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October 30, 2024
Peace Publishers LLC. Resources in fifteen categories for self-instruction, classes, sermons, and conferences. An original 21st Century Commentary on Revelation is being added. Site administrator and publisher in English and Spanish: Homer Dewayne Shappley, evangelist and author of 2,500-plus documents in both languages. Oversight: Cairo, Tennesse Church of Christ.
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The COLOR of Human LIFE
"BLM." "Black Lives Matter."
Omnipresent acronym and headline today (2022) in social media, newscasts, talk shows, newspapers, and magazines. On decals; on fences and walls of buildings, even on streets and sports fields. In many places in the United States of America.
Also, on banners and placards carried by throngs of people crying out for respect, equality, and justice.
Some, peacefully.
Others, through riots, destruction of property, and physical aggression against those they conceive as "enemies."
"Black Lives Matter" is a federation, without formal organization, of groups that advocate for racial justice, and other social-sexual-political causes.
"Black" is an adjective. "Lives," the noun "Black" qualifies.
However, the reality is that human life, as such, has NO COLOR!
It is neither black, brown, ruddy,
red, bronze, yellow, cream,
white, albino, or nuances and combinations of these colors. Nor is it blue.
Yes, there have been slightly blue-toned human beings in France and the state of Kentucky, USA. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methemoglobinemia
"Physical life" is an active force in the physical body of the human being that activates the eight major systems of cells and organs that make up the fantastic body.
"Spiritual life" is the active force that imparts powers of understanding and execution to the spirit engendered by the Creator God in every human body. Hebrews 12:9; Genesis 1:26-28
Of course, the “physical-spiritual” concept of the human being is totally ruled out by Darwinian evolutionists, other atheists, and humanists.
And it is generally ignored, voluntarily and gladly, by people who decide to live mostly, or entirely, as fleshly beings, sensual, secular, and materialistic, without a thought of soul or spirit. 2 Peter 2:10-12; Jude 1:10
Reiterating, neither the active force of physical life nor that of spiritual life has color.
Forces, by the way, that no scientist or group of scientists has ever been able to activate using combinations of basic elements in laboratories.
What does have exterior, visible color in the physical body of the human being is the skin. And the eyes. And the hair.
In the context of the plural verb "Matter," the color of the skin, eyes, and hair does not contribute anything whatsoever to the TRUE VALUE of the individual.
To his, or her, physical appearance, well, yes, of course.
But, contrary to the criteria for "human value" held by masses of people, neither does physical appearance contribute anything to the TRUE VALUE of the individual.
The beautiful woman, like the handsome male, can be as devoid of true value as any other physical type of human being.
On the inside of the physical human body, RED is the color of blood, no matter if the skin is black, brown, ruddy, red, bronze, yellow, cream, white, or albino.
“Human blood is always red. It appears blue under the skin because it is viewed through a layer of subcutaneous fat beneath the skin that gives the veins a bluish tint. The idea that oxygenated blood is red and deoxygenated blood is blue is a common misconception. In fact, human blood is never blue. It does change color depending on the level of oxygenation. In the arteries, where blood is fully oxygenated, it appears bright red, while in the veins, where the oxygen is depleted, it is a dark red.” https://www.reference.com/science/real-color-blood-6a4e947f38b88eb9
And I daresay that if the blood of each human race were of any different color, neither would such a factor be decisive in assessing the TRUE VALUE of the individual. After all, these colors are only the names of pigments. They do not identify values.
Well then, given these realities about the innate nature of human life, just how is the statement "Black Lives Matter” to be taken? For “black” is not the color of any “life.” Nor is any other color.
Nevertheless, “Black Lives Matter” is an affirmation that has become the motto of many black-skinned human beings in the U.S.A., including not a few people of different sexual orientations who belong to LGBTQ communities. By the way, two of the three women who started the BLM movement identified themselves sexually with the letter "Q." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter
People who pronounce and promote that mantra
are living human beings just like the other living human beings around the globe.
Emphasizing again, the human life of each of us, and every one of us, has no real color. It is not "black life," nor "white life," nor "brown life," nor life of any other color.
How does each human life
ACQUIRE TRUE VALUE?
According to atheists, human life cannot acquire values other than purely animal ones, for they assure us that humans are nothing more than a superior species of animal, and that, by accidents of evolution. There is, they confidently affirm, no life form superior to the human one; no god, no super-intelligent creator, no source of life outside the material universe.
This very poor and hollow concept of the human I, personally, consider one of the root causes of the gross misbehavior of so many members of our species, including that of violent, destructive fanatics who confront each other over racial issues. They act, precisely, just like "irrational animals." 1 Corinthians 2:14
For a relevant study: "NASA was able to recreate the origins of life and the results are shocking." Critical analysis of the Fox News report.
Having very thoroughly analyzed the thesis and arguments of Darwinian evolutionists and other atheists, I continue to be unconvinced of their veracity.
Together with multitudes of different races, past, and present, including ancient Greek philosophers and poets, I find it more reasonable to believe that the life of each and every one of us, both physical and spiritual, comes from the Creator God.
The Apostle Paul, having himself acquired strong academic credentials (Acts 22:3), states emphatically to the philosophers and other intellectuals present in the Areopagus of Athens:
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth… for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’” Acts 17:26-28
Now, if those ancient Greek poets understood, without having a Bible, that all humans are the "offspring" of the Creator God, why not us?
And, moreover, to fully understand that what gives TRUE VALUE to the LIFE of each of us are the ATTRIBUTES of the Supreme Being of whom we are "offspring."
Every human life that enters this world is INNOCENT at birth.
Growing and maturing, each acquires true value by making his, or her, very own, the noble and beautiful attributes of the Celestial Being who sustains both physical and spiritual life, conserving them to the end of life on earth.
Unfeigned love for every soul, compassion, justice, kindness, mercy, honesty, dignity, honor, patience, verticality, love for truth, and equal treatment for all, regardless of the color of their skin, or any other physical-material consideration.
Negative values are what one acquires by not doing so.
"The lives of black people matter." Of course, they do! They matter if they truly matter. As also those of any other color.
At a restaurant in the state of Tennessee, two black-skin ladies paid for the breakfast some adjunct police officers had ordered, noting on the bill:
"BLM, and yours also."
What a beautiful act and sentiment! What an inspiring gesture! Such sentiments and gestures are what make any life really matter.
"The lives of brown people matter. And of mulatto... red... yellow… white... albino." They all matter.
But let us keep in mind: All lives matter in the generic sense of their spiritual-physical origin and the potential for good of each person, irrespective of color.
Of course, the affirmations “Black lives matter” and “All lives matter, whatever the color of their physical body,” are, precisely, generic.
Potentially, every life matters, the color of the skin not being even a little bit important.
However, in actuality, in its individual capacity, human life may…
1. Have different grades of true value.
2. Not have any value that counts for anything positive. Being so extremely passive, without convictions, or meaningful actions, and, consequently, without influence, the sum of such a life is practically zero.
3. Lack good values. A condition that, in a downward spiral, results in conducts that range from somewhat damaging and counterproductive to greatly destructive and even criminal, impacting negatively not only the individual but also family, friends, society and the state.
Therefore, given that these three assertions with reference to the possible values each human life may have are valid, being also sustained by real empirical evidence, when it is stated that:
“The lives of such and such a human race matter and deserve to be respected,” I have the right, even the duty, to ask: “WHAT LIVES?”
Am I duty-bound, humanly and morally, to accept as “good,” verbally approve, respect, honor, uphold, and never call attention to negatively, the lives of Category 3 above?
Because the skin is black, brown, reddish or any other color, including white? Call “good”, respect, honor, uphold, and never call attention to negatively…
Those lives enslaved to illicit drugs, alcoholic beverages, pornography, sexual perversions, profane street language, sadistically violent entertainment.
People who sell illicit drugs, are petty thieves, professional thieves, rapists, sex traffickers, prostitutes, gang members who steal, destroy, and kill.
Indolent people, vagabonds and deceivers who deliberately live off the public largess.
Promiscuous men and women who procreate children without the least intention of forming a nuclear family where the husband and father, with his wife and mother of his children, sexually faithful to each other in legitimate marriage, form a stable home, propitious for bringing up healthy, good children.
Their intent is the opposite, namely: To form unnatural “relationships” and “homes” were unmarried mothers and unmarried fathers have illegitimate children with the express purpose of obtaining money and other goods from government agencies, charitable organizations, churches, etc.
These collaborating entities also, thereby, becoming guilty of fomenting the creation, sustaining, and multiplication of such “homes,” which harbor and perpetuate social-civic-economic evils that ruin not only their occupants but whole communities. For who will dare say they are not the seedbeds of all kinds of juvenile delinquents, destructive gangs, and criminals of every caliber.
Of a certainty, common sense dictates that I should never consider “good,” approve, respect, honor or uphold such lives.
This has nothing to do with the color of the skin of the people who make up Category 3. Their attitudes, intentions, and actions determine who and what they are. And how they should be evaluated and treated.
Common sense dictates that these lives are terrible role models to follow, for any and every community. They sow terror and chaos instead of security, peace, and order. They consume resources, without contributing anything for their replacement. In short, they are almost completely lacking in positive values, and in a substantial percentage, positive values are totally absent.
Their only option for obtaining or recuperating true value is to repent of all their evil thoughts, attitudes, and actions, making a 180-degree turn.
This means changing themselves into good people who honor their Creator and fellow human beings by cultivating and implementing good thoughts.
A marvelous transformation experienced by some young people, men, and women of different races, who, previous to such an admirable change, were wasting the life they lived in activities of the abominable Category 3.
Those who opt to not renew their mind and spirit, and, thereby, their life, making the bad
choice of continuing to militate in Category 3 until death (statistically, a premature death) will find out too late that, for the Supreme Judge of lives and souls, neither pride of race nor color of skin are worth a cent. On the contrary, only the good actions of people who are, in their daily walk of life, just, right-living, humble, compassionate, as well as respectful of God and human life. Revelation 19:7-8; 20:11-15
Consigned to the Second Death, their state of “life without value” is made permanent, all hope vanished of any rectification in the hereafter. Revelation 20:14-15
Just, good, humble, and respectful people of any human race, being socially and spiritually intelligent, simply are not afflicted with the evil of racism!
Be they poor or rich. Be they unlettered or highly educated. Be they oppressed or free. Be they country people or city dwellers, farmers or factory workers, tradesmen or owners of small businesses, officials of corporations, financiers, writers, teachers, preachers, doctors, lawyers, judges, or professors; representatives, senators, or occupiers of the highest political offices. They are not racists!
They do not judge by physical appearances. On the contrary, they look beyond them as if they were transparent or nonexistent, to the real person. John 7:24; 2 Corinthians 5:12
Quickly discerning, by means of verbal exchanges, messages transmitted by the eyes, and other body languages, the inner spirit of the person. 1 John 4:1; 2 Corinthians 2:11
The true state of his, or her, mind, and heart.
Evident moral-social-civic-spiritual values, or the lack of them.
Registering attitudes and intentions as healthy or unhealthy.
Determining the true value of the life of the person, or lack of it.
They respond, not to the physical appearance of the physical body of the person, but to the state of mind and spirit.
Never with racial or social prejudices. Nor with arbitrary rejection based on first impressions. Neither with premature judgments, verbal violence, or physical gestures. Rather with deference and reverence for each and everyone. 1 Peter 3:15
If their respectful, courteous treatment is not reciprocated, they tactfully withdraw, without recriminations or threats. They do not pay evil with evil. They do not avenge themselves. They desire to live in peace with all men and women. They strive to overcome evil with good. Romans 12:18-21
If it turns out that a friendly dialogue develops, they share their convictions, norms, and beliefs, without any authoritarian imposition whatsoever or egotistical motivations. At the same time, giving due attention to those of any other person participating in the exchange.
Being informed of any particular case…
Of personal abuse, perfunctory, offensive rejection, dismissal from work, denial of medical or social services, sexual harassment, disregard of personal rights, violent physical aggression, even death…
…attributable to pure racism …
And feeling bound by conscience to intervene to obtain justice, they have recourse to duly constituted authorities and legal tribunals, armed with the necessary evidence and presenting it with tact and dignity.
Whatever the result of any intervention may be, they do not instigate, neither openly nor clandestinely, members of their particular race to riot against duly elected or appointed authorities, nor to attack other races. To vandalize, loot or burn properties at will.
To invoke and unleash criminal elements, hoodlums full of vices and violence, half-crazy characters, wild, unsavory types, fanatics with personal political-social-sexual agendas, whether women or men, youth or adults…
…inciting them to destructive, vengeful manifestations, while they shout for “justice”…
…would be to violate their own convictions, beliefs, and norms regarding “rational, true justice, sacred personal rights, order, mutual respect, sane conduct, and legal actions.”
The organization of human beings where the highest level of interaction free of racial prejudices, and without social, economic, or political special considerations, is to be found would surely be the Kingdom of God, synonymous on the earth with the original church established by Jesus Christ.
Esteemed friend, I beseech you to take careful notice. In this Spiritual Kingdom “not from this world… not from here,” as Christ explains to Pontius Pilate… John 18:36
“There is neither Jew nor Greek [zero racism];
“…slave nor free [zero social prejudices];
“…male nor female [zero prejudices against men or women];
“…for you are all one [unity of mind and spirit without human barriers]
“…in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
That is, a new style of life on a high, divine level, where no importance whatsoever is given too…
The natural colors of the skin, eyes, or hair.
To different formations of facial features.
To congenital defects, or abnormalities caused by armed conflicts, accidents, physical aggression, sicknesses, etc., in members of the physical body.
Nor to social-economic statuses.
Where personal political convictions or
opinions are not divulged, nor discussed,
in the public forum of the “Kingdom… not from this world.”
Where love, peace, harmony, and well-being reign equally for one and all.
This means that any church practicing or tacitly approving racism, simply and plainly does not follow the pattern of the IDEAL CHURCH revealed in the New Testament of Jesus Christ.
Before the apostle Paul declared, by the Spirit, what is quoted above about “There is neither Jew nor Greek…,” he explains how to be in Christ and his Kingdom, where all people of all races can be seated “in heavenly places,” (Ephesians 2:6) leaving behind all kinds of complexes and conflicts that whirl dangerously around physical appearances, racial questions, social injustices, political beliefs, etc., etc. He says:
“…For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:26-27
Jesus Christ explains to Nicodemus, “a ruler of the Jews,” that it is necessary to be born of water (baptized, immersed in water) and to be born of the Spirit (immersed in the teachings of the Holy Spirit) in order to be admitted into the spiritual Kingdom of God. John 3:1-7
So then, if you will hear these good tidings (Romans 10:17. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.), believing in Christ, repenting of your sins, and being baptized “for the forgiveness of sins,” (Acts 2:37-28; Mark 16:15-16) you will be saved from perverse generations of all kinds! And be added by Christ to his church. Acts 2:47. Which is synonymous with being transferred from the kingdoms of the darkness of this world to the unmovable, eternal Kingdom of God the Father and His Beloved Son! Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 12:28. Synonymous with the “new heavens and the new earth,” where JUSTICE reigns eternally! 2 Peter 3:13-14
What more could we ask for?
It is now your turn!
Esteemed reader, if you have found this article to be a just and biblical treatment of this delicate subject, a "Like" from you would be most appreciated.
Text and Document Composition by the author Homer Dewayne Shappley. All rights reserved. The only restrictions on the use of this document are the sale of it in any format and proper identification of its origin.
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