Proposed Resolution
#5 for the U.S.
Congress and the
Legislatures of the
Several States:
Affirmative Action
There are people in
our nation who have
suffered racial,
sexual and/or class
prejudice, and thus,
the deprivation of
civil rights. We
believe the only way
to serve them is by
the radical
affirmation of their
equal humanity in
the sight of God and
the social order.
All human beings
are created equal,
and thus entitled to
the unalienable
rights of life,
liberty, property
and the pursuit of
happiness. The
government’s role is
to affirm these
rights for all
people according to
due process of law,
and such affirmation
should never be to
the denigration of
other people as a
consequence.
Affirmation
cannot happen
without a definition
of what is
affirmative. The
biblical order of
creation gives
definition as to
what is affirmative,
and the Declaration
of Independence is
based on the same.
The principle
affirmation in the
order of creation is
the power to give,
which is the nature
of the Creator. In
the Declaration we
celebrate the
unalienable rights
given by God. This
means that true
civil rights are
given by the One who
has the power to
give. It means that
human rights are not
attained by the
power to take from
oppressors, but
unalienable rights
are acknowledged and
honored by those
who, as stewards of
God’s image, employ
their power to give
to others.
We celebrate
these rights as
preceding the
intrusion of human
sin and broken
trust; and the evils
of racial, sexual
and class bigotries
are manifestations
of broken trust. To
demand rights from
oppressors is to
condescend into
racial, sexual and
class warfare,
pitting certain
groups against
others, in a contest
of take before you
taken. Negation does
not remedy negation,
thus any
“affirmative action”
which participates
in this power to
take will only
further fracture
U.S. society.
We need instead
to celebrate the
power to give and it
will be given, as
the means for
securing unalienable
rights for all
people. What we need
are actions and laws
based on the
biblical definition
of redemption which
means “to buy back
out of slavery.” It
means that we who
have inherited
blessings which have
positioned us for
social, educational
and financial
success, hold an
incumbency to be
thankful for those
blessings. It also
means that our
talents and
resources should be
employed as
redemptively as
possible toward
those who have
inherited various
deprivations of
civil liberties.
On this basis:
-
We embrace all
proactive
strategies and
laws which affirm
unalienable
rights, and we
seek redemption of
all people who
have inherited the
evils of racism,
sexism and/or
classism.
-
We reject all
actions and laws
which carry with
them any
negations, such as
quotas, and we
reject any
denigration of
groups or
individuals who
are not in need of
such redemptive
actions or laws.
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