A Moral Issue

A Moral Issue

Romans 10:12

Civil rights is not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.  I’m not the first to say this.  Every group that has ever fought for its rights has said the same thing.  Suffragettes said that it was morally wrong to deny the vote to half the population.  Men both here and in England argued hotly that it would be the end of civilization.  It wasn’t. 

Martin Luther King and many others marched and fought (non-violently) for rights—not just for African-Americans, but for all minorities.  They said that everyone has a right to decent housing, good jobs, fair treatment, and an equal place in society with everyone else.  Those who stood against them said it would be the end of civilization.  It wasn’t.

The struggle continues.  Other groups insist on their rights—not just because it is politically correct, but because it is morally correct.  If we shape the debate as a political issue, it will always divide those for from those against.  If we shape it as a moral issue, it is difficult to take a position against civil rights for anyone.

Even more than a moral issue, universal civil rights is a religious issue, especially for Christians.  Several times in his letters Paul says that there is no distinction between people.  Sometimes he mentions two categories (Jews and Greeks, slaves and free persons).  Sometimes he includes a third (males and females) or more.  The message is always the same.  In God’s eyes there is no distinction between people.  We are all equal before God.

“But,” you say, “Paul is talking about those who believe in the Lord.  Everyone who believes on the Lord is equal.”  Even here Christians have a bad track record.  Large numbers of Christians refused to support women’s rights, whether for the vote, or for equal pay, or for other issues.  Large numbers of Christians used the Bible to defend slavery in this country, and later refused to support the call for equality for African-Americans.  Too often the church has been willing to sit on the sidelines, even at the expense of its own members, supporting the status quo, not wanting to endanger its safe, secure place in society by standing for what was morally right.

Here is what it comes down to:  Christians, whether Bible literalists or Bible “interpretationalists,” believe that the universe and everything in it was created by God.  We may disagree on the amount of time it took, and the method by which it was accomplished, but we all agree that this is God’s universe.  God created it, God is in charge, and God will someday cause it to end—all in God’s good time.  No person has a right to mess with God’s creation or God’s right to rule creation.

Every person on this planet (and any other planet that contains life) is God’s creation, and therefore owes his/her existence to God.  Every one of us is a child of God.  Therefore, all are equal in God’s sight.  God may choose to deal with us differently—any parent understands that principle.  The most unfair parenting is to treat all of our children exactly the same.  God works with each one of us as God sees fit, trying to help all of us understand God’s love. 

God doesn’t play favorites.  God loves each of God’s children equally, whether Jew, or Greek, or American, or Brazilian; whether banker, or butcher, or migrant worker; whether black, or white, or brown, or any other color of the rainbow—God loves each of us.  If God loves each of us equally, how can any of us deny basic human rights to any other of us?  Where do we get the authority to elevate any of God’s children above any other of God’s children? 

Civil rights is not a political issue, it’s a moral issue, and for Christians, it’s God’s law.