The sin of racism

The word “racism” is never mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, although it has been mentioned in numerous papal documents, and pastoral letters from individual Bishops and Bishops Conferences.   The idea of racial discrimination, however, is referenced in one paragraph in the Catechism, paragraph 1935.  Here it is in its entirety:

The equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it:

Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design.

So what the Church is saying is that there is equality to all men and women because they have inherent dignity.  To understand this concept of dignity further, we must take a step back and look at some of the paragraphs that precede this one.

Why do we all possess an equal dignity?  Why can we say this?   The Catechism answers this in paragraph 1934.  We read:

Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.

So we are all equal because

1)      We were all created by God.   We all have the same origin. 

2)      We have the same faculties.  We have bodies, souls, wills, and intellect.

3)      We are all redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.

4)      We are all called and destined to be with God forever.

To effectively combat racism, I think we need to agree more on why racism is wrong.  You may think we do, but do we really?    It is not merely a humanistic reason that it is wrong.  The reason it is wrong transcends mere humanism and points to divine reasons.   There is no way one can see God as the creator and ruler of all things and think that he made anyone less worthy than anyone else.  Now, some things in the natural order are less dignified (for lack of a better word) than others, because they lack one or more of the characteristics listed above. For example, animals and plants do not have intellects or souls.  However, no human is lacking in any of these things, and therefore, no human is worth any less than another, and we must act accordingly.

The Catechism references this transcendent dimension of man earlier in paragraph 1929:  Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man.  These are kind of strong words!   It says all our efforts at social justice, which necessitate eliminating racism, will fail if we do not acknowledge the transcendent dignity and dimension of man and woman as a son or daughter of God.    Now we say and hear those words a lot that someone is a “child of God”.   Do we really truly believe, though, that there is a God who created us, who loves us, and has destined all of us for eternal life?   Do we seek to know this God?   Do we give him more than lip service?   We must take a hard look at these questions as a society and as individuals , and answer them honestly, especially now in light of we experienced yesterday where clearly man’s transcendent dignity was not respected, or even acknowledged.

In paragraph 1930, the Catechism says something else interesting in regards to respect for every human person, which is necessary for social justice.   Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it.    These rights are prior to society!   In other words, they are natural rights that flow from his inherent dignity before he or she is part of any specific group, family, or nation.   This dignity, as stated above, comes from God.   Just as no government or legislation can legitimately take away one’s dignity, no government or legislation can undo racism/ bestow dignity if there is not an inherent respect for the dignity and rights of every human person as a child of God in the human heart. 

I think we have covered why racism is wrong.  The Catechism does not feel a need to go into great detail.  It is pretty straightforward, and so, we shall go the same route.  As I implied earlier, if you google church and racism, you can find other documents where the topic of racism is specifically addressed.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, for example, put out an entire pastoral letter on racism in 1979, and numerous individual Bishops in America, as well as the conference as a whole, has made shorter statements since then on the topic.   They obviously condemn what happened yesterday.   However, I have found, for the sake of this blog, with this and other topics, just going right to the most authoritative document of Church teaching available today, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, works best.   It is clear, thorough, yet precise, and again, authoritative, which suits our purposes here.   I think the essentials of why the Church is against racism have been stated here.   But if you are interesting in reading more, feel free to!

In conclusion, let me say the following.  We hear all the time about love being the answer to cure racism and other societal ills.  Certainly, love can help, and I am not denying that more love could not hurt.   However, what we really need to do is teach.     We need to teach about God.  We need to teach about why he created, and then redeemed man.  We need to teach about how man can relate to God.   And we need to teach about the end of man, eternal beatitude.   Only when we are more rooted in these truths do we have a better chance of eliminating racism from the face of the earth.   Love is necessary, yes, but so is truth.  Only both together can end racism.  Let us use them both to combat this evil.

Joseph most just, pray for us.