~ Based on an actual conversation ~

Samuel: What a bunch of ignorant people!

Vincent: What are you so upset about?

S: Ugh. I am referring to this news article reporting on a case of blatant racial discrimination. It disgusts me to think that, in this day and age, there are still those who treat people according to their skin color.

V: I see. You said that these racists are ignorant people.

S: Yeah!

V: What exactly are they ignorant of?

S: Sorry?

V: You said that racists are ignorant people. If I understand you correctly, and if your words mean anything, then by associating racism with ignorance, you are asserting that racists lack certain information, and that if they were to learn this information, they would not be racists. What is this information that they lack?

S: Um…they are ignorant of the fact that all human beings are really the same.

V: I see. Racism treats people as if they are different, but the truth is that they are really the same. Therefore, racism is wrong.

S: Yeah.

V: How do you know that people are really the same? On what basis do you think this?

S: Science has provided us with so much knowledge about human beings, and it has shown that, whether black or white, we are all the same.

V: I do not share your confidence in science. In fact, I think that science is an irrational enterprise that cannot discover or prove anything. This is because science relies on sensation, induction, and experimentation. However, let us put that aside for the moment, and assume that it can discover truth. Your claim is that science proves that all human beings are the same, but it seems that it has done the opposite. Is it not a scientific opinion that some people, because of their race or their gender, are more susceptible to certain diseases?

S: That is true. But this is not an essential difference.

V: So there are differences between the races. To maintain your position, you have to say that these are non-essential differences. This only adds to your problem, since now you must define and defend a standard for determining essential and non-essential differences. Even if this specific difference of the susceptibility to diseases is not true, there are indeed differences between the races. At the least, we can say that their skin colors are different! Unless you are able to define and defend a standard, how can you say that skin color itself is not the essential difference? Maybe skin color is precisely the factor that makes a race superior and another inferior. Perhaps it is the most important difference.

S: We ought to judge people according to their character, and not their color.

V: But why do you believe this? And what gives you the right to impose this standard on everyone else? Also, what is good character, and what is bad character? How does science tell you any of this? Why not judge people by their physical beauty or strength, education, or wealth? Why not judge people by their ability to juggle or to win at poker? As it is, I can just as easily assert that we ought to judge people according to their color, and not according to their character.

S: Are you a racist?

V: I would be happy to tell you what I think about race, discrimination, and so on, but that is not immediately relevant to this part of our discussion. What matters now is this: You said that racists are ignorant people, but you are unable to define and defend what it is that you think they are ignorant of. You said that all people are the same, but when questioned, even you agreed that all people are not the same. Then, you said that the differences between them are non-essential, but you are unable to define and defend a standard to judge between essential and non-essential differences, and to do it in a way that everyone must accept.

S: So where does this leave us?

V: Your claim is that racists are ignorant people. They do not realize that all people are really the same, but you are not a racist because you realize that all people are the same. It seems that your position on racism is important to you, since you were so disgusted with the racists. But it turns out that your position cannot withstand the slightest scrutiny, and you really have no justification for it. You assume a position of knowledge and enlightenment, but you are just as ignorant as the racists.

You are careless. You are unintelligent. You are ignorant. You present yourself as someone who possesses knowledge, but you have not really thought through the things that you believe, even those things that are important to you. Thus you are also dishonest and hypocritical. You are usually able to get away with it because other people are also like you, and they agree with you. But now that I have exposed you, where are you going to run?

You are a non-Christian. What is your basis for denying God and Jesus Christ? You say that Christians are irrational, but have you thought through your own position? Or is it just as careless, foolish, and dishonest as your reason for affirming racial equality? You see, you think that you are intellectually competent, informed, and honest. But you are none of these things. You are stupid, ignorant, and dishonest. And your rejection of the Christian faith is also stupid, ignorant, and dishonest.

The Bible tells me that you know about the Christian God, and if we continue this conversation, I will show you more and more that this is the case. But you are too stupid and wicked to admit it. You are dishonest, so you try to suppress what you know. But God’s reality and precepts are so evident that you cannot consistently deny him. Perhaps your attitude toward racism is a distorted effect of this knowledge that is built into your very being.

You think I am harsh in speaking to you like this. But I am the best friend that you could have. Think about it: I can take apart everything that you believe in a matter of seconds, and this means that intellectually and spiritually, you are in a lot of trouble. Your whole life is a lie. And if you cannot even fool me, do you think that you can fool God? The Bible says that his wrath is poured out against people who suppress their knowledge about him – people like you. You are in a lot of danger right now. Your only hope is to abandon your pride, and admit your foolishness and wickedness, and call out to Jesus Christ — he is the only one who can save you. Let us discuss this further, for if God has mercy on you, this is what you will do.