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Focusing on our differences leads only to friction and division

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs not only fail, they may do more harm than good.

That’s the conclusion of a study done by the Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University Social Perception Lab. For the study, college students were divided into two groups. One group was asked to read a generic essay on U.S. corn production, while the second group read an essay about diversity, equity and inclusion culled from the writings of DEI proponents Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo. After reading the essays, the students were asked to evaluate an (hypothetical and intentionally designed to be racially neutral) instance of a student denied admission to an East Coast university. The students who read the DEI essay were far more likely to see the college applicant’s rejection as a result of racial bias, even recommending that the (remember, imaginary) college admissions officer be forced to take more DEI training, be suspended for a semester, and issue a public apology. While racial bias had been carefully excluded from the scenario, the students who read the DEI material imagined racial bias as the result of the rejection. DEI awareness caused friction rather than alleviating it.

Those kinds of findings, combined with public pushback from DEI excesses, have prompted major companies like Ford, Harley-Davidson, Caterpillar, Lowes and Walmart to abandon their DEI programs. Major universities like the University of Michigan and the Board of Governors for the University of North Carolina system have spent millions of dollars ($250 million, in Michigan’s case) over the last decade on DEI training, but those universities are now folding their DEI initiatives because of the negative climate created on campus by the emphasis. In a survey of University of Michigan students released in late 2022, the New York Times notes, “students and faculty members reported a less positive campus climate than at the program’s start and less of a sense of belonging. Students were less likely to interact with people of a different race or religion or with different politics.”

A basic understanding of theology and Scripture would have saved a lot of time and fuss.

The Bible destroys any foundation for racial or ethnic bias by reminding us that we’re all just human beings, created in the image of God Himself. Genesis 1:27(NIV) reads, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Each person holds value and deserves respect because (s)he bears the image of God. God created each of us to be unique, but to share a common set of emotions, desires and goals. An African-American friend once commented to me, “An eighth of an inch down, we’re all the same, and we all bleed red.” He was absolutely right!

Lest any of us begin to think ourselves better than others, the Bible teaches us that none of us are actually good at all! “There is no one righteous, not even one,” Romans 3:10 proclaims, and then the Apostle Paul goes on to explain in Romans 3:23-24, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” On my own, I’ll never be a “good” person, and neither will you. We’re all saved only by the grace of Jesus and His grace is rich enough to include every human being. In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter quoted from Joel: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Everyone. Like the old hymn says, “whosoever will may come.”

So instead of focusing on “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” highlighting our differences in race, gender and culture, the Bible counsels humanity to practice humility, kindness and forgiveness. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,” Paul writes in Philippians 2:3-4, and then he continues saying, “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Focusing on our differences leads only to friction and division. Alternatively, God reminds us that we are all His creatures, equally in need of the salvation He provides. God makes clear that He will hold us responsible for how we treat one another. That’s a pretty inclusive set of instructions and following those instructions is a pretty sure way to avoid racism, sexism and bigotry of every kind.

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