I often wonder at the mindset of people who try to dismantle DEI programs from institutions that use these guidelines in hiring and/or accepting applicants. Each one of them are important to the fabric of America, and without them, there would be a lot of people, who now oppose them, out of work. I want to consider each one of these and why they are not only important but are also religious values. First, diversity.
Ask any biologist (not me) and they will tell you that a system that does not have a diversity of prey and predator is a system that will eventually implode. We have seen this happen over history; something happens to the rabbit population and the wolves don’t get enough to eat. In Hawaii, goats were brought in to help get control of invasive plants; now the goats are invasive. Likewise, a leader who doesn’t allow for diverse opinions will eventually fail. No one person can get all the right answers all the time. It has been said by more than one person that the most segregated hour of the week is during church on Sunday morning. This may be why so many congregations are dying; the lack of different viewpoints directs us down one path or into one line of thinking. That is never healthy.
If higher education had not been forced to be diverse, people like Clarence Thomas would never have become lawyers. Diane Feinstein would never have been elected Senator. America’s halls of learning were bastions of white privilege, so HBCU’s were created. Separate but equal, which was upheld in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson, was overruled in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. 70 years ago, the Supreme Court knew that diversity and equality were core American values. Now we have to convince some Americans that this is true.
I love that I live in a diverse community and that the street I live on is growing in that direction. My life would be so much poorer if I didn’t have the variety of friends that I have. Diversity isn’t part of some liberal plot to destroy democracy; it is, in fact, the refusal to accept diversity as part of God’s desires that will destroy us. And from a faith perspective, when Jesus called His first disciples, they were from different walks of life. The idea that Jesus only had men in His inner circle was Christianity’s first attempt at squashing diversity. Women had equal access to Him and were given equal opportunities to share their spiritual gifts with the world. Jesus treated women differently than He was supposed to, and they felt seen.
I hope these angry attacks in DEI fail. If they don’t, our daughters will lose out, and society will lose out. Our brothers and sisters of different races and genders and cultures will be left behind. Then all we will have left is a bunch of angry old men leading us into the abyss. Diversity makes us better; lack of diversity kills our spirit.
Prayer – Holy God, You created us to embrace the wonders of creation in all of its splendor. Forgive us for trying to subvert Your desires. Amen.
Today’s art is “Celebrate Diversity” by Angelia Thompson.