Common Humanity...

I have been studying Genesis chapter 1 this week and have been looking at the common brotherhood and sisterhood of all humanity going back to Adam & Eve. The Bible also says that all people are made in the image of God. Now, the phrase "Image if God" means that all people share in some "God-Like" qualities such as having a mind, a will, an intellect, emotions, communicating with others, and maintaining meaningful relationships. Now, sin distorts and corrupts this image, but we do not lose it. So, who did God make in that image? Everyone. Who does God desires meaningful loving relationships with? Everyone. So then we have to use our God-like qualities to seek to develop relationship with all colors, creeds, and kinds of people. There is no place for racism in the life of anyone made in the image of God (all people) and certainly not for Christians who have bent there knee to Jesus as Lord and Savior. The story below is both sad for the hating klansmen and yet hopeful for the New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church.

Black Church Sues to Close 'Redneck Shop' That Sells KKK Merchandise

Tuesday , September 02, 2008. AP

Laurens, S.C. —
A black South Carolina pastor and his church claim they own the building that houses a so-called Klan museum and store where KKK robes and T-shirts emblazoned with racial slurs are sold, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The Rev. David Kennedy said the property was transferred in 1997 to his Laurens County church by a Klansman who was fighting with others inside the hate group. A clause in the deed entitles John Howard, a man who runs the store, to operate his business in the building until he dies.

Kennedy said he'd like to close the store, but at the very least should be allowed to inspect the property.

"We've been outright denied," said Kennedy, pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church. "Right now what we're focusing on is removing this cloud of doubt and this whole lie that we are not the real owners of the Redneck Shop building."

The lawsuit seeks to establish Kennedy's church as the legal owner of the property and stop Howard and associates from claiming to hold the deed.

According to the lawsuit, Howard and his associates have filed several court documents since the property was given to Kennedy's church that attempt to transfer the deed between various Klan-related owners, ignoring the church's claim.

"We think the actions they did were willful," said Kennedy's attorney Rauch Wise.

Howard, who calls himself a former Ku Klux Klan grand dragon for South Carolina and North Carolina, said Tuesday he hadn't heard of the lawsuit and hang up the phone on an AP reporter.

The Redneck Shop has been the target of protests and attacks since it began operating in an old movie theater in 1996. A few days after it opened, a Columbia man crashed his van through the front windows of store and was charged with malicious damage to property. High profile black activists have staged several protests outside the Redneck Shop.

Inside the store, hooded Klan robes hang on the same rack as racist T-shirts. Pamphlets and pictures of burning crosses and of men, women and children in Klan clothing tell a partial history of the organization.

Kennedy has led protests outside the store since it opened but said he's never been able to close it because of the agreement that Howard can run the shop for life.

He hopes the building will one day be the home for his New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, which now meets in a doublewide trailer.

"Martin Luther King said this: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,"' Kennedy said. "It's going to be a good day to see them in court."

Let us seek to always practice Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, God's chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, (13) accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. (14) Above all, put on love--the perfect bond of unity.

Pastor Phillip