IT'S A RACE!

Having worked on the 2010 U.S. Census project since March, I have since modified my stance on "race" and ethnicity. I used to take it all in stride, this idea of black and white "races." Then I became reactionary through Answers in Genesis and their teaching the "human race" as the only race. Fair enough. I defended it.

Then I began thinking about the U.S. Census questionnaire and its use of the term race, which was extremely confusing to not a few respondents. Many were incensed at the questions.

To simplify things (for myself anyway), I like to call race another word for ethnicity because that is what it historically boils down to. The Israelite "race," for example, was not permitted by God to intermarry with other nations, or races, in the Old Testament. This would pollute the purity of God's people and compromise their position in His economy and kingdom. I may conclude that God was very concerned about race back then.

In the New Testament economy, God has allowed the progressive dilution of races to the point where most marriages are of necessity mixed-race marriages. Because Jesus/God gave the apostle Peter the vision of clean and unclean animals to eat (which signified Jews and Gentiles being declared equally valid and eligible for salvation in the New Testament economy), we may conclude that God has removed that restriction because in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek... (Galatians 3:28)

This begs the question: any questions?