imago dei
imago dei - the image of God
that is all i can think about when i see the photos of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. these men and women were created in the image of God. yet they were brutally murdered by those who believe that because of the color of their skin (black) they don’t deserve to be treated with any decency whatsoever. this is wrong. the oppression, the segregation, and the senseless killing MUST STOP.
i realize as i say this that i have grown up in a system where i benefit from the white color of my skin. i do not experience this form of hatred. i do not have to fear for my life when i walk around my neighborhood, when i drive into my city, when i go to the grocery store. i am not stopped and questioned. why should my life matter more than those who are black? this is a rhetorical question. it should not.
Jesus wasn’t white. Consistently, Jesus sought after the marginalized. those who were oppressed, shunned, treated like dirt. Jesus ate meals with them. He didn’t passively love these people from afar, no. He actively lived his life with people who were different than Him. He did not sit idly by. it is our turn to follow His example and do the same. “At the heart of racism is the religious assertion that God made a creative mistake when He brought some people into being.” Friedrich Otto Hertz
my heart is broken. i am angry. i have spent the past week silently reading news articles, social media posts, and watching videos. i do not have an excuse for being uneducated. i will read, learn, and be better. i have no excuse for being silent. the time for silence has ended long ago. it is time for us to speak up, to stand up, to link arms with our black brothers and sisters and fight this. i am challenging those of you who have safely grown up protected by our Euro-centric system (aka all of you white people) to ask yourself hard questions, to read up, to speak to your families, but most importantly TO DO SOMETHING. donate, sign petitions, call Congressmen, buy from and support a black owned small business in your city or a city that is suffering. do not sit there and say nothing. “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” Martin-Luther King
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
