Equality Granted and Denied

Above:  Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama, April 7, 2010

Photographer = Carol M. Highsmith

Image Source = Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010646613/)

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-highsm-07312

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God created human beings in his own image;

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

–Genesis 1:27, The Revised English Bible (1989)

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All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

–The Constitution of the United States, Amendment 14, Section 1

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If each person bears the Image of God,

with all the natural rights inherent thereof,

nobody has cause to discriminate against another

for a characteristic which one cannot change.

So to hatred, indifference, and fear one should not even nod

in assent, for divine love

us should not bother

or even enrage.

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The divine command

is not to understand

but to grant respect, dignity,

and, of course, equality,

despite the prejudices we might have learned,

which contradict divine love unearned.

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O that we humans would

cease from using the name of God

to justify cruelty, inequality,

and other forms of perfidy,

but instead open our arms

and begin or continue the healing of those we have harmed!

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 26, 2013 COMMON ERA

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/equality-granted-and-denied/

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