The data was undeniable. During the height of the COVID pandemic, communities of color, ethnic, and minority groups were disproportionately affected with higher death rates and other complications than the white population. While the reasons are multifactorial, numerous medical organizations and residency training programs are promoting the idea that racism is a disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) labels it a system and a serious threat to public health.
If we review the dictionary’s definition of a disease, we find the following which provides compelling support to label racism a disease.
- a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms
- a harmful development (as in a social institution)
Source: Merriam-Webster.com
Correctly identifying and defining a disease is the first step in learning how to diagnose and treat it. What about a far more deadlier disease, one that afflicts everyone who has ever lived? These are the distinguishing signs and symptoms of sin.
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.
Psalms 32:3-4 (NASB)
And this is the treatment.
I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.
Psalms 32:5 (NASB)
The reasons for racism are rooted in our sinful nature. God has created each of us in His image and imbued us with a conscience, an ability to discern right from wrong. Yet, instead of listening to our conscience and obeying God, we follow the world and our own will. Even when threatened by a pandemic, we are unable to come together and care for one another as brothers and sisters under God. Instead, we accept explanations that certain groups of people are disenfranchised due to their own actions and they deserve their fate. This is not what God says. We are all separated from God and we all need to be reconciled to Him through faith and belief in Jesus Christ. This is the treatment for racism because it is the only treatment for sin.
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
The Bereans Blog 