There are several things which have become clear from
reading my Facebook news feed over the past week. Now before I dive into those
things let me make a couple of things perfectly clear. One I have a diverse
group of friends on Facebook from around the world. Two, not all of them would
agree on just about anything. Three, if we can’t be civil and disagree, let’s
just agree that we probably shouldn’t be Facebook friends. Facebook and in some
sense all social media sites are great places to engage in social discussions.
That’s why they are called social media right? But these days posting your
thoughts on social media can get you ostracized, castigated, and even fired. I
get that we have to be willing to take the heat for what we say, but when did
it become a reflection of my employer when I say something on my personal time?
Well that’s a thought for a different blog.
So what have I learned from this week on Facebook?
1. You can find someone who seems intelligent
to back your position on the history of the Confederate flag no matter what it
is.
I have seen an article claiming
that the history of the flag is steeped in racism and the desire to subjugate black
people written by a white guy from LA via Harvard University. I have also seen
an article claiming that the flag should be respected because black southerners
fought to repel the northern invaders written by a black professor from a
school in Virginia. There are articles postulating most everything about the
flag, so pick your position and you can find something to back it up.
2.
More
people have cared about the Confederate Battle Flag this week than I have
witnessed in my entire 54 years prior to this week.
I grew up in the south. Born in
Alabama, reared as a southern man, never lived north of Kentucky, proud of my heritage,
and yet I have never owned a confederate flag. Well unless you count the one on
the General Lee car that I had once as a toy! I know that some have misused the
flag over the years and the tragic, senseless, racist act of the shooter in
Charleston made that crystal clear again this week. But the truth is I never
saw that many people who cared about whether the flag was sold in Walmart or
anywhere else until this week. If you don’t want it, don’t buy it. There are
plenty of things that are sold that are offensive to somebody. If it doesn’t
sell, it won’t be there long!
3.
People
seem to be more easily offended these days.
That goes for people on both sides
of this issue. I had relatives that fought in the civil war. They didn’t die
thankfully but they fought. I am not offended if states do not want to fly the
confederate flag over their state houses. I can understand why some would be
upset if their relatives did die and someone removed the markers of their
graves because it bore the flag. I can understand black Americans who lost
loved ones to slavery or during the civil rights movement not wanting the flag
to fly over their homes and capitals. If you say one thing you offend one
group, if you say something else you offend the others. We can all find
something that we are offended by if we look hard enough. I think some look
harder than others to find them!
4.
Not
everyone who lives in the south is a racist, but all of us, regardless of where
we live have been infected by racism.
To ignore our history is to be
doomed to repeat it. I cannot help that I was born in the south during a time
of social unrest and civil rights battles. I never put out a sign that said “Coloreds
only” or “Whites Only”. I never went to a segregated school. But I had parents
that lived through those eras and passed on some of those things to me. I have
stereotypes of people imprinted in my mind and heart. To say I don’t is to lie.
But the gospel of Jesus challenges me to leave those thoughts and to learn to
see all men and women as brothers and sisters. It’s not always easy to break
free from those thoughts that have been a part of our heritage no matter where
we are from. Although I cannot know what others from the north or black men and
women experienced growing up, I image that they too have stereotypes and
prejudices that they have to battle.
5.
Who we
were doesn’t have to define who we can become.
The images of black and white men
and women from Charleston coming together in the wake of the tragedy reminds me
that we are not required to repeat history. We have the choice to help love
overcome hate. There will always be those who want to remind us of our past
failures. We didn’t always do the right thing in the south. But I don’t think
any region of people or nation for that matter has a spotless history. We can
continue to work hard to bridge the gap between the races so that dream of Dr.
King can truly become a reality. A dream by the way that originated in the
heart of God for His kingdom long before it was so well articulated by Reverend
King. The dream of the Father is to see people from every tongue, every tribe, and
every nation, living and worshiping as one people. And that dream will one day
become a reality!
6.
The
gospel of Jesus Christ remains the only hope for effective change in people’s
lives.
Taking down the flag of the
confederate armies from the SC state buildings may be a symbolic step, but it
won’t change the heart of a white supremacist or a member of the Black Panther
party. It won’t help heal the hearts or lessen the grief of those who are
attending the funerals of their loved ones killed while praying in church. It
won’t really bridge the gap between whites and blacks in SC or anywhere else
for that matter. The only way to change is to change from the inside. I know
that the gospel message of love has changed me. It has changed the way I look
at people who are different from me. We are all sinners in need of a savior. We
all have the opportunity to have our sins forgiven because of the shed blood of
Jesus on the cross. We all have the right to become sons and daughters of the
King because the Father resurrected the Son on the third day. We have the
opportunity to live together because Jesus tore down the wall separating us so
that there are now no divisions based on race or gender or nationality. We
haven’t arrived yet, but with the grace of God and the presence of the Holy
Spirit we have the call to press on. We gather not around the confederate flag
or the American flag, but around the cross of Jesus Christ as our symbol of
hope and unity. I hope you will join us there!
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