Racism and Religion

At the heart of most religions is faith, a trust that what you believe is true.  Racism, the belief that one race is inherently inferior to another, is a faith which stems from fear.  People who are racist are viscerally convinced that another group or race is out to hurt them.  They are afraid and that fear is palpable.  They feel it and they trust that fear.  You will not be able to convince them they are wrong because, that is their faith.  They trust what they have heard, and their trust affirms their fear, and this fear is so clear to them, it cannot be wrong, all facts to the side.

What exactly is it that is feared?  The key word is infection.  When you were a child your parents were always concerned about your friends.  Their fear centered around being friends with the wrong crowd which could infect you causing you harm.  The person who is different, black, Jewish, Gay is not only a threat but is repulsive, disgusting and highly infectious.  This person looks human but is not really like you and me. 

The fear having been inculcated and established is not easily removed.  Once you are afraid these people are going to hurt you, you are no longer able to listen to reason or facts.  This faith and fear trumps love and truth. When enough people have or support this fear in one place it can become part of a system to which most people know the rules.

The only way to change this faith is through experience.  During World War II, there was a Lutheran pastor who was part of the Confessing Church, a group of Christians, mostly Pastors, opposed to the Nazis.  I met one of these Pastors and listened to his remarkable story.  When he was done, I asked him why the Confessing Church did not speak out about the persecution of the Jews.  He became quiet and the after a long pause said, “We did not know they were human.”  He went on to say he had never met or spoken to a Jew.  I was shocked!  Then I asked him, “When did you find out that Jews were human?”  He said when the Nazis threw him into a concentration camp, he met a Jew who gave him a piece of bread.  He said, “That’s when I realized Jews were people, they were human.”

Every semester at Augustana, I have encountered students who have told me I was the first Jew they had ever met.  Experience changes who we are and what we believe.

You can pass all kinds of laws requiring people to act decent toward each other.  And that is fine.

But, until you change people’s hearts, until they see and experience for themselves:  Black people are human, Jews are human, Native Americans are human, Gays are human; until that happens racism and hatred and fear will not be abolished.