We're Not Equal

We're not. You and I, me and others, we're not equal. Before we can proclaim with Paul that there is "neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free," we must first proclaim that Jews are not equal with Greeks, males are not equal with females, etc. We simply are not all the same. There are significant differences, even simply biological differences.

That does not mean that I am better than you, that Jews are better than Greeks, that females are better than males. A radical thing that the Christian movement, and many other schools of thought since, proclaims is that our barriers and boundaries that we humans make with each other do not matter.

It would do us all good to step back and think about this for a minute. There's a lot in the news right now about there being a War on Women, especially in the realm of politics. Of course, many people are using whatever someone might have said (such as the DNC chairperson) for their own advantage. Many Republicans, just like many Democrats, say stupid things about men (and women).

What would be refreshing is for someone to proclaim that men and women are not equal. In fact, all men are not equal with all men. And all women are not equal with all women. The important thing is that we realize that our differences do not matter. Women should earn equal pay as men and should be treated equally. But that should not be based upon they themselves being equal with men, just as the pay I receive should not be treated on my being equal with another man. I am not. But any differences that I have with another man, or with another woman, should not matter.

If our differences, do not matter, then we will not discriminate others based upon the differences they have with us--be they gender differences, or racial differences, or sexual differences, and on and on the list can go. That will, of course, make a difference with things like income . . . but it will also make a difference with things like the jokes that we tell each other, or the way we act towards each other, or even the things we think about each other.