Race Issues in AiG’s Backyard!

When I called my mother in Australia this past week, she shared with me that the problems surrounding the shooting of a “black” youth in Cincinnati (Ohio, United States—just 20 minutes from AiG-US headquarters) had become headline news around Australia.

There’s no doubt that the rioting, curfews, and investigations as a result of this shooting have once again brought the “race” issue into the public arena—not just in the US, but also worldwide.

Over the years, I have been challenging the church in America and around the world to lead the way in regard to this volatile issue. Once again, though, because much of the church teaches the Bible as just a sort of “devotional book” concerning salvation (and many have been influenced by millions of years and evolutionary ideas), the church has by and large not been doing its job.

Had the church been teaching the Bible as real history, connecting the Bible to the real world in every area, including the origin of the different people groups and nations, maybe the world would now be sitting up and listening to the church for answers.

, we are thrilled to be able to say that we have been helping to lead the church in this area. With the publication of the ground-breaking book One Blood: The Biblical Answer to Racism in the past couple of years, together with videos, booklets, and audio tapes dealing with the origin of the so-called “races” and the Biblical answer to racism, we have been instructing people in such things as:

1. There is only ONE race of humans, as all are descendants of one man and one woman. Even the secular world is voicing (at least the first part of) this truth that should have been shouted from the rooftops by the church. For instance, one of the scientists from the human genome project recently stated: “…the researchers had unanimously declared, there is only one race—the human race.”1 [emphasis ours]
   
   
2. The genetic differences between the so-called “races” are trivial to the point of insignificance. Scientists have found that the genetic difference between any two people is around 0.2%. However, the characteristics that are most often used to distinguish the so-called “races,” such as skin “color” and eye shape etc, constitute less than 6% of this difference—or only 0.01%!
   
   Researchers from the human genome project recently announced: “If you ask what percentage of your genes is reflected in your external appearance, the basis by which we talk about race, the answer seems to be in the range of 0.01 percent.”2
   
   
3. There are no “white” people or “black” people. All humans have the same basic skin color—just varying amounts. This is explained in much more detail in the book One Blood and in various articles (see the bottom of this article). The event of the Tower of Babel as recorded in Genesis 11 provides a historical basis for understanding why the different people groups around the world have developed.
   
   
4. People have been “programmed” to see so-called “racial differences” as major. Again, the human genome researchers concluded: “The criteria that people use for race are based entirely on external features that we are programmed to recognize.“3 [emphasis ours]
   
   Thus, people need to be “de-programmed regarding ‘races’.”
5. Even though evolution is not the cause of racism, Stephen Jay Gould (an ardent evolutionist) from Harvard University admits: “Biological arguments for racism may have been common before 1859, but they increased by orders of magnitude following the acceptance of evolutionary theory.”4
   
   Evolutionary ideas have, regrettably, influenced most people and have, in a real sense, forever changed the meaning of the word “race.” Most today think in terms of “races” as meaning that some are more primitive or advanced than others. But as the human genome researchers stated: “But the more closely that researchers examine the human genome—the complement of genetic material encased in the heart of almost every cell of the body—the more most of them are convinced that the standard labels used to distinguish people by ‘race’ have little or no biological meaning.”5[emphasis ours]
   
   
6. Evolution still is a racist philosophy. Even though it is not politically correct to admit this today, nonetheless there are scientists who are willing to be consistent and admit the connection between “molecules-to-man” evolution and racist views/prejudices concerning different people groups.
   
   It’s sad to note that the very textbook (used by John Scopes) at the center of the 1925 Scopes trial taught students to be racist (something the secular media or evolutionists today will not inform you about). The following is a quote from that textbook:
   
   “The Races of man—At the present time there exist upon the earth five races or varieties of man, each very different from the other in instincts, social customs, and, to an extent in structure. These are the Ethiopian or Negro type, originating in Africa; the Malay or brown race, from the islands of the Pacific; the American Indian; the Mongolian or yellow race, including the natives of China, Japan, and the Eskimos; and finally, the highest type of all, the Caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America.” 6[emphasis ours]
   
   
7. The solution to racism can only begin to be found by teaching true history based on the Bible, and helping to convince people that:
   1. All humans are of one blood or “race” (Acts 17:26), descendants of Adam; all are equal before God, and therefore ALL have the same problem of sin.
   2. All humans need the same solution-Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23-25).
   3. All humans, no matter from what culture, need to judge their attitudes, beliefs, and behavior against the absolute authority of the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
   4. All humans need to look past the minor surface differences such as skin shade (not “color” as all are the same color), eye shape etc, and “look” at the real person-who is one of our relatives (Matthew 22:39).

There is no doubt that racist attitudes have been (and still are) justified by evolutionary beliefs. But the Bible does NOT support or condone the view that one people group is superior to another. Rather, it clearly teaches that all people groups are of the same “race’—human—and that we are all equal before God. True “racial reconciliation” can only be realized when Biblical authority is upheld and individuals understand the truth of human ancestry, namely that we are all descendants of the first man, Adam, and are therefore all related.

AIG’s Website has numerous articles relating to this topic (see following list). Please email or print out and give them to others. Let’s saturate the world with the truth!

How has evolution contributed to racism and violence?

• The Australian Aboriginal
• Darwinism and the Nazi Race Holocaust(Semi-Technical)
• Evolution of the Hutu-Tutsi Slayings
• The Bible and Slavery

Where did the human races come from?

• Are There Really Different Races?
• Who Was Cain’s Wife?

What is the Bible’s view on interracial marriage and racism?

• Interracial Marriage