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IN AN ESSAY yesterday on The Imaginative Conservative Magazine website, entitled "
Victim Privilege, Cultural Appropriation, & the New Enslavement", Joseph Mussomeli discusses how - fulfilling the words of the poet William Blake “The iron hand crushed the Tyrant’s head and became a Tyrant in his stead.” -
"... it is politically incorrect to ever criticize anyone considered a victim of our society. Like the ancient tribunes of Rome, all those categorized as “victims” are untouchable and their views sacrosanct. No matter how rude or imbecilic their opinions, few dare oppose them."
MR. MUSSOMELI IS quite correct, insofar as he takes this, with his somewhat humorous conclusion "When a particular noodle or spice or fashion is central to your self-esteem and identity, you probably need psychological intervention more than political affirmation."
However, from the viewpoint of a Bible-reading, God-loving, people-loving, sin-hating Christian, I cannot help thinking that he is missing an important point: the role that our sin nature plays in all of this. From the very beginning, people were feeling "victimized" and dealing with it by reacting militantly.
IN GENESIS 4, Cain feels angry and offended because God favored his brother Abel's sacrifice over his own. He took it out on Abel by killing him, making fratricide the very first homicide in history. God was merciful in his punishment of Cain, sending him into exile rather than striking him down. Cain, however, true to his human nature, gets bent about this and whines that he is going to be a fugitive and will be killed. Again, God responds with mercy, marking Cain so that everyone will know that he is not to be killed.
Fast forward several generations to a descendant of Cain, named Lamech. Lamech is a braggart with a bad temper. He boasts to his wives that he killed a young man for striking him. His last recorded words, in
verse 24, are "If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold." Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds suspiciously like a lot of the militant "advocacy" groups today. "My forebearers had revenge coming to them, so I now will take a virtually infinite larger revenge."
MAKE NO MISTAKE! Mistreatment of others is ALWAYS wrong. It doesn't matter to me if it is done for personal reasons, or for racial or cultural reasons. Every human being that has ever lived bears the image of God [
Gen 9:6], and is worthy of the love and respect due to a fellow image-bearer. To show animosity of any kind is purely sinful. For this reason, any form of racism or other forms of systemic discrimination is outside the pale, and should not be tolerated. Ever. However, for the same reason, the victim of such sin is ALSO responsible for how he or she reacts.
As Jesus put it, whoever is angry with his brother is guilty of murder. [
Matt 5:22] More to the point, in the famous parable of the Good Samaritan in
Luke 10, a Samaritan traveler is praised by Jesus for aiding and caring for an injured Jew, while the injured man's fellow Jews ignored his plight. What is not often spoken of, is that in that culture Samaritans were considered pariahs, worthy only of contempt, half-breeds. To call someone a Samaritan was a serious insult, comparable to today's "N-word" and the like. [see
John 4:9; 8:48]
HATRED BREEDS HATE. Contempt breed contempt. A viscious and seemingly never-ending cycle. Thus is our sinful nature.
People of good will, no matter their race, creed, culture, political affiliation, whatever, are capable of learning to get along with each other. History is replete with examples of this. That does not change the fact, though, that our sin nature is going to inform and influence every relationship we have. To one degree or another, our every interaction with any other person, place, or thing, is going to have some sinful aspect. We don't have to like it, we can fight hard against it. We can even mitigate it to some extent. But we can never eradicate it.
THE CYCLE CAN only be broken by divine intervention. As Paul wrote, within the Church, the body of Christ, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." [
Gal 3:28] Followers of Jesus, those whom God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified [
Rom 8:29-30], now have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, empowering them to "put to death" the sin that also dwells within.
"For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord." [Eph 2:18-21]
DO YOU WANT to see an end put to the endless cycle of hatred and oppression and tyranny? Do you want to be able to see, and know from experience, that the only really crucial difference between individuals is whether they are inside or outside of the Body of Christ? Do you want to know first-hand the joy of being free to love and glorify God by enjoying Him forever, along with all your brothers and sisters in Christ?
Then, very simply, in faith, repent. In faith, turn away from your sin, and turn to God. Respond to Jesus' call to believe in Him through faith. And the Holy Spirit will place you into that body of Christ, and will enable you to live a life of love and faith as you serve Him by serving your fellow believers and by showing God's love and mercy to all people.
