Is all this multicultural talk just a distraction from the Gospel?

[@ebercondrell6603]

I like what Dr. Peeler said toward the end trying to put the social justice movement into a Biblical lens. It is never about destroying the individual but about redeeming them. This is hard to see in the secular political debate.

[@cheryl8572-e4j]

Even though there are a lot of nay-sayers here in the comments, I appreciate that you’re trying to talk about this subject without being mean. And even to the nay-sayers, I’m glad this is a safe place to try to figure things out. ❤️

[@HoldFast-r7g]

Here's a truly radically progressive idea for today : How about reading the Bible with a Christian "lens" instead of a "lens" based on skin tone, gender politics, culture, identity politics or any other ideology ?

[@DiscipleDojo]

@@HoldFast-r7g assuming there is a cultural-neutral "Christian lens" (I assume it's the one you read through, of course) shows that one is in fact reading through a particular cultural lens, though.

[@DanMorrison1914]

I think the introduction to Revelation in the commentary addresses this very concept. Check it out!

[@HoldFast-r7g]

@DiscipleDojo Inserting Lenses is your ideology. I don't agree with inserting any "lenses" between people and Christianity. Christianity has absolutely nothing to do with being a republican, democrat, nationality, culture, skin tone, eye colour, shoe size, gender, sexually, etc. We bring and incorporate Christianity into all those aspects of life around us, not the other way around.

[@Jeowyn]

I really, truly wish the Christian Left would unite under God - CHRIST is what we have in common - rather than this intersectional navel-gazing that just encourages infighting and self-obsession. But alas.

[@tookie36]

Love the video. Nuance on complex subjects is a breath of fresh air

[@jocelyn4981]

I've heard that John Smith's resume will get more calls than Shanequa's, but I have to wonder if anything else was being considered -- they say identical resume, but interviews are never based on *just* the resume. There is almost always at least a cover letter -- are those identical in the study? Also, there are factors involved that have nothing to do with "race" and more with society -- it may be wrong, but I make instant assumptions about the parents' points of view and how they raised this person. Some are obviously going to be wrong, but *some* are going to be based in truth. What is FAR more important than color is parenting, political views, education, etc. Those of us concerned with these aspects are SO TIRED of discussions about race -- we share his concerns, but disagree that further conversations about race will help it.

[@Jeowyn]

Good points. I am wondering if they controlled for dippy "white" names and spellings that suggest the person, or their parents, may be poor, uneducated etc. "Shanee'qua" might not be getting calls back just because she's black, but that kind of name/spelling has connotations beyond race. People named John Smith might be flourishing in the job market, but I'm left wondering about white people named Kayden, Jaxon, Nevaeh, Maddissynne, Isis, etc.

[@canada1512]

YES.

[@joestfrancois]

Red, you are right, it is not fair you have to deal with other people's biases.

[@MathewDRhys]

I don't think this Esau has a clue about the real dangers of his presuppositions and any idea about what is actually motivating his opponents. Even his steel manning is condescending and out of touch. Either Jesus is your Identity or not. It's not about unity. It is about Love. And Love does not seek its own. Racism, sexism, blah blah blah. These are secondary things, contingent things, not foundational, effective things. Solve the first order things and the contingent things solve themselves.

[@DiscipleDojo]

@@MathewDRhys again, that's literally saying to not worry about dealing with some sins and instead focus on other sins. I'm glad John Welsey and William Wilberforce didn't agree with your version of Christian ethics. 🤷

[@Jeowyn]

​@DiscipleDojo But they did, and thank God for that - but it seems we can't accept and be grateful for the progress they made. Instead, we've become more and more obsessed with pettier and pettier grievances, which we've inflated and inflated. For example: the Assembly of the UCA, despite inaugurating a POC Moderator and confirming another, despite a heavy Islander presence and population, officially decided Christianity is "too white". Do you think this makes white people OR POC feel more loved or more welcome? Does it promote unity or worship or faith? Not at all. It tells people they're not welcome in Christianity if they're white, and that they are being persecuted if they're not - even if they have never felt persecuted before. For some Christians, Wilberforce never existed, let alone the Civil Rights movement. No progress is ever to be acknowledged or celebrated.

[@jsharp3165]

It's easy to dismiss problems as secondary that you yourself don't experience.

[@MathewDRhys]

@@jsharp3165 Who is talking about problems. I am talking about causes and being. All problems are secondary in that they have causes.

[@MathewDRhys]

@@DiscipleDojo Wow. Lets see if WIlberforce didn't think love and humility were primary. Love, real love, has measurable predictable consequence that roll out over time. Every single "Race" narrative since 2008 pretends the issue is de novo, and in the church supposed experts want to forget the Gospel is post-tribal. I can't see this as anything but an exercise in pride.

[@TylerDawnRosenquist]

That was excellent! I just got through all the editor's introductions and started Matthew today. So far, it's been an incredible experience.

[@BoylenInk]

As difficult as it is to understand the Bible and achieve some level of Christian unity, politics is many times more complicated, shrouded in lies and manipulation. A big problem with pastors and theologians getting involved in politics is their naivety. If someone is actually saying the problem is divisiveness, they are being subtle. What they mean is they don’t agree with your political opinions, they don’t agree with your alleged political facts, and they don’t want to have that argument in the church. The problem isn’t being divisive, it’s being wrong. I would really encourage anyone who cares about race relations but also thinks the progressive movement is working to solve these issues to go read or watch Thomas Sowell. You don’t have to agree with everything he says but hear him out. He has studied these issues as a professional economist for a very long time. Reading your Bible will tell you that racial hatred is wrong but it won’t help you navigate the modern maze of fact checking, social studies, and news stories.

[@joestfrancois]

"Reading your Bible will tell you that racial hatred is wrong" Uh, no. This is not what the Bible teaches. Have you read the Hebrew Bible?

[@BoylenInk]

@@joestfrancois This is a Christian channel and I am a Christian as well. But even if we restrict ourselves to the Old Testament, your reading racism back into this ancient text is anachronistic. Your response is not relevant to the main point of my comment and I am already too familiar with both the Bible and your type of attack against it, so I’m not going to waste both of our time trying to get you to admit you’re wrong. But you do bring up an interesting issue, which is that for some people everything they don’t like is racist. Also, accusations of racism are used today as a weapon to silence or ostracize people. It’s sad really, but accusations have proliferated to the point that calling someone or something racist is almost meaningless today. But that’s straying a bit from the content of the video so I’m not going to pursue it further here.

[@joestfrancois]

@@BoylenInk Ok then. So it wasn't racism back then, got it. Jesus called the Christ believed the Hebrew Bible. Paul, the self-proclaimed Apostle believed the Hebrew Bible. I am in no way alone in reading racism into the Hebrew Bible, in fact, it is not my idea at all. But I am not calling anyone racist or using the idea as a weapon. I am just making an observation about a text on a vid about diversity. Triggered you though.

[@BoylenInk]

@@joestfrancois Your simple observation is wrong. A little knowledge, such as what you have regarding the Hebrew Bible, is a dangerous thing. Dangerous because you think you have something significant to say when the truth is you’ve been taken in by lies. I know the Bible well enough to recognize the silliness of saying the Bible is racist but you don’t.

[@joestfrancois]

@@BoylenInk wrote "Your simple observation is wrong. A little knowledge, such as what you have regarding the Hebrew Bible, is a dangerous thing." LOL! LOL! LOL! Dude, it is not even my idea. Scholars through the ages have recognized the characterizations that are made in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. It is not silly, it is a valid point that you have done nothing at all to disprove in any way, other than to say you know the Bible and that is not what it says. So many Christans go on about how their Bible does not say what it says. Next you will say there is no slavery, or that women are not possessions of men in the Bible. Wait, wait, what is marriage defined as in the Bible?

[@joestfrancois]

You guys seem like a reasonable group of people, but I don't think you are going to see much change in America, in your lifetime. I am an average guy born in the early 60s in the middle of the USA. Sad to say, even though I recognize it and try not to, I still make observations based on race. Oh well. At least another generation of Americans, White and Black, must pass away before any real headway will be made. Still though, that bit Paul wrote in Titus sets a bad precedent. As JM is quick to point out, I am no expert. But that bit in Titus seems pretty straightforward. The argument that it is the sin that makes Cretins so bad is not convincing to me. The whole of the Old Testament and the ministry of Jesus sets ethnic Jews above all other ethnicities. It is not as if even in your Bible this sprung from nowhere.

[@DiscipleDojo]

@@joestfrancois this would be a great commentary for you to read on Titus if that is your current understanding of it. Also reread Deuteronomy if you think the Hebrew Bible teaches such a thing. Moses is pretty clear in it that Israel is most definitely *not* better than the surrounding nations He specifically says that more than once to them.

[@joestfrancois]

@@DiscipleDojo Cut it out JM, I have read Titus many times. This is yet another time that you are going to tell me your Bible does not say what is written there, I get it. Just know, and you do, I am not the first or only person to have seen it that way. By a long shot. Whether or not Moses (or whoever wrote Deut) thought Israel was better or worse than the surrounding nations is of no matter at all. According to your Bible, could those people have been saved? Don't bring up Rahab, that was an isolated incident. You won't respond, despite these being valid responses. You always just go "Nuh Uh" and then clam up.

[@terremolander5243]

Interesting thought about the name of a person as a deciding in job employment.

[@DiscipleDojo]

@@terremolander5243 it is sadly a well-documented phenomenon.

[@DanMorrison1914]

It’s a horrible reality.