I don't know...is it just me, or do the people of this nation seem to be focusing more on "race" than ever? I guess I'm naive, but after growing up in the turbulent 60s when all the high prices were paid for racial equality in this country, I had thought we had transcended all that and finally looked at each other simply as Americans. In fact, just after September 11 occurred, I remember a TV ad that used to make me weep. Many people of different ethnic backgrounds and skin colors would appear on the screen and say, "I am an American." Remember that? What happened to that spirit?
Two nights ago while watching a news story about Sonia Sotomayor, the woman Obama has chosen as a Supreme Court Judge, I saw and heard something that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. A journalist was interviewing a group of Hispanic school children. He passed the microphone around the table in this elementary school classroom, and each child in turn told how excited they are to have a "Latino woman" as a judge. Then they excitedly began proclaiming that "A Latino will be the next President!" and "We will rule this country!" Next, the journalist was interviewing Hispanic people on the streets of the city, and similar proclamations were heard, as if this is some kind of common goal, to get Hispanics elected to high offices all over the country and take over!
Just after this, Sotomayor herself makes a comment about a wise Latina woman making wiser choices than a white man. What is going on here? Why was there so much hoopla about electing a black President? It appears to me that once again the people of this nation are focused on skin color, rather than on people and their hearts and values.
Voting for a person because of his or her skin color/race is a travesty! It fosters anger, separation and violence. Encouraging our young generations to want certain races of people to take control and have power sets us up for a future of worse civil unrest and violence than I grew up in.
I wonder...why are we celebrating that a WOMAN and a LATINA has been chosen? If she is found to be a person of strong moral character, impeccable reputation, and strong devotion to God and her country, then shouldn't we celebrate that? What does the Word of God have to say about this? Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
All I can is that those who are elevating ethnic background and skin color above everything else must surely not be in Christ Jesus. Let's pray for them.
