Category: Ethics

GOD’S FAVORED COLOR: WHITE, BROWN, BLACK, OR RED?

 

A large group of people standing together in a room.

God’s favored color is the color life, red. God’s favored color has nothing to do with race, ethnicity, politics, ideology, or socio-economic philosophy. If God does not look at skin color, what should Biblical Christians do about racism?

Why do I believe that God’s favored color is red? In Genesis 4:10-12, God said to Cain,

What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth. [Scriptural quotations are from the New International Version,]

Genesis 9:6 says, Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God has God made man. In Exodus 12, the Passover lamb and its blood is central to the Passover. In verse 5 scripture says, The animals you choose must be year- old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Verses 7-11 tells us that the people were to

¦Take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roasted over the fire ˆ’ head, legs, and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your coat tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste, it is the Lord’s Passover.

Let’s consider some key Passover symbols. The entire Passover paints a picture of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection which gives believers in Him the promise of eternal life. Of course, the Lamb, without defect, symbolized Christ. The Lambs blood symbolized Christ’s blood. A bunch of hyssop was used to place a lot of blood on the door frame. The blood on top of the frame dripped to the threshold at the bottom. Blood was also placed on the posts on each side of the doors. Connect the dots of blood and you get the cross of Christ’s crucifixion. Think of it. When God passed through Egypt, He would not let the destroyer enter the houses protected by the Lambs blood, the cross of Christ’s crucifixion. The blood of the Lamb and the cross of Christ provided salvation, life, for all in the house. Sacrificial blood is part of atonement and forgiveness. Leviticus 17:11 says, For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Similarly, Hebrews 9:22 says, In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. God’s favored color is red, the color of the Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God.

Let’s look at the Lamb’s part in the Passover meal. That which was eatable by God’s instructions about what to eat was totally consumed. It was incorporated into the body of each participant. This is a symbol of Salvation. Each person must accept Christ into their life as Lord and Savior. Christ, through the Holy Spirit empowers each Christian as in Acts 2:4, All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the spirit enabled them. In contrast, those parts of the Lamb that were not to be consumed according to God’s instructions, Exodus 29, unholy parts, were totally consumed in fire. Symbolically, that, or those, outside God’s redemptive plan through the blood of Christ face another fire, Revelations 20:14-15,

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Since blood is red and blood is life, God’s favored color is red. Does God give a whit about the skin color of the people He created? Genesis 9:6 says, Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God has God made man. With this in mind, does skin color represent the image of God or is it the blood that represents the image of God? God only sees one color when he looks at his human creation. The color of the blood of Jesus Christ. This is also the only color we should see,

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The phrase white as snow comes from Isaiah 1: 18, ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet [red], they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’ Let us be crystal clear, when God speaks through Scripture, white never refers to skin color. White is never a racial term. When I look at humanity, I want to see only one color, the red color of the blood of Jesus that washed away our sin, the sin of each individual in the United States and the world.

Scripturally, white also represents the Light and Life of Christ. In Mathew 17:2 we read, There He was transfigured before them. His face shone as the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light [from His face]. In John 8:12, Jesus said, I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life. John 1:4 states, In Him [Christ] was Life, and that Life was the Light of men. In John 14;6-7 Christ said,

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really know Me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.

Our red blood makes up about 8% of our body weight. Our blood is our life both spiritually in God’s sight and physically. Physically, our blood is where our cells exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide carried to and from our lungs to our entire body. Our blood carries nutrients from our digestive system to our entire body, and metabolic waste from our entire body to our organs of waste elimination. Our blood carries hormones throughout our bodies. Our blood transports the essence of our physical life. This is the reason that blood is life in the sight of God; and the red of blood is God’s favored color.

Since our skin makes up only about 7% of our total body weight, I personally fail to understand why people think that skin color has any relevance when evaluating the worth or character of any human being. Sadly, when I look at the black community outside the walls of Biblical Christian black churches, I unfortunately, see skin color because that black community sees me as a racist old white man steeped in white privilege. The vision of the greater black community, outside of the Blood of Jesus, is the vision that is MAKING A RACIST OLD WHITE MAN of me. Unfortunately, I also see a community ravaged by BLACK SELF-GENOCIDE, at the hands of black criminals who kill their fellow blacks including black children. It also breaks my heart to know that black babies in the wombs of black mothers are killed by abortionists, more black self-genocide.

As we consider the implications of God’s favored color, there is one critical question for Biblical Christians of every race, ethnicity, and class. How can we work together to unite our nation for the cause of Christ when leftist elitists of our most influential institutions and culture seek to divide us by race, ethnicity, and economic class? These groups also denigrate and undermine Biblical Christian morality and ethics as well as our two Holy and ordained institutions, the church and family consisting of a father, mother, and their children. These elitists also deny, denigrate, and undermine the importance and reality of our Judeo-Christian heritage in relation to our Constitution, national success, prosperity, and freedom to elect a black President, Barack Obama.

The first step in answering the question, How, is to become informed about the issues. Hopefully, the seventy plus articles at America’s Crossroad will provide sufficient information about the critical issues affecting our nation and Biblical Christians. The AMERICA’S CROSSROAD and PATRIOT VISIONS tabs at the top of the website will provide insights into my biases and perspectives on the issues. The PATRIOT VISIONS tab discusses my positioning of the various philosophical, ideological, and political groups on the left-right political continuum. The BLOG CONTENTS tab lists articles by general subject matter categories and provides a link to each article on the site. The CHRISTIANITY, CULTURE, EDUCATION, and MARXISM categories will probably provide the most relevant information for Biblical Christians.

The second step in answering the question, How, is to ask yourself if your votes and activism actually represent your Biblical Christian values. If the policies, initiatives, and laws supported the politicians you vote for do not reflect your Biblical Christian values, stop voting for them. If a school board candidate supports teaching curricula that does not reflect your Biblical Christian values, do not support or vote or them. If no candidate supports your Biblical Christian values, become active in finding a candidate or candidates who do; or run for the office yourself. Ordinary people like you are running for office all over our nation, especially in school board elections. To use an old cliche, actions speak louder than words.

The third step in answering the question, How, is to increase voter registration and voting among Biblical Christians. Sadely, voter registration and voting among Biblical Christians is about the same as in the secular population, about 50%. If there are 50 to 80 million Biblical Christians in the United States, a significant number of voters with Biblical Christian values are not voting. Consider the fact that the Southern Baptist Convention has 14.5 million members with at least 4 million attenders who are not members. Additionally, there are at least 10 other Biblical Christian denominations and countless independent congregations in our nation. If half of these unregistered Biblical Christians were registered and voted their values, 12.5 to 20 million Biblical Christian value voters would cast ballots in our national elections for President and the US congress. The same results would occur at the local and state levels. The result would transform our nation. One could call it the start of a revival of traditional Judeo-Christian values.

God does not see skin color, race, or ethnicity. He only sees God’s favored color, red, the color of the Blood of Jesus shed for redemption of our sin.

The final question for readers is simple, What will you do?

Join the fray. All of the America s Crossroad Posts are listed by categories in the  BLOG CONTENTS tab. If you decide to read a few, please leave comments about your Patriot Visions, start or join the conversation, and share the Posts with friends and political frienimies.

SAVING OUR ECONOMY FROM COVID-19

 

A word cloud of many words related to unemployment.

Saving our economy will require innovative thinking. The question is, Will the innovation come from progressives and the Democrat Party or capitalists, entrepreneurs, and the Republican Party? In my opinion, the best solution will come from capitalists and entrepreneurs with the assistance of the Republican Party at the state and national level. However, ethics, morality, empathy, and benevolence will be required of capitalists and entrepreneurs or our economy could easily fail. In other words, saving our economy will require Godly capitalists and entrepreneurs not Godless immoral capitalists.

Covid-19 has devastated our economy, especially small businesses and their employees, over 50% of the economy. Today, less than 2% of the Covid-19 cases result in deaths, tragic as each death is. This death rate is less than 9/100 of 1% of our 320M population, a 20% decline since last summer when 2.8% of the cases resulted in deaths. By the end of this year, our nation will lose around 350.000 citizens to Covid-19. To put this tragic loss in perspective, the annual death rate for cardiovascular disease and cancer are both greater than our annual Covid-19 losses this year. In 2017, according to Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2020 Update – Professional Heart Daily | American Heart Association cardiovascular disease caused nearly 859,000 deaths. Similarly, in 2018, according to An Update on Cancer Deaths in the United States | CDC there were 599,274 cancer deaths. This sad perspective will be a necessary consideration for saving our economy.

Saving our economy will require reductions in Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths, economic shutdowns, and school closures causing small business failures, unemployment, evictions, foreclosures, loan defaults, and bankruptcies. To gain some perspective, a comparison of two economic responses to the pandemic is appropriate. For this comparison consider the response of Florida, California, and New York. The October 2020 unemployment rate for each state was 6.5% in Florida, 9.3% in California, and 9.6% in New York according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Florida unemployment was more than 40% lower than that of California and New York. This is important since Florida has not closed its economy while the California and New York economies have been closed much of the year.

Consequently, the mid-December Covid-19 statistics for these states must be compared to evaluate the effects of economic closures.   In Florida, 20,050 Covid-19 patients died out of 1,116,973 cases, a 1.8% case fatality rate, which is 9/100s of 1% of the 22 million Floridians. In California, 20,854 Covid-19 patients died out of 1,528,177 cases, a 1.4% case fatality rate, which is 5/100s of 1%, of the 40 million Californians. In New York, 34,983 Covid-19 patients died out of 764,966 cases, a 4.6% case fatality rate, which is 17/100s of 1% of the 20 million New Yorkers. Although New York was among the first states struck by the pandemic and the nation has subsequently learned a great deal about the disease, the New York case fatality rate is extreme in comparison to Florida and California. New York senior citizens with the virus were placed in elder care and living facilities with healthy residents resulting in rapid spread and high death rates. This action was inexcusable and must never be repeated especially when available beds in a hospital ship and convention center were not used for these senior citizens.

The final class of data to consider in a discussion of the means of saving our economy is how Covid-19 spreads in our communities. In many respects, the data is contradictory among states. In Louisiana, NPR reports that bars account for 14% of the cases and restaurants 13% of the cases. In contrast, contact tracing in New York shows that restaurants and bars account for a combined total of only 1.4% of the cases while household and social gatherings accounted 74% of the cases which is the same as the 74% close contact and community spread reported by North Dakota. Arkansas contact tracing data shows that restaurants and bars account for only 3% of the cases. In Illinois, restaurants account for 4% of the cases, bars account for 3%, and religious activities account for 5%. Interestingly, community events, (protests?) account for 7% of the cases, more than religious activities, bars, and restaurants. The Illinois contact data is the most complete evaluated; and it shows that activities that appeared to be that of essential workers contributed to most of the cases in the state, about 35%.

When governors and big city mayors close their economies or small businesses, they are usually not following the science. They are using their power to show their constituents that they are doing something, even if that something is not supported by science. The above data shows that small businesses including restaurants and bars as well as religious activities are not significant sources of Covid-19 spread. Dr. Fauci observed that community spread made it almost impossible to predict how many cases there will be. The facts demonstrate that community spread between people with no known contact with other infected individuals, travel to an area where the disease occurs, or spread among essential workers and household and social gatherings is more important than spread occurring at schools, religious gatherings, small businesses, bars, and restaurants. The fact that Covid-19 can be transmitted by people who are asymptomatic and unknowingly transmit the disease is also an important consideration when evaluating how to deal with the economic impact of the spread of Covid-19. With asymptomatic community spread and a significant part of our population involved in essential work, does it really make sense to close our economy, small businesses, and religious activities? Will doing so, contribute to saving our economy?

Returning to the comparison between Florida and California, comparisons of the unemployment and death rate data will provide difficult answers to these two questions. First, by applying the California Covid-19 death rate, with extensive economic closures, to the Florida population with few economic closures, Florida would have suffered almost 8,600 fewer deaths. By applying the Florida death rate to the California population, California would have suffered 15,600 more deaths. Second, by applying the unemployment rate of California to the Florida population, Florida would have 616,000 more unemployed. Applying the Florida unemployment rate to California that state would have 1,120,000 fewer unemployed. Putting it brutally, California’s comparatively closed economy may have saved 15,600 lives at the expense of 1,120,000 jobs. Conversely, Florida’s comparatively open economy may have cost 8,600 lives while saving 616,000 jobs. Obviously, governors and big city mayors have almost impossible choices to make regarding saving lives and saving our economy.

Using Covid-19 death rates and unemployment levels from one state to predict unemployment and Covid-19 mortality in another state is mere speculation used to provoke argument and discussion. After all, no two states have the same climate which affects outdoor activities and indoor gatherings. State populations have different age structures, racial and ethnic ratios, and ideological and political affiliations. No two state economies are the same. Each state has a unique business structures affecting the size of their industrial, financial, technology and service sectors, large and small retail establishments, and residential rental and home ownership ratios. These differences make prediction of Covid-19 death rates and unemployment in one state based on data from another state useful discussion tools, but such predictions are simply food for thought as We the People, governors, and big city mayors evaluate the potential impacts of our leader’s economic decisions.

It is useful to recall the early scientific Covid-19 models predicting 2-3 million US deaths in the first year of the pandemic. These predictions shocked us into submitting to successive two-week, national quarantines or lock downs. Except for essential workers, we stayed home and did not work. Many of us were fortunate enough to work from home potentially altering the way some types of work will be done in the future. We closed our schools. We agreed to wash our hands and sanitize surfaces at work and home. We observed social distancing and stopped personal contact with others including our relatives in senior centers and our dying loved ones in hospitals, and eventually most of us started wearing face masks to protect ourselves and others once the science convinced us of face mask efficacy. We flattened the curve and reduced Covid-19 deaths to 350,000 rather than millions. Obviously, governors and big city mayors have almost impossible choices to make regarding saving lives and saving our economy.

The last consideration regarding these devastating numbers is the other impacts of economic closures on people. School closures and unemployment impacts suicide rates, depression, drug addiction, alcoholism, family abuse, evictions, foreclosures, late payments on mortgages, rent, and loans, loan defaults, and bankruptcies. Most websites discussing suicide rates are unhelpful or totally unreliable. For example, the World Population Review site has two graphic depictions and a table titled, Suicide Rates by State 2020 all with identical data. Unfortunately, the first line on the table states, * Rates are per 100,000 people. Data for calendar year 2018. Covid-19 death statistics are immediately available, but suicide data takes two years to compile and report.

A July 2020 Townhall report titled, CDC Director Compares Rate of Suicides to COVID-19 Deaths summarizes concerns regarding school closings and other issues associated with closing our society and economy.

Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield said in a Buck Institute webinar that suicides and drug overdoses have surpassed the death rate for COVID-19 among high school students. Redfield argued that lockdowns and lack of public schooling constituted a disproportionally negative impact on young peoples’ mental health.

“But there has been another cost that we’ve seen, particularly in high schools,” Redfield said. “We’re seeing, sadly, far greater suicides now than we are deaths from COVID. We’re seeing far greater deaths from drug overdose that are above excess that we had as background than we are seeing the deaths from COVID. So this is why I keep coming back for the overall social [well] being of individuals, is let’s all work together and find out how we can find common ground to get these schools open in a way that people are comfortable and their safe.”

A doctor at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, CA claimed the facility has seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.

“What I have seen recently, I have never seen before,” Hansen said. “I have never seen so much intentional injury, said a nurse from the same hospital.

And while health authorities will not have verified data regarding suicides and drug overdoses in 2020 for two more years, local reporting indicates that suicide fatalities have increased year-on-year.

According to the American Medical Association, More than 35 states have reported increases in opioid-related mortality, [and] concerns for those with a mental illness or substance use disorder.

School closures cause other problems for families, especially single parent families. Essential workers cannot stay at home to monitor their children’s on-line education without risking their jobs. The stress leads to the mental issues described above. For families fortunate enough to have one parent who can work from home, the strain of balancing work and school can be debilitating, especially when young children are involved. In the best of situations, educators indicate that our children are losing ground. If parents lose their jobs because they must care for children due to school closures, they usually face economic disaster and the associated mental health issues. Since K-12 students are among the lowest risk group for contracting or transmitting Covid-19 or suffering serious effects of the disease in the absence of underlying conditions, opening our schools would have a major impact in saving our economy.

In my opinion, saving our economy will require national and state governments to act on behalf of We the People without regard to the accumulation of political power. With meaningful government assistance, capitalists and entrepreneurs acting with empathy, benevolence, and uncommon moral and ethical standards offer the best hope for saving our economy. Another round of national government Covid-19 aid like the payroll protection plan for small businesses and their employees, small business loans, extension of unemployment benefits, and eviction and foreclosure moratoriums would reduce the impact on We the People caused by the ongoing pandemic until vaccines end the Covid-19 crisis. Capitalists and entrepreneurs could provide a bridge between government measures and people’s ability to regain their financial stability. For example, banks, mortgagers, loan companies, and other financiers could offer reduced no penalty payment plans with commensurate repayment period extensions. Residential, commercial, and industrial property owners could offer similar reductions in rent and lease payments. It is not unreasonable to offer the suggested payment reduction plans and extensions to businesses, mortgagees, and tenants with sound pre-Covid-19 payment histories.

Our economy should start to recover as more people get vaccinated, but most of our population will not be immunized for six to eight months. At that time, it is reasonable to expect the economy to move into a period of rapid recovery. Consequently, the suggested credit, rent, and lease payment reduction and extensions should last at least one year. This would allow people to recover financially and resume pre-Covid-19 payment levels. This plan would allow property owners and lenders to keep good people and businesses as tenants or owners with a lower risk profile. Without such a plan, properties could remain vacant, producing no revenue, and incur extra costs related to foreclosures, evictions, and potential litigation. With the entire economy weakened, new tenants and owners could be scarce and pose a higher risk of failure as small businesses, new tenants, and mortgagees.

This plan would reduce unemployment, mental illness including suicides, drug abuse, and family abuse, and help families cope with school closures. Of course, the plan would also reduce financier’s short-term income for about one year; but it would promote long-term stability economic expansion thereby saving our economy.

Join the fray. All of the America’s Crossroad Posts are listed by categories in the  BLOG CONTENTS tab.  If you decide to read a few, please leave comments about your Patriot Visions, start or join the conversation, and share the Posts with friends and political frienimies.