Discrimination. You witness this at every turn that you encounter. This judgment is something that you do or you witness other people do. Discrimination is defined as unfair treatment of one person or group, usually because of prejudice about race, ethnicity, age, religion, or gender. The most famous of discriminations are whites v. blacks, Native American stereotypes, religions such as Islam, homosexuality, and women being discriminated because they are viewed as weak. We all are guilty of judging people too quickly, whether we admit it or not. Is that what God wants us to do?
The United States has tried to stop discrimination through many laws and acts like the non-discrimination law and the Civil Rights Act. The non-discrimination law makes it so no matter the race, gender, sexual preferences, etc. will not affect an individual’s right to vote, to have a job, a right to be served, and to have a judge of their peers. Unfortunately, these laws are not always enough for discrimination to stop.
A personal experience that I have about discrimination is not even about my own discrimination. In the fall of 2015, Syrian refugees became a big problem in the United States. The attack on Paris just occurred and the news was skewing with about the Middle East. While talking to a person I hold dear about the news he exclaimed, “We just need to nuke the Middle East and get rid of our problems.” I was dumbfounded by his statement, I reminded him about the genocide that Hitler started and he said, “It’s different, these aren’t Jews.”
I explained to him that the Bible says to love your neighbor and to forgive, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;” Luke 6:37. “Why do you not agree with me? Do you not love me? You must be a terrorist.” That last statement made me realize that this world needs to look at a bigger picture when it comes to judging. Mathew 7:1-5, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye,” does a great job at explaining why you should not judge someone. Too many people are willing to judge a person or a group solely by the actions of another individual because they share the same outwardly characteristics, John 7:24 says “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” Yet, when it comes to the judges, their fallacies are overlooked because they are not the ones who are tainted with hate by society.
We are too quick to judge someone as a terrorist if they believe in a different matter than us or they practice a different religion. A personal discrimination I experienced was when I was at work two years ago and a client told me I was a witch because I told her our downtown branch was across the street from a store called Barjons; a store known for multiple religious studies. She then proceeded to make the cross symbol with her fingers and point it at me.
Discrimination is a very important issue today. It no longer is only about whites and blacks, but between all people. There is an ongoing war between every culture on the judgment of another. In James 4:11-12 it says,“Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[a] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”
I’m not saying that we are going to stop judging and discriminating, I am just reminding us that the only one who has the right to judge a person is God.
