" ... But I'm Not a Racist"

In the recent online onslaught of posts about race, as well as in conversations I have had with friends, I have heard more than one of my conservative, Republican, Christian friends, say, "But I'm not a racist!", or "People assume that just because I'm a white male, I'm a racist." I know these people personally. They are not what I would consider "racist", not at all. But people don't think you are a racist just because you are white ... or because you are a white male ... or because you are a Christian ... or because you are "conservative". People think you are racist because you (sometimes very loudly and publicly) express support for the Republican party and its' platforms, and, specifically, for its' sometimes very racist leaders, particularly for President Donald Trump. And before you get too riled up about that, please hear me out and try not to get too defensive ... because I know your heart, and I know you genuinely love people -- all people.

By definition, a stronghold is:

"a place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack." ("the enemy stronghold")

"A place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld." ("A Republican stronghold or a liberal stronghold.")

Allow me to give you some examples.

One Republican stronghold is a tendency to value patriotism and public service - particularly in the military or the police force. Those are both excellent values to have and hold on to. ... Until they are not. When patriotism ("devotion to and vigorous support for one's country") evolves into nationalism ("identification with one's own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations."), suddenly that very admirable value has evolved into something not so admirable. And when patriotism, combined with placing a high value on public service - particularly in the military or the police force - evolve into diminishing the message behind "Black Lives Matter", public outrage over a football player respectfully taking a knee during the national anthem, or failing to recognize and appreciate the plight of what it means to be black in our country, your Republican strongholds have become a stumbling block to seeing, hearing, and recognizing truth.

If you do not profess to be a Christian, we can stop right here. You are under no obligation to confront or deal with your strongholds - whatever they may be.

But if you do profess to follow Jesus Christ, this is the point at which you need to start digging deeply. Because Jesus is Truth. And you have an obligation to seek it ... and Him, first and foremost, in any and all situations.

Ask yourself: when these highly volatile situations come across your Facebook newsfeed, who do you turn to first to guide your response? Who do you turn to for Truth? Do you quiet your heart and mind and turn to the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and prayer? ... Or do you react immediately from your own personal or political strongholds, listen to commentary from conservative, Christian, Republican leaders, talk show hosts, or news channels, or discuss it and debate it with like-minded Christian, Republican friends, either online or in person? Remember, by definition, a stronghold is "a place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld"; "a place that has been fortified to protect it against attack". The natural human tendency is to defend and protect what we hold dear - respect for our country, respect for authority - especially the police, respect for our military - who have sacrificed and sometimes paid the ultimate price. Do you defend that and protect it, sometimes to a fault?

Whether we like it or not, support of, or disdain for, President Trump speaks volumes to people without ever saying a word. We have never before had a President who so openly and publicly says such controversial and discriminatory things. He has very openly and publicly (and with great passion) said things that were highly discriminatory toward women, racial minorities, people with disabilities, and immigrants. He very openly and publicly (and with great passion) insisted that football players who take a knee should be fired (and, incidentally, Colin Kaepernick, in essence, was -- he lost his career over his decision to, as respectfully as possible, exercise his first amendment rights). ... While, at the same time, President Trump also simultaneously defends, very openly, publicly, and with great passion, those who are showing up at demonstrations with guns, swastikas, nooses, and other forms of discriminatory hate messages, never failing to mention that they are "just exercising their first amendment rights".

How we, as Christians, have chosen to respond to this, speaks volumes about what we value most. Do we publicly rationalize, justify, and support his behavior, and support him as a President and a leader despite all of this? ... If we support him because of some of his policies (like abortion), but disagree with his behavior, are we willing to publicly speak out about the things he does that we disagree with, and not only to speak out publicly against them, but to speak out as loudly and publicly against them as we speak out about the things that we do like about him or his policies? Or, are we like the majority of conservative Republican Christians, who silently support him and his policies and shamefully (or not so shamefully) vote for him, while failing to speak up about anything at all?

Our words are powerful. What and who we choose to support and encourage speaks volumes about us and about what we value most. So does our silence.

I have seen a crazy number of posts circulating right now with huge, long lists of what we, as Americans, can be doing right now to address racism in our country. I'll be honest: they are so long and detailed that I am struggling to even read all of them, nonetheless try to do all of them. I would like to propose that there is one thing that we can and should do, which is probably the most important, if we want to start sending a very loud and clear message about how we feel about racism - and discrimination, in general - in our country. And it only takes seconds.

Vote for Joe Biden.