RACIAL RECONCILIATION
THE PREDICATE OF FEAR
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof,
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis
3:8) KJV.
I so love Holy Scripture.
Everything associated with human behavior for me is made plain and discoverable within Holy Scripture the Bible. The third chapter of the Book of Genesis in
the Holy Bible has been a fascination to me from my youth. In my transitioning
to maturity I am impressed mainly with how wrong and intentionally wrong Holy
Scripture has been communicated! Yea, for me it is troubling how often Scripture
has been used by man for vicious and sinful purposes both in antiquity and
today. It is a tragedy when folk are duped so easily by their desires and sloth
into believing misinterpretations of Holy Scripture.
After the
so-called fall of man; since the beginning the woman has borne the weight of
guilt in the world. Actually the weight has always been rooted in the choice
made by the man. The man who just happened to be in charge at the time of
decision chose disobedience, over his personal responsibility to the
commandment of the Creator. The man knew that he was in charge and given charge
over all things in the earth!
More often
than not this story (this particular verse), is told without acknowledging one
very important word. That word is “with”! The story is usually misinterpreted
as though the woman was alone at the time in the Garden of Eden with the
deceiving serpent. For centuries folk have been deceived into thinking that the
serpent convinced her of the beauty and power of the fruit; then she (in some clandestine
manner of secrecy) took the forbidden fruit and gave it to her man.
Historically
in conveying the message and this story, a perception endures that the woman
tricked her husband into eating the fruit forbidden them by God. We are
persuaded that this is just one example of setting an agenda and using Holy
Scripture to prove what is actually a lie. In this classic example – that the
woman Eve was the cause of the man Adam’s sin and thus the entire so-called “Fall
of Man!”
Of course the
ultimate strategy being to image the female creature as: weak devious disobedient
and inferior to the male. To this we say bullshit. Yes this is the appropriate
word of description, carrying the proper weight of outrage. Both were
disobedient and both heard the commandment of God. Simple as that!
As it relates
to equality equal, although the man being the first creation of human life; with
the woman being made from his bones: the man was given the greater
responsibility of the administration of God’s will. So in this regard the truth
of the story is that it was the man Adam who was actually responsible and
accountable for the “Fall of Man” and not the woman Eve. That is why it was a
man Jesus Christ not a woman who bore the suffering and performed the redemptive
sacrifice to correct that which Adam spoiled. That being the human’s
relationship with the entire universe!
Genesis
chapter three is so powerful for understanding human emotion. By way of example,
we ask: where do the emotions of fear and resentment – two of the most powerful
human emotions by the way; where do they come from? We believe that both emotions have a common
root and that root is guilt. Accurate interpretation of Genesis chapter three
clarifies for us that the emotion of guilt produces fear and vice versa.
When the Creator, came looking
for his creation, it was both fear and guilt that we see in the story. “Adam
where art thou” (3:9) the response: “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid,
because I was naked; and I hid myself”
(3:10). In this picture we see three emotions that are displayed: fear, guilt
and shame.
All of these emotions are connected. All of them are rooted in
either fear or guilt. We are persuaded that “I was afraid” is a picture of the
most profound emotion borne by the human being then and now. Fear is what
courage must overcome. Fear leads to many of our greatest human failings.
Action that produces fear brings about the domination of the human spirit; fear
is the principle tool that man uses to conquer most domains.
Actions declare choice. Choices put into
action produce results that are viewed as consequences; whether positive or
negative human emotions carry the power of our choice. Choices plus actions
equal results, or what we call consequences. We are persuaded that consequences
ending in fear will lead to guilt and then shame.
If guilt goes unresolved an
emotional state that is called resentment will set in; stays there until the
root of beginnings have been destroyed. This entire process is held in and
frames part of what we know as our human subconscious, which [Webster’s
Dictionary defines as: “subconscious: existing in the part of the mind that a
person is not aware of: existing in the mind but not consciously known or
felt.”]
An act that
produces guilt cannot be allowed to go unresolved for if there were no sin in
the act it will likely lead to sinfulness that is the result of resentment; this
is what unresolved guilt produces. It is very likely that a guilt producing act
was in actuality an act of sin. The first human act that gives us a picture of
guilt and shame and what is produced by fear is Genesis 3:9-10. Shame is the
picture we see in the statement: “I was naked” “I hid.”
Because of
his fear Adam did not take responsibility for his disobedience, his sin. Adam
blamed his wife for his own sin. Not to mitigate the role of Eve who was also
wrong in her choice, but it was Adam that the Creator had put in charge of
creation. Adam was “with” the woman and Adam was engaged in the entire matter. We
dare say that men have blamed women for many of their bad choices ever since.
The most
consequential and fundamental result of this Book of Genesis story really has
to do with the outcome of human disobedience. The act let us recall began with
the first and only “do not” commandment of the Creator to the creation. As it
is written: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
(Genesis 2:17) KJV.
This Scripture tell us that originally the human being did
not have nor was supposed to have a conscience. This we find
to be most fascinating! We also see from this Scripture that from the beginning
the human being was destined for an eternal life. That is still available. But
as to a conscience, this is obviously a feature that humans did not need or
originally come with as a creation.
Now, Co-Knowledge – two kinds of information if you will, is
essentially the definition of conscience. Co: meaning two and Science meaning
knowledge, in other words the knowledge’s: good and evil. "Death"
meant that the human being would become knowledgeable of evil for they were
already walking with good.
That is to say they were walking with God. Genesis
3:9-10 as we have seen, explains what happens when the human gets in touch with
evil: it was to for the first time know fear; then guilt; then shame and
eventually there will come resentment!
"Death" meant that there would be a separation
from God. Will God allow evil to touch God? NO! "Death" also meant
that the covering the humans were originally clothed with; that had immediately
vanished by their disobedience, was likely the same covering as what God was
clothed with.
We are told earlier in the Book that the human was created in the
image of God and most likely because of God’s continual presence a blinding
light type covering was the result. This perhaps causing the human’s to not see
their nakedness. The power of God’s actual physical presence may have caused a
longer human life as other Scripture often suggests?
But let us
get back to the important point here, which leads us to the discussion of this
current hour and Racial Reconciliation in America . The human beings by their
disobedience acquired a conscience. [Here is the online dictionary definition
of: con•science noun \ˈkän(t)-shən(t)s\ : the part of
the mind that makes you aware of your actions as being either morally right or
wrong : a feeling that something you have done is morally wrong Full
Definition of CONSCIENCE 1 a : the sense or consciousness of the
moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or
character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good b
: a faculty, power, or principle enjoining good acts c : the part of the superego in psychoanalysis
that transmits commands and admonitions to the ego 2 archaic :
CONSCIOUSNESS 3 :
conformity to what one considers to be correct, right, or morally good :
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 4 :
sensitive regard for fairness or justice : SCRUPLE — con•science•less
adjective — in all conscience or in conscience : in all fairness]
By their actions the human beings
actually brought evil and the knowledge of doing both right and wrong into the
earth. We are told in the Book that God cursed them both. This turned them
against one another. Now we do not imagine a different manner of human conduct
than what humans have displayed.
We only know what to us history has revealed.
Over the process of unfolding time what we see in looking at human history is
how the human being has subdued the earth. Our predicate is the Book of
Genesis.
Human history shows us that the male has subdued the
earth with what can only be described as an ungodly brutality. The man has used
the tools of a before unnecessary conscience: fear guilt shame and resentment; along
with his propagation of religion, i.e. by only allowing man to posses the
responsibility to communicate religious traditions and edicts. History speaks
to us in results: that this has been done for the purpose of male domination.
History shows us that the human
species has developed in other words moved through time in this fashion: the male
with brutish physicality – through which he has subdued all the elements of
survival; with religiosity – through which he has dominated hearts, bent and controlled
minds unto his own, will.
The female has transitioned through time in this
fashion: by surviving the male through whatever means necessary including manipulation
– through which she has been able to both survive and even conquer the male with
mental cunning, sexual acuity, birthing the species and training her offspring. What history reveals to us is the
picture of the man and woman given to us in the Book of Genesis. And this is the
established human behavioral predicate and a lens for viewing humans through time.
We have a lens that allows us to see how the human condition unfolded spiritually, emotionally and psychologically.
The lens and this predicate are important as
we view the current unrest in America . This lens is the American conscience. What we will see and understand is how a collective conscience of
a nation has produced today's severe racial problem. We will understand how to fix this problem through a process of racial
reconciliation.
What we will dissect is a seared national conscience hindering our urgent discussion of race.
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