My point = you can choose both. Don’t believe the talking heads who tell you otherwise.

5,000 miles from home, in intense heat, hungry, tired, and under enemy fire from Al Qaeda…I looked up and saw that star-spangled banner. My infantry platoon of 42 Soldiers was by itself in a small Euphrates River city, but that 6 feet of red, white, and blue meant we weren’t alone.

I looked at my shoulder and could see that flag. White, black, brown, and yellow…each of us wore that flag. Unity.

We fought for each other, for our families, for the young Iraqi democracy, and for the millions of service men and women who sacrificed before us – many giving their lives – in defense of that symbol of liberty.

If you kneel for the flag, it makes me sad. You cannot possibly appreciate its meaning in the context of human history.

Racism exists. Racism is sinful. A belief that any one race is superior to another must be dragged from the shadows and into the light. It must be combated in our individual lives and in our relationships with each other. Talk to real, live people; your family and friends. We all have different life experiences. Yet, there is more in common than meets the eye.

Discussions of “systemic” racism are wholly ineffective. It cannot be reasonably concluded that broad, generalized racism exists among large groups and segments of the population. In fact, such discussions and “identify politics,” if you will, closely resemble racism. Moreover, there is little validity, in the form of data and analysis, that inanimate organizations and institutions are systemically racist; although cultures do exist which can allow such behaviors. Those cultures are comprised of individuals. Again, racism must be combated in our individual lives and relationships.

Racism, when it exists, lives in a human heart. Ultimately, it is a method of division employed by man’s greatest enemy, Satan. I know of no more effective weapon to combat racism than the love, grace, and unity of Christ Jesus in one’s heart.