or mixed race, or interracial couples featured in television or print product commercials. Combos vary, black husband, white wife and vice versa, sometimes mixed-race kids, certainly Latino or Hispanic and white or black, and longer standing back to the overseas wars, white man, Asian woman.

I like it. Seems like a reasonable, harmless, creative, and now realistic way to acknowledge America’s melting pot. I don’t buy the articles floating around calling this a “war on white men.” I know that exists among the fringes, but this isn’t it. I also reject the racist comments I’ve read about these commercials. Humbug. Ever notice that many (not all for sure) yelling “racist” are themselves racist?

American society is changing. Of 332M people, 13.1% black, 5.8% Asian, 18.1% Hispanic, Latino, 1.3% Native American, white 76.6%, and while white is increasing at .5%, all others are increasing 1.3% to 3.1%.

Marriage between two people of different races in America has been legal in all states since the US Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia (1967), held that “anti-miscegenation” laws were unconstitutional. In 2017, 17% of newlyweds and 10% of all marriages involved individuals of different ethnicity or race.

Again, no problem for me. Despite a sad and checkered history of Christian interpretation, there is nothing in Scripture that questions much less forbids interracial marriage. I’d be more concerned that during COVID-19 lockdowns, divorces have jumped 34% higher compared to 2019, and that’s for any or all races and ethnicities.

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Let's Talk About Jews

Celebrating the Gift of Race

Not By Color of Skin but By Content of Their Character

Increasing Representation of Mixed Race Couples in Advertising