I may infringe on our camp Chaplain’s turf a bit but I
wanted to relate a recent sermon from my church regarding prejudice. Prejudice was defined as favoritism or
partiality. The pastor acknowledged
that we all like to claim that we don’t harbor prejudice but all of us have and
make generalizations which can reach a degree of prejudice. Studies with infants and toddlers have shown
that these behaviors are learned very early in one’s life. Socio-economic, sex,
race, country of origin, age and physical size may form our prejudices. Everyone has heard the excuse, “You wouldn’t
understand, you are a man or you are white” or other generalizations. Examples provided included labeling all
Californians as tree-huggers, Coloradans as skiers and/or potheads, and Idahoans
as potato farmers. In the Bible, James 2
states, “Believers must not show favoritism” giving an analogy of offering a
seat to a rich person and not to the poor.
The passage goes on to say, “Love your neighbor as yourself but if you
show favoritism you sin” and instructs us to “speak and act as those who will
be judged by the law.” Show love and
mercy and do not base your treatment of someone based on superficial
things. While James used a
social-economic example, Paul used a racial one saying, “God does not show
favoritism.”
We don’t like it when people treat us in a prejudicial
way. Statistically, generalizations may
be true but they can be hurtful when erroneous. Some generalizations are good
and life may not be livable without assuming some such as recognizing dangers
around us. But, we should not let pride
and arrogance cause us to use generalizations to show prejudice which may occur
if 1) you treat every member of a group as if they possess that preconceived
generalization, 2) you don’t acknowledge exceptions, 3) you falsely try to fit
them into your stereotype which you believe they all should fit, or 4) you
refuse to bend when evidence is shown that the generalization is false. The example used was that of those who claim
churches are filled with hypocrites and use that as justification to reject all
Christians. In John 1:48 Nathaniel would
not acknowledge Jesus Christ as Messiah saying “nothing good can come from
Nazareth.” But Philip was able to
convince Nathaniel to meet Jesus and he repented and accepted Christ as
Lord. Three indications were given of
people who have a good heart and don’t cross the line of prejudice, 1) good
hearted people see people and treat people as individuals not as representatives
of a group, 2) good hearted people are willing to believe the best and not
assume the worst, and 3) good hearted people are ready to repent.
We must demonstrate love and mercy and a capacity for
understanding. We must recognize we have
all fallen short and we are not the standard.
We should love and respect as we would desire in return. As the SCV, we
renounce racist hate groups who have hijacked our Confederate Battle Flag and
want people to respect the Flag for the Southern history and heritage it truly
represents. We reject the mainstream
generalizations of the flag as a symbol of hate and instead espouse it as a
continuing symbol of the patriotism of our founding fathers. SCV members embrace black Confederates as
dispelling the preconceived notion of bigotry which the mainstream casts upon
us. As the SCV Constitution states, “The
SCV rejects any group whose actions tarnish or distort the image of the
Confederate soldier or his reasons for fighting. The Sons of Confederate Veterans shall be
strictly patriotic, historical, educational, benevolent, non-political,
non-racial and non-sectarian. The Sons
of Confederate Veterans declare (an) unquestioned allegiance to the
Constitution of the United States of America. The Sons of Confederate Veterans
neither embraces, nor espouses acts or ideologies of racial and religious
bigotry, and further, condemns the misuse of its sacred symbols and flags in
the conduct of same.” In today’s political climate many of our
leaders struggle to compromise and default to labeling opponents as left wing
libtard Socialists or neo-con right wing Nazis. Unfortunately, our beloved Southern Baptist
churches have not heeded this very message of resistance to prejudice and
(mainstream) preconceived notions that the Confederate Battle Flag represents hate
when the SCV seek to educate all to the historical context of that sacred
symbol as part of our cherished Southern heritage on which our nation was
founded and has prospered. Streaks of
prejudice can run both ways.
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