When the great pioneer of church renewal, John Wesley, visited the American colonies in the 1730’s he observed that slavery in the colonial south (and other places in the world) was barbaric and cruel and later wrote a tract “Thoughts Upon Slavery” condemning slavery and declaring it should be abolished. It took many years for America to outlaw slavery and so it was guilty of a great moral crime. Hundreds of thousands died in the Civil War in the struggle to rid America of slavery and Christians were pioneers in the drive for abolition. But once freed America succumbed to another great crime — the Jim Crow laws, which allowed legal discrimination against blacks. African-Americans have been trying to recover from this ever since.
This is why it is so discouraging for an American President, President Trump, to respond to the white supremacists in Charlottesville with comments about the protests such as there were “very fine people” on both sides, and commenting that the removal of confederate monuments was “sad” and “so foolish”. Even though Trump denounced racism and even though those who protested the white supremacists apparently used some violence, these facts do not outweigh the President’s ambivalent comments just mentioned. He should make it clear that racism is by far the bigger offense and not speak any words that blur our moral view of racists.
Obviously, no biblical Christian can support any kind of racism (there are plenty of passages that speak against racism). Can anyone imagine Jesus discriminating against anyone on the basis of their race? Nor can we support the President’s comments. They are shocking and discouraging. This is one reason I wonder if the election of President Trump is a judgment on America. We are now suffering the consequences of embracing moral relativism, hedonism, materialism and selfishness into our society.
“He should make it clear that racism is by far the bigger offense and not speak any words that blur our moral view of racists.”
Unfortunately, Trump’s life has embodied these vices. His lack of character has been abundantly demonstrated (you can see some of the evidence under our Musings page (see the entries for November 2016 and December 21, 2016). Yet this person was nominated, then elected by Americans. He is another person that Jesus is calling out of sin and into God’s light.
Next week Part 2 (see here) will look at some Christian responses to President Trump.
