Christianity and Race in America

Christianity and Race in America
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Christianity and Race in America
The case for Christianity and race in the United States (U.S.) revokes racism and the history of religion, which dates back to the first encounters between the indigenous people of America and European immigrants. The European immigrants were quite pleased with the generosity of the natives in that they shared their possessions with them to the extent they would never say no as long as they owned it (Bae, 2016). There is a widely held conviction that the birth of racism in the country begun “with religiously justified exploitation, massacre, and war with the natives” even though the full development of the racist ideology in the country was after the abolition of slavery (p. 1002). These oppressors quoted convenient scripture sayings such as Romans 13:2 which states that “Whatsoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” The other was Psalm 2:8: “Ask of me, and I shall give thee, the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Christianity in America has been a facilitator for racism where respect for traditions and conformity to societal norms have undermined the true essence of the religion to the extent of it being used as an identifier for American nationalism and thereby diminishing other races’ dignity in the country.
Initially, racial become a predominant discussion in America as some of the races sought economic superiority, and amidst all this, the complicity of the poor. Although most discussions are centered on the structural and economic problems of racism, there is no doubt as to the existing challenge spiritually. Therefore, it is both a structural and spiritual problem that demands the intervention of both political action and prayer. These divisions are actions that Jesus Christ would otherwise rebuke. Even in his time, he emphasized the essence of reaching out to the other side to reach a consensus particularly, in the then prevailing division between the Jews and Gentiles (Cohen, 2017). Progressive human civilization is obliged to realizing the extremities of racism and seek to abolish it rather than deny its existence. Otherwise, contemporary white Christians are culprits with continuous denials and claim African-American frequent shootings are isolated events. On the other hand, white non-Christians hold similar opinions with Blacks when it comes to racial discrimination (Burke, 2020). It so happens that white Americans are quite convinced that there is racial inequality, but then elicit consistent efforts to oppose government programs as worthwhile solutions. They think that blacks have these experiences because of their continued and individual bad choices (Hinojosa & Park, 2004). These paradoxical situations exhibit the gravity of the situation and more so, the justification as to why racism from a religious perspective will be a daunting task to overcome.
It is important to establish the reasons why people identify with their religious faction thereby promoting racial prejudice. In this case, when religious groups similarly establish their social perceptions as national, political as well as other social identities, its members are bound to offer their responses concerning whether they are out-group or in-group members. The most primal segregation in religion is that of believers and non-believers meaning that it has already set the precedent for other divisions to ensue. In this case, the out-group is likely to receive major derogation from people who have a robust identity with a certain religion. This position implies that other races may feel excluded as, the out-group considering that religion is mostly practiced within the race. Early socialization into a specific religion gears one into developing tendencies differentiating their faith from others. Religious group identification justifies why immigrant groups are keen on forming and maintaining “segregated religious congregations when faced with language barriers and other forms of social exclusion” (Roberts & Yamane, 2015, p. 255). On the other hand, the use of various languages during congregational services reminds one of their home countries. Historically, the country’s Catholic congregations performed their services in Italian, Welsh, and German elevating the sense of belonging to various immigrants.
<...