Is God a Segregationist?

SOME people say that God is the one who segregated the races; others say that racial segregation is just the opposite of the Christian principle of love. Last June 27 the American Baptist Association unanimously adopted a resolution putting God on the side of segregation. According to reports in the public press this resolution included these four points:

“God created the races distinct from one another. God scattered the races over the face of the earth at a time when they attempted to integrate and become one (Genesis 11:8). All flesh is not the same flesh (1 Corinthians 15:39) and just as animals, fishes, and birds are of a flesh peculiar to their kind . . . so He has also drawn the lines of demarcation between the black and white races. A great segment, if not the majority, of the Negro population of the South does not desire integration.”

The American Baptist Association represents only a small part of the Baptists in America, but these arguments are quite common and they deserve investigation. The following paragraphs will consider the four points made in this resolution.

First, God does not say that he created the races distinct from one another. Instead, he says that they all are one. “Eve . . . was the mother of all living.” Of “the three sons of Noah . . . was the whole earth overspread.” God “hath made of one blood all nations of men.” These are the things the Bible says. When such differences arise, between what men have said and what the Bible says, whom do you believe, God or men?—Gen. 3:20; 9:19; Acts 17:26.

Further, the Bible does not say that God scattered men because they began to integrate. The scattering was at Babel, and all the men there were of the same general family anyway, this being only a short time after the Flood. Integration was not the issue; false religion was. When the men at Babel went to “build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and . . . make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth,” then God divided these false worshipers, not according to color, but according to language. So, again, the Bible does not support the segregationists’ claim.—Gen. 11:4.

The resolution continues: “All flesh is not the same flesh (1 Corinthians 15:39) and just as animals, fishes, and birds are of a flesh peculiar to their kind . . . so He has also drawn the lines of demarcation between the black and white races.” But 1 Corinthians 15:39 says: “There is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.” On its face this text disproves the American Baptists’ argument. It says there is “one kind of flesh of men,” not two kinds, as these people say. Again, whom will you believe, God or man?

The final point: “A great segment, if not the majority, of the Negro population of the South does not desire integration.” This statement, whether true or false, is of no point to our discussion here, for it has no effect on whether God can be blamed for segregation.

Some people argue that the colored race was sentenced to a secondary status by Noah after the flood, in that he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham. However, the facts show that the colored race sprang not from Ham’s son Canaan but from his son Cush. Therefore not even Noah’s curse as recorded at Genesis 9:26, 27 can be used to argue that God is responsible for segregation.

Some people argue that God segregated the Israelites. But this too dealt with religion, not with race. The Law given to Israel said: “You must form no marriage alliance with them. Your daughter you must not give to his son, and his daughter you must not take for your son. For he will turn your son from following me and they will certainly serve other gods, and Jehovah’s anger will indeed blaze against you and he will certainly annihilate you in a hurry.” (Deut. 7:3, 4, NW) However, the Israelites could marry people who accepted true worship. Salmon married Rahab, and Boaz married the widow Ruth, both of whom were non-Israelites, and both of whom became ancestors of Jesus.

But still some segregationists say: “If God didn’t segregate the races, then why are they of different colors?” Skin color, slant of the eye, color of the hair, etc., are inheritance factors. All the variations, including the many shades of skin color that the human race knows, were available in the genes provided in the first man and woman. Skin color is a result of the genes a person inherited, just as blonde hair or blue eyes are. God allowed for great variety, but it is man’s activity that has put one group into a superior position over another.

Far from teaching segregation, the Bible condemns it. Paul publicly rebuked Peter for being ashamed to be seen with the uncircumcised Gentile Christians. And he wrote: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, . . . for you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.”—Gal. 3:28, NW.

But whether the Bible teaches it or not the issue of segregation will remain. Actually, it is one of the most power-charged issues of our times. Even many people who think they oppose segregation actually practice it when the issue comes to their neighborhood instead of its being in the other person’s.

Then what should the true Christian do about it all? He does not spend his time trying to solve all such social problems, because neither Jesus nor the apostles took such a course. They did not agitate against Rome’s occupation of Palestine or even against the actual slavery that was common then. They stayed free from such issues so that they could do their far more important work of pointing to God’s kingdom as man’s only hope.

Today true Christians follow that good example. They follow the Christian principles of love, pointing to the blessings of God’s kingdom as the only real solution to all of earth’s problems, and announcing that under that kingdom rule there will be no segregation on any basis but a oneness of all mankind under their Creator, Jehovah God.

Men of all races are examining the Scriptures. They are seeing this wise course and are teaching others of the glorious conditions of peace that God’s kingdom soon will bring to earth. The blessings that this God-directed kingdom will provide will prove once and for all that God really does love all men who serve him, and that he is no segregationist.