The Biblical Call for Equality

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
– James 2:1-4

Why is it that our brains judge people based on gender, race, socio-economic class, etc.? This passage in James makes it clear, only one thing makes us differentiate – our “evil thoughts.” The fact that we live in a fallen world and live with sin every day makes us look at people differently. The Book of James makes it clear to me that we are supposed to treat others equally, and in the call to “seek justice” we are to fight for the equality of the disenfranchised. I am meditating on this today and ask you to think about and pray about how you can work towards achieving equality for all and help the disenfranchised.

As a person that teaches about gender studies and critical race studies, I often hear the phrase why do we have to learn this stuff – racism is dead, sexism is dead – this is America – Everyone is equal. And then I ask, look a little closer, is this really true?

For instance, in the richest country in the world: why is it that a black child is over fifty percent more likely to die in their first year of life then a white child? And why are black women half as likely to get breast cancer than white women, yet twice as likely to die from the disease? What about banks that have found new creative ways to discriminate against giving loans to African Americans – such as blocking out entire neighborhoods, which just coincidentally happens to be an African American neighborhood.

How about the fact that women still make less per hour than men for the exact same amount of work (76 cents to the dollar that men make). Or, that even though women make up 51 percent of our population, they make up about 14 percent of elected offices – the second worst representation of any industrialized nation. And finally, the fact that one in five (or more) women get raped in college? In a society where women need to fear being that one out of five, is there true equality? Not to mention the fact that there is extreme pressure on women from all areas of society (media, television, magazines, schools, etc.) to live up to impossible standards – spending hours on make-up or hair or developing eating disorders to live up to unreasonable expectations of body shape. When asked about Islamic women’s choice to wear hajibs or head scarfs (In over 90 percent of the countries it is a choice, only a few extreme places is it required), I usually respond – is the extreme pressure we put on women to wear makeup, tight clothing, and other physical expectations really much different?

The fact is, sexism is not dead. Racism is not dead. And as Christians that are clearly called to seek justice and not judge others by our “evil thoughts,” we need to work on ending these evil institutions that pervade our everyday lives. We must take individual responsibility to treat everyone equally and to help the disenfranchised. In other words, if someone is making a sexist or racist joke at the water cooler – clearly say “I do not appreciate that.” Then as a whole, as Christians, we must work to not tolerate these idead in larger society as well. Fight for the disenfranchised in any way possible and you are truly acting Christ-like, caring for the “least of these.” It is not an easy task, but it is one that we are called towards.