Racism And Religion Essay

Next, as new knowledge progressed with the secular and religious factions, new ideas, and views about past actions brought about new wisdom, so by the Catholic Church striving to remain a symbol of Christ, a change to old traditions was due. Racism has existed since the beginning, and some even attribute the “mark upon Cain,” place by God to keep other from killing him during his banishment, in Genesis 4:15, (KJV). Our history has shown that people find any reason to oppress people like skin color, religion, or social standing. The Catholic Church, when faced with why follow “Christ’s command to love one’s neighbor,” answer it with the “traditional answer,” of gaining “salvation for oneself,” (Connelly 36). Therefore, the traditions set by …show more content…
The social view by the Church was to remain segregated from non-Catholics and Jews, keeping with current traditions but not Bible scripture. While, the Catholic Church has protested for equality and fair treatment for all people recently, they remained content with following secular traditions and even created new ones. During, the Spanish exploration of Florida, “Rodrigo Rangel, a chronicler of Hernando de Soto,” documents the first characterization of the Natives as “red,” and only those considered heathens or “non-Christian” were labeled by skin color (Goldschmidt and Mcalister 45). Thus, this association of red skin still exists in current American culture, with professional sports teams, and reveals a modern racist tradition created by Catholic influence. The modern secular view, by developed countries, on racism has changed from previous traditions, however it still exists. Either way, the Catholic Church’s traditions helped to establish the globalization of society and the Church, by ignoring Jesus’s model of loving each other in their social teaching of