Monday, May 08, 2017

The Rightness and Wrongness of Being a Minority

I'm a minority. I'm disabled, and I'm from a council estate. I've experienced discrimination for both of these things. My whole life I've also felt an affinity for any other type of minority group around the world. I believe us minorities are often treated badly, and I believe that we often fight against this in both a right and wrong way. So here goes....

The Rightness of Being a Minority
God is against favouritism and prejudice (Jas 2:1-4). He has a soft spot for the poor and the broken (Jas 2:5). When people in power act contrary to this, they are in the wrong. When people speak up against prejudism and injustice, they are in the right.

The Wrongness of Being a Minority
I'm not going to talk about the wrongness of social inequality in the UK, or the wrongness of disability from the fall (Gen 3). Instead, I'm talking about the wrongness that I carry around with me every day. I'm a sinner, with a heart that carries around a mixture of good and bad (Ezek 36:26; Jer 17:9). When I take a stand against injustices, there's a chance that I'll do it in a proud, self-righteous way.

Sometimes, people see us minorities as whingers who need to shut up complaining. Others see us as automatically in the right, almost made righteous by our minority status. I think its more complicated.