“Evenu shalom alejem, evenu shalom alejem, evenu shalom
alejem, evenu shalom, shalom, shalom alejem.” This is a traditional song that
is sung at my church in order to greet the congregation. Translated this song
reads: God’s peace be with you, God’s peace be with you, God’s
peace be with you, peace, peace, peace be with you. This song most commonly
reflects the definition that individuals often associate with shalom; peace.
However, shalom, as Plantinga (1995) describes, has a deeper significance.
According to him, shalom is “the way things ought to be” and “a spread of
appropriate thoughts, desires, emotions, words, deeds, and dispositions” (p.
10). This includes relationships between two or more people as well as races
within different nations. However, the problem arises when individuals begin to
realize that the way things ought to be are not the way things are currently.
If everyone imagined his or her perfect world, every individual would paint a
different picture. However, some common themes may include happy, unified
families, spiritual prosperity, and contentment. When it comes to the topic of shalom and sin, it could be
stated that sin is the absence of shalom.
Sin is Generational
“Therefore,
just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in
this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5: 12, NIV). In order for one to label sin as sin, one
should feel a certain degree of culpability. However, this culpability is also
presented in the form of a more structural element, one that is acquired
through social learning; generational
sin. The first instance recorded in the Bible of someone sinning against God’s
orders was when Eve ate from the forbidden fruit and shared it with Adam. This
act symbolizes that just as it was that simple for Eve to share the forbidden
fruit, sin is just as easily shared. When it comes to discussing race, there
are many opinions. Racism is a generational sin that has been progressive, even
before the birth of Jesus.
When slavery is mentioned one might
automatically assume that one is talking about African Americans who were until
recently subjected to this traumatic experience. However, in the book of
Exodus, the bible narrates the story of the obstacles Moses had to overcome in
order to release his people from slavery. Sins such as slavery, segregation,
and superiority have not developed over the night, rather they have been
generational. “Recognizing that youngsters not only idolize but also imitate
their heroes… imitation is one of the main ways children sow what they have
reaped” (Plantinga, 1995, p. 71). This quote is a perfect example of what
happen with the fall of humanity. Eve ate from the forbidden fruit, shared the
fruit with Adam, as a result both were released from the garden, where they
procreated, and had two children. Most people who have read the story know that
Cain, Adam and Eve’s son killed his own brother Abel. While murder is a sin,
the sin was caused as a result of what Adam and Eve sowed. Cain and Abel were
conceived in sin; therefore, this was part of their humanity. Similarly, one
could explore how White privilege could also be generational sin.
According to Sue (2004), White
privilege means to, “inherit and benefit from” and to “knowingly or unknowingly
have a stake in the perpetuation of White Racism.” Simply because one is White,
he or she has been born with the freedom to do more than individuals of other races. White privilege does not mean
that White people do not also struggle to get where they are in life, it simply
means that in some instances, opportunities have been more readily available to
them.
Sin
is Perverse, Polluting, and Disintegrating
Sin is repulsive because it separates
us from what ought to be. Sin holds us back in terms of spiritual and personal
growth; however, sin has more than just negative effects on the individual.
Just as sin is generational and has the ability to grow, sin also leaks and
spreads onto other individuals much like the flu or the common cold. In chapter
three, Plantinga (1995) describes sin as a father molesting his daughter. While
most of us are quick to reject the idea that we could possibly be compared to a
child molester, sin is sin. Whether that father was lying to his daughter or
molesting her, the fact is that because that father decided to pervert his
relationship with his daughter, other relationships such as other members of
the family, are also polluted. Plantinga claims that pollution is a way in
which relationships are weakened due to the integration of an unknown element
(p. 44). Furthermore, disintegration involves, “The breakdown of personal and
social integrity the loss of shape, strength, and purpose that make some entity
an “entirety” …Disintegration is always deterioration, the prelude and postlude
to death” (p. 47). Many times
individuals do not examine how our sinful actions will cause harm to others
because we tend to be most interested in what is more accommodating to us.
Sin is Self-centered
We live in a
society that values independence. Being dependent on others and acknowledging
that not everything could be done on our own is difficult to admit. While
self-sufficiency is a trait that most of us value, this can lead to feelings of pride, which is a sin that also disturbs
shalom. Plantinga (1995) is very direct when he states, “God wants to fill us
with his Holy Spirit, but when we are proud we are already full of ourselves.
There’s no room for God” (p. 82). This statement is difficult to accept because
even if one is prideful, one is unaware of this characteristic. Having some
pride is not always harmful; however, it is when this pride directs us to
engage in discrimination that it is not acceptable. Much like the Holy Spirit
wants to work within us to restore our lives and simply to be a part of us, God
also desires us to depend on one another. However, an issue arises due to the
development of various assumptions that separate us rather than unite us. For
instance, it may be difficult for some Caucasians to accept the reality of
slavery. And although “moving forward” for some African-Americans would be
ideal, this experience is not a simple task (Hardy, 2008). For some
African-Americans it may seem that Whites are being prideful in not acknowledging
their experiences, and this thought or action is causing disintegration between
one another.
On one hand
being prideful is a sin, but being envious and holding resentment is also a
cause of sin. Resentment is, “anger aimed at what the angry person regards as
unjust, insulting, demeaning, especially to her personally” (Plantinga, 1995,
p. 166). Resentment may stem from one’s racial experiences or inability to be
accepted or understood at a multicultural level. If one does not allow the Holy
Spirit to work with the anger and resentment that is being stored, this is also
a development of sin. Avoiding the Holy Spirit within us would be to push God
aside and claim that we are self-sufficient individuals, however, God’s
intended plan for our lives was and is to depend on Him, our creator.
Sin is Deceiving
Sin is
beautiful. After claiming this most individuals would be fast to argue this
statement, however, if sin were not desirable, it would not be difficult to
voluntarily stop engaging in sin. Ordinarily, things would probably being going
the way they ought to. What attracts
us about sin is, “the goodness in it” (Plantinga, 1995, p. 94). Sin is
disguised so that what is wrong seems right to do. However, how could this be
translated into our society in regards to multicultural counseling? For some
individuals, the way they conceptualize race is normal. Again, this may be due
to the way a person was raised by his or her parents or by the lack of racial
consciousness. However, this does not excuse the behavior that it perpetrates.
Because racism could be as subtle as not feeling any responsibility for
feelings expressed by African-Americans in regards to slavery, it is often
difficult to accept that one is “racist” and therefore, much easier to deny it.
According to the AMCD Multicultural Counseling Competencies, counselors are
expected to have certain skills, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs in regards to
their own understandings of cultural values as well as a worldview perspective
(Arredondo, 1996). However, in order to do so one has to ask the Holy Spirit
for guidance and let go of pride, regardless if one believes he or she is
subjected to it.
References:
Arredondo,
P., Toporek, M.S., Brown, S., Jones, J., Locke, D.C., Sanchez, J. and Stadler, H. (1996). Operationalization of the multicultural
counseling competencies. AMCD: Alexandria, VA.
Hardy, K. V. (Producer
and Director). (2008). Psychological residuals of slavery [Motion
Picture].(Available from Alexander Street Press).
Plantinga,
Cornelius. (1995). Not the way it’s
supposed to be a breviary of sin. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co.
Sue, D. W. (Producer
and Director). (2004). What does it mean to be white? The invisible
whiteness of being [Motion Picture]. (Available from Alexander Street
Press).
