Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God.”
Our world is getting more messy and chaotic
by the second. Cancel culture is quickly taking away people’s freedom to make
choices, and even their ability to make a living. This is a slippery slope, my
friends. I remember while working in a public school library, we would feature
banned books as a way to speak against censorship. These tomes usually had
content that some people would find offensive, but the important thing was to
uphold freedom of speech. This is a foundational tenant of the United States
Constitution, and it allows me to do what I am doing here. How much longer, I
wonder, will I be able to write about the mercy, grace, and love of my Savior?
This past week, six books by Dr. Seuss were
deemed too offensive for print by Dr. Seuss Enterprises. They took this action,
according to the AP, because they are being sensitive to the changing racial
climate. The six books pulled from publication have stereotypical images of
people. Now, I am by no means saying that these images do not offend some
people, because I am sure they do. Being a person of faith who believes in the inerrant
Word of God, I do not want anyone to be hurt or discriminated against, for this
is not of God.
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God
He created him, male and female He created them.”
Leviticus 19:33-34 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land,
you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you
as a native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were
strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”
My concern around this “cancel culture” we
are experiencing is that it will be a slow boiling pot of losing our history and
the truth around it. We cannot blot out the sins of the past, we can only learn
from them, and use them as talking points to teach our children. Right now, we,
as adults, are erasing things out of their lives and making that decision for
all. Just like me choosing not to watch mature or R rated programs or movies, we
can trust others to choose whether to expose their children to these classics
or not. When my husband read The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn to our son when he was younger, he used it as a tool to
teach him about race and history. He did not sanitize the story (although he
did feel uncomfortable reading some of the language), instead choosing to
introduce certain words and actions to him, and carefully explain that they are
abusive and unfair to others. He also used it to show our son that people of
different races can and should love one another. When we ban or cancel any art
form, we lose our ability to teach and learn. We lose our ability to learn from
history.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned
to repeat it.” George Santayana
I am not, by any stretch of the word, stating
that history does not repeat itself over and over again. We are a sinful,
selfish human race, and that is why there continues to be hatred, greed, war,
and power hungry people. It is because of the sinful nature in this unbelieving
world that repetition of the past occurs. This is the common thread between all
races and cultures, and this is the root cause of all we suffer from. Thankfully,
God has sent a Savior for all people.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have eternal life. But God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it,
but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
No comments:
Post a Comment