Our friend Marvin Olasky wrote such a clear treatment of the Charlottesville story we decided to share it with our readers here.

Marvin is editor in chief of WORLD News Group and the author of more than 20 books, including The Tragedy of American Compassion. Follow Marvin on Twitter @MarvinOlasky.

We, the People

Applying the Bible and the Constitution after Charlottesville

The United States is not the new Israel, but the Charlottesville tragedy should remind us of one way Biblical and American history follow a similar pattern.

The Bible tells us of God creating Adam, and Eve out of Adam, thus choosing one first couple. Later, God chooses one family, Noah’s. Later, God chooses one people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Later, as Exodus 12 notes, a “mixed multitude” joins them, as does the Canaanite Rahab (Joshua 6) and the Moabite Ruth. In the New Testament, God chooses people from many nations, ethnicities, and He continues doing so today.

Native Americans and Hispanics lived within the current borders of the United States before white people from one nation, Britain, and one religion, nominal Anglicanism, settled Jamestown in 1607. It’s hot this August and it was hot in August 1619, when people from Africa arrived in Virginia as slaves. It was cold in December 1620, when dissenters from Anglicanism settled at Plymouth, Mass.

Soon, within God’s sovereignty, people from Holland, Germany, and other European countries arrived. Soon, within God’s sovereignty, people of other religions, including Catholics and Jews, arrived. In the 19th century, within God’s sovereignty, people from China and other Asian countries arrived, bringing with them Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions.

The New Testament declares that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek. The U.S. Constitution declares that in America before federal law there is neither Christian nor non-Christian. The first three words are “We, the People,” not “We, the [fill in the blank].” The 15th Amendment makes it clear that regarding the right to vote there is neither black nor white. By extension, colorblindness is the American way, although many politicians disregarded that amendment for nearly a century, and many churches were complicit in that denial.

Marvin’s post continues at World Magazine.

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