In the summer of 2018, my family and I had the opportunity to attend a lecture at Answers in Genesis, given by Ken Hamm, its founding director. While I don’t agree with Ken Hamm on a number of topics and issues, the lecture he gave on race was thoughtful and challenging. So much so that much of what I am going to share in this article is from my memories of that lecture.

Racism is based on the idea that there are different human races, the “white race,” the “black race,” the “yellow race,” the “red race,” and so on. While it is generally assumed that people share similar characteristics, racism relies heavily on highlighting the inherent differences between people groups in an attempt to elevate one group over another in rights, privilege, and position in society.

The idea of racism has been around as long as different kinds of people groups have existed. The clearest example to give us some context comes from Hitler and the National Socialists Party (the Nazis), who promoted the idea that races were in competition with each other for superiority. Superiority being greater rights, privilege, and position.

The term race has not always been defined as it is today. Prior to the 1800’s most people referred to “race” as cultural groups such as the “English race,” the “Irish race,” etc. This view however changed in 1859 when Charles Darwin published his book, “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,” originally titled, “The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life”.

According to Darwinian thinking, different races descended from different ancestors separated by location and over periods of time. Some were more superior than others, in which he presented the idea of “natural selection” being naturally selected for survival and dominance. This has been popularized as the survival of the fittest.

I want to be very clear that my desire is not to debate, or even denounce Darwin’s theory of evolution in this article, but instead to have us understand that it has negative consequences. Darwinian thinking has played a major role in promoting the idea that different people groups or “races” of people evolved at different times and rates, making one more superior than another.

As a result of Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection, people started thinking in terms of different people groups as representing different “races,” some selected to succeed over others. It might be helpful as I use the words success and superiority, that we think of the word “power” and “control” because that is what it is ultimately about.

Even today as I am writing this article a prominent Yale scientist, David Gelernter, publicly denounced Darwinian thinking as not only improbable scientifically, but statistically and ideologically “a dead loss.”

Interestingly, people who love to pit science and the Bible against one another may be surprised to find that there is far more agreement than disagreement.

In Genesis chapter one, God created man in His image, elevating by that action the worth value and status of each person made in His image, and all share a common ancestry. This is important because if God created us, He also created the great diversity that we experience among us.

In Acts 17:26, in the King James translation says that we are all “one blood,” one race, the human race. We are intrinsically bound together by not just a biological truth, but also a spiritual truth.

Jesus, in one of His few prayers recorded from John 17, prays to God that, “they (we) may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).

In fact, the Book of Revelation says that all the peoples of the earth, with all their differences, will gather as “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9).

Armed with these two truths, science and the Bible, we cannot continue to perpetuate racist philosophies and ideologies to the success of one people group over others. Instead, we need to see others as we see ourselves and embrace that we are all one race; the human race.

No. Sadly, the answer is found in Darwin’s original published title, “The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.”

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By 13-year old Brogan Hennesy

A new year brings lots of change, and with 2019 just beginning, we get a new Super Bowl, new movies, and people often set new resolutions for themselves like exercising more, eating less junk food, being more social, and a countless number of other goals we all set for ourselves.

  While these resolutions seem like good ideas and doable, I often see people who are not able to keep their resolutions for a whole year. This may be because change is difficult, and I would know because I recently underwent a change that felt small at first, but ended up being an immense task.

For Christmas, I decided I was going to change my bedroom and get a more grown up, cool room. I still had my “kid room”, a bunk bed from when I moved in to my house, about six years ago.

I went out shopping a couple times with my family, looking at furniture, mattresses, bed frames, and  decorations. I enjoyed browsing at different stores, testing out pillows, and spending time with my family. I was having fun planning out my new room, so I thought it would be easy to tear down my old room.

While I was taking down old posters, clearing out dressers, and taking apart my old bunk bed, I felt sentimental, and was disappointed that my old room was being torn down. For six years I had never really changed it, and in an afternoon it was almost unrecognizable.

I felt like I was making a huge mistake. I kept complaining that my room was “ruined”, and that I didn’t like it being so bare. I even considered not going through with the change and putting my old room back together.

After completely emptying my room, I just had to wait for the furniture to be shipped. Slowly, I started to felt better about my decision, and was excited to see my new room.

Finally, the big day came. My furniture was already assembled, waiting for me when I got home from school. I ran up to my room, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I instantly knew that I made the right decision. I was so excited to see my bedroom finally come together.

Resolutions are things that we set for ourselves, so we can change for the better. At times, that change is difficult and hard to stick to. It always seems easier to just quit. The only person that was holding ME to my change was myself. But I knew that if I gave up on my change, I would be cheating myself, and I would never get the bedroom that I wanted.

Change can be anything, large or small. As simple as redoing a bedroom, or as difficult as losing lots of weight. I think all people have specific, individual changes that are difficult for them.

Trying to make a change can seem simple, but I found out that the idea of change and actually changing are not the same thing.

From my new experience, I am going to try to look at new change with an open mind. While it might not be easy, I will still try to see it through, because there is no harm in trying. My next change, keeping my room tidy, which I don’t know how long I can keep up! I will keep you posted!

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