Racism Hate and Sin

[Unveiled Artist]

Why don’t you believe sin exists, if you care to answer?

I don't believe there is a god. Sin, in the christian sense, means anything a person do that's contrary to what god says and wants. I don't have god as a criteria to know what's moral and what's immoral. So, using the word sin would be inappropriate unless I believed in a god that has that edict.

 

[MikeF]

Thanks for your perspective. Do you think racism is wrong? Would you call it sin or not?

For me, racism is wrong in that it conflicts with my social and political values.
I do not believe in the concept of sin.

 

[Jainarayan]

And what do you think about the idea of sin being the root of racism and hatred?

Like @SalixIncendium, and other Dharmics (Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs) my tradition has no concept of sin comparable to the Christian concept. In the Dharmic paradigm sin is ‘unrighteousness’, adharma. It is not offense against God or disobedience to God because God cannot be offended nor does He give orders, commands, laws, commandments or anything else to keep us in fear of punishment... something He doesn’t do either. Rather, sin is against each other and ourselves.

There are two sides to the coin... pāpa and punya, i.e. wrong action, unrighteousness; merit, righteousness, respectively. Our saints and teachers have said

You are a child of God. Though gold be covered with mud for centuries, it remains gold. So the pure 'gold' of the soul can be covered over with the mud of delusion for aeons, but in its true nature it remains forever undefiled.” - Paramahansa Yogananda

The Vedanta recognizes no sin it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that. - Swami Vivekananda

Btw, as for racism and hatred I find them disgusting. They’re rooted in ignorance, misunderstanding, misinformation. I will say that I recognize differences in people’s physical, genetic, intellectual attributes. Not that one is better or inferior, that is racism, only that differences exist and should be celebrated. Trying to paint all humans with the same brush is idiocy.

 

[InChrist]

I think the root of hatred and racism is ignorance. Folks need to get out more, talk to people, interrelate, walk together, and for the love of God stop thinking their view of the world is any better than someone else's. It would help immensely to stop passing it on. A kid shouldn't have to wake up at age 16, and deprogram himself of hate.

Thanks for your thoughts. I’m not sure about the ignorance part, but definitely see racism based in the idea that a person thinks they are better than others. The Bible calls that attitude sinful, maybe you wouldn’t. But I guess you would consider it wrong.
My father was that way and I used to be so irritated, even when I was pretty young, listening to him be derogatory toward people of other nationalities or races. I determined I would not be like him in that respect.

 

[MatthewA]

Sin in the Christian sense is missing the mark. Hamartia.

hamartia: a sin, failure
Original Word: ἁμαρτία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: hamartia
Phonetic Spelling: (ham-ar-tee'-ah)
Definition: a sin, failure
Usage: prop: missing the mark; hence: (a) guilt, sin, (b) a fault, failure (in an ethical sense), sinful deed.

266 hamartía (a feminine noun derived from 1 /A "not" and 3313 /méros, "a part, share of") – properly, no-share ("no part of"); loss (forfeiture) because not hitting the target; sin (missing the mark).

266 /hamartía ("sin, forfeiture because missing the mark") is the brand of sin that emphasizes its self-originated (self-empowered) nature – i.e. it is not originated or empowered by God (i.e. not of faith, His inworked persuasion, cf. Ro 14:23).

All people have sin that resides with-in them that causes them to miss the mark.

Jesus Christ came to pay for the sins of all mankind. That ; even though we all miss the mark; if we believe and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; we find the forgiveness of our missing the mark and mistakes. In which we go to Him in gratitude, and follow and delight in walking by and through the spirit of Christ with-in us; which if we live and walk by the spirit; we will hit the mark -> To love; to have patience, to have forgiveness, to have mercy; It all comes from God; because of the work of Christ in and through the believer.

It is a war between the mind/heart and the spirit.

Jesus Christ talks about the heart of a person and what comes from it in Mark 7:

20He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him. 21For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. 23All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man.”​

If a person focus their mind towards heavenly things; a change in the heart of the person is made by the working of God on the heart of a person that causes these results:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.​

 

[Jainarayan]

a person thinks they are better than others. The Bible calls that attitude sinful, maybe you wouldn’t.

Actually that is what we consider sin. No one is better or lesser than another because “God” (Paramātmā, the Universal Soul/Self/Spirit) dwells in all things, even animals. To treat another with contempt or harm them is one of the worst ‘sins’.

 

[PruePhillip]

What are your thoughts or experiences on the subject? And what do you think about the idea of sin being the root of racism and hatred?


NYC Shrink Tells Yale Audience She Fantasizes About Shooting White People in Head: I HAVE NEWS FOR THIS WOMAN – the Problem is NOT RACISM – It is ‘SIN’ and Every Person in the World Has It!

Hate in a religious context is sin
Racism is more of a political idea
as is Sexism, Homophobia etc..

What has replaced religion is politics.
And it can be as ugly, if not uglier than
religion because there's no common
standard and no forgiveness.

 

[firedragon]

What are your thoughts or experiences on the subject? And what do you think about the idea of sin being the root of racism and hatred?


NYC Shrink Tells Yale Audience She Fantasizes About Shooting White People in Head: I HAVE NEWS FOR THIS WOMAN – the Problem is NOT RACISM – It is ‘SIN’ and Every Person in the World Has It!

There are some Atheists, in this very forum, who believe that theists are intellectually stunted, vis a vis stupid, and some other things by default. They dont think "they are being stupid", but they think "they ARE STUPID" by default.

I think racism and Bigotry are the same with different definitions, and I dont believe this is "because of sin". No way.

 

[Vinayaka]

Thanks for your thoughts. I’m not sure about the ignorance part, but definitely see racism based in the idea that a person thinks they are better than others. The Bible calls that attitude sinful, maybe you wouldn’t. But I guess you would consider it wrong.
My father was that way and I used to be so irritated, even when I was pretty young, listening to him be derogatory toward people of other nationalities or races. I determined I would not be like him in that respect.

In Hinduism, the closest thing to sin we have, and it's not really that close is the concept of anava, sometimes translated as 'ignorance' but also translated as 'ego'. It's sort of like a darkness, or layers of cloth covering up the light from within. People covered in anava can't see very clearly, hence act out in ways we would call adharmic, or nor according to and sacred duty. Your father would be considered as covered in it. It's not intrinsically evil or anything like that, just a natural state for immature souls who are along ways from God. So we try our best to tolerate it in the light of understanding, the same way you might excuse a small child or a mentally disabled person for a 'sin'. It's because they legitimately don't know any better.

And yes thanks for catalysing thoughts on racism. Any reflection can't be harmful.

 

[InChrist]

Like @SalixIncendium, and other Dharmics (Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs) my tradition has no concept of sin comparable to the Christian concept. In the Dharmic paradigm sin is ‘unrighteousness’, adharma. It is not offense against God or disobedience to God because God cannot be offended nor does He give orders, commands, laws, commandments or anything else to keep us in fear of punishment... something He doesn’t do either. Rather, sin is against each other and ourselves.

There are two sides to the coin... pāpa and punya, i.e. wrong action, unrighteousness; merit, righteousness, respectively. Our saints and teachers have said

You are a child of God. Though gold be covered with mud for centuries, it remains gold. So the pure 'gold' of the soul can be covered over with the mud of delusion for aeons, but in its true nature it remains forever undefiled.” - Paramahansa Yogananda

The Vedanta recognizes no sin it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that. - Swami Vivekananda

Btw, as for racism and hatred I find them disgusting. They’re rooted in ignorance, misunderstanding, misinformation. I will say that I recognize differences in people’s physical, genetic, intellectual attributes. Not that one is better or inferior, that is racism, only that differences exist and should be celebrated. Trying to paint all humans with the same brush is idiocy.

Thank you for sharing. I appreciate hearing your thoughts. I agree differences in people worth celebrating and in my view they reveal that God is very creative and loves variety.
I have studied some of the teachings of Hinduism in the past. From my perspective it seems that if people don’t acknowledge or realize they are accountable to a Creator for the way they treat those He created (including themselves), then people can easily start thinking they are better than others.

 

[MatthewA]

This is my teacher; and his talking about sin if anyone is curious: Have been taught by this man for about 5 years now; He is almost finished with going through every book of the new testament.

 

[Jainarayan]

if people don’t acknowledge or realize they are accountable to a Creator for the way they treat those He created (including themselves), then people can easily start thinking they are better than others.

I agree there must be accountability. In our traditions it’s karma that we are accountable to. There are writings telling us that God can and does in certain circumstances mitigate karma, but almost always for a positive outcome. In the various stories where God has “punished” someone it’s always for their redemption or salvation from their evil ways, or releasing them from a curse. At the time of the person’s or being’s departure from their body they praised and thanked God for releasing them from being so evil or from their curse.

 

[InChrist]

Hate in a religious context is sin
Racism is more of a political idea
as is Sexism, Homophobia etc..

What has replaced religion is politics.
And it can be as ugly, if not uglier than
religion because there's no common
standard and no forgiveness.

I appreciate your thoughts and insight into the political aspect.

 

[Viker]

Thanks for your response. Do you think there is a difference between evil and sin?

I do. I don't believe in the traditional concept of sin. The closest thing I have to a concept of sin would be actions do to character flaws, not all of which would be evil. I just stick with calling it negative character action not sin.

 

[InChrist]

In Hinduism, the closest thing to sin we have, and it's not really that close is the concept of anava, sometimes translated as 'ignorance' but also translated as 'ego'. It's sort of like a darkness, or layers of cloth covering up the light from within. People covered in anava can't see very clearly, hence act out in ways we would call adharmic, or nor according to and sacred duty. Your father would be considered as covered in it. It's not intrinsically evil or anything like that, just a natural state for immature souls who are along ways from God. So we try our best to tolerate it in the light of understanding, the same way you might excuse a small child or a mentally disabled person for a 'sin'. It's because they legitimately don't know any better.

And yes thanks for catalysing thoughts on racism. Any reflection can't be harmful.

Thank you for clarifying your perspective further. What do you think about those who do know better, I mean like those who realize they are harming others, yet deliberately choose to continue?

 

[InChrist]

I do. I don't believe in the traditional concept of sin. The closest thing I have to a concept of sin would be actions do to character flaws, not all of which would be evil. I just stick with calling it negative character action not sin.

What about behavior that deliberately harms another, such as one who molests children or a serial killer? Are those kind of behaviors character flaws ?

 

[InChrist]

I agree there must be accountability. In our traditions it’s karma that we are accountable to. There are writings telling us that God can and does in certain circumstances mitigate karma, but almost always for a positive outcome. In the various stories where God has “punished” someone it’s always for their redemption or salvation from their evil ways, or releasing them from a curse. At the time of the person’s or being’s departure from their body they praised and thanked God for releasing them from being so evil or from their curse.

That’s interesting, thanks for more insight.
From my perspective it’s Jesus who offers release and freedom from the curse of sin and evil.

 

[Viker]

What about behavior that deliberately harms another, such as one who molests children or a serial killer? Are those kind of behaviors character flaws ?

They stem from them, yes. But let's use low self-esteem and passivity. By themselves they aren't genuinely evil/bad. But they could factor in with narcissism and sexual objectification to lead a person to molest children or worse.

 

[InChrist]

There are some Atheists, in this very forum, who believe that theists are intellectually stunted, vis a vis stupid, and some other things by default. They dont think "they are being stupid", but they think "they ARE STUPID" by default.

I think racism and Bigotry are the same with different definitions, and I dont believe this is "because of sin". No way.

What do you think it is caused by?

 

[InChrist]

They stem from them, yes. But let's use low self-esteem and passivity. By themselves they aren't genuinely evil/bad. But they could factor in with narcissism and sexual objectification to lead a person to molest children or worse.

Do you think those with low self-esteem are actually acting self-centered when they harm others?