Sunday, March 28, 2010

You’re not prejudiced are you?

I’m not…I never pass a homeless person without either helping them or praying for them. I don't treat rich people nicer than poor people. I never give my all for one person over another. And I don’t favor my neighbors on my right over the ones on the left. I treat all people equally all the time.

Okay, let’s step back into reality. I constantly catch myself exercising prejudice to some extent. The more I exercise anything like that, the stronger it gets. What a terrible disposition. And who’s lead am I following? The very first being to instigate prejudice was Satan. He passed the venom to Adam and Eve saying, “Surely you won’t die if you eat that fruit.” They passed it to their children and so on.

This deceitful sin made it’s way down to infamous leaders like the Roman Caesars and Adolph Hitler who both used their intelligence to put new spins on the poison. That toxin murdered a million Jews in the first century, and six million in the twentieth, because Jews derived their ideals from the Bible: All men and women are created equal, like our founding fathers recited in America. That same democratic ideal has become the fuel to ignite fundamentalist Islamist to publicly state their prejudice, ‘death to America and Israel.’

One of the prime sparks that reignited Arab tensions towards Jews in Europe was the funding and solicitation of radio transmissions from Germany to all of Europe in Arabic. Hitler's goal was to spread his gossip of lies to the entire European Arab population. Arab leader Haj Amin al-Husseini thrived at the opportunity.


Prejudice will be the demise of all men and women some day when the battle of Armageddon erupts. Once again, Satan will lead unsuspecting people to the ultimate demise.

Leviticus 19:33 says (paraphrased) ‘When a stranger comes to your town, do not mistreat him. That person must be treated like everyone else.’ I find it unthinkable that I am bias toward God’s word sometimes.

Prejudice is so contagious it becomes automatically reused. I know it’s harmful, but I still use it. And thus I spread it to my children. My multicultural friends will tell you I'm not prejudice in the conventional sense. But when you read the white space in my life, that area that exist between the lines in all of us, you'll find a sinful nature that I must contend with.

So how do we rid ourselves of it? Just like a recovering alcoholic overcomes the deadly grip of the enticing liquid. First we admit we have fallen to its beckoning call, at least to some degree. It takes humility and honesty to say, ‘I do have prejudice in my life.’ Next, ask God to remove it. Finally, a dose of regular scripture reading accompanied with prayer will help tame the beast inside us. Probably not completely because we are inherently similar to dogs that return to their vomit, or criminals that return to the crime scene; or a snack hungry person that can’t stop eating junk food.

Unfortunately I only feel the sting of Prejudice when it’s aimed at me. Why can’t I see that my prejudice against others does the same harm?

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