Hate Crime Blunder

Suni Lee is one of America’s top female gymnasts. She has had too many accomplishments to mention them all here, but some of her highlights include being the 2020 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was also a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Championships and silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is a six-time member of the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team, and has a total of six world championship and Olympic medals. Suni recently started college as a freshman and will be competing on the Auburn University gymnastics team.

Lee’s mother immigrated from Laos as a child and had Suni while living in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is of Hmong descent and is, in fact, the first Hmong-American Olympian.

Last fall, she was subjected to a racist attack. While out with some of her Asian friends, a car drove by and the occupants shouted anti-Asian slurs and pepper sprayed her. Seemingly, the perpetrators got away, but if they had been caught they would have, no doubt, been charged with a hate crime.

At this point, I don’t want to get into a discussion about the value of labeling a crime a hate crime. The truth is, a crime is a crime no matter a person’s motive. But it is true that crimes committed because of prejudice against people of various groups is on the rise, and it is a horrible trend. Whether the prejudice is against Asians, Jews, blacks, Native Americans, whites, or any other group, it is a sick development.

What this trend reveals, though, says nothing about the people who are being attacked because of their race. What is does reveal is the state of heart and mind of those who are making the attacks. This kind of bigotry is precisely the opposite of what the Bible teaches, and is completely contrary to a biblical worldview.

So where, then, does this kind of bigoted behavior come from? In a nutshell, it derives from a set of beliefs that embraces relativistic morality.

The Bible is asserted to be a revelation of God that expresses His will and His ways. The morality that is revealed therein is understood to be objective truth, and living in ways that are contrary to that are considered to be sin against God.

Naturalistic belief, on the other hand, has no objective foundation for morality. It doesn’t recognize the existence of any reality outside of the natural universe, so concludes that there is no God in existence who is able to reveal any kind of objective moral beliefs. With that as a foundation, moral determinations can only come from human beings – particularly those who have the power to impose their desired moral beliefs. And if the power structure changes, accepted moral beliefs and practices can also change. It is based purely on a relativistic foundation.

This does not mean, of course, that every person who adheres to a naturalistic worldview is bigoted. By the same token, there are many people who self-identify as Christians who do hold bigoted beliefs.

But here is the key point we must understand; the expression of morality itself is not found in a belief system – no matter what it is. Teachings about various beliefs are found there, but the expression of those beliefs are found in the hearts of individuals. The difference is, when Christians act in bigoted ways, they are acting contrary to the beliefs they say they follow. When Naturalists do it, they are being completely consistent with their worldview foundation.

Of course, bigoted beliefs and actions are a serious problem. They pollute the hearts and actions of the people who express them, and they take society down a road that leads to utter destruction. But as bad as that problem is, there is a worse consequence to judging people by race (or really, any other temporal feature).

The truth is, in one sense, the very idea of race is a made up category. It represents surface level characteristics that have absolutely nothing to do with a person’s humanity. All humans are person’s created by God, in the image of God, and are of ultimate value to Him. When we express bigotry toward another human being, no matter their earthly heritage, we are, literally, spitting in the face of God. At that point, it is not just a hate crime. It is a sin, and an affront, against God Himself. And the ultimate consequence to that is eternal separation from Him.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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