Life is cheap. That’s the truth. Hundreds of thousands die every day, some violently, some ignominiously, some of old age or sickness, some in infancy or the prime of life. All tragically. Today you are alive, and your life matters, at least to you. Yet, the Bible says in James 4:14, “you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Yet, as short and tenuous as it is, life is still precious and beautiful.

Very few of us live the lives we hoped to live. Those who do are greatly blessed. Many of those who don’t feel so blessed have only themselves to blame, but others are in greater or lesser part disenfranchised of the life they would have otherwise enjoyed. People from all nations and cultures. As they say, “That’s life!”

Racism is defined as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” I would go further to say that people who subscribe to the idea of race, border on being racist, or at least help to enable those who are racist. There is only one race after all, ne ce pas?

There are ethnic and cultural differences, national and political differences, and differences in appearance. By all means let us talk about appearance. Short and fat, tall and thin, black and white, blondes, brunettes, and red heads (oh my!) and all the delightful, diverse, differences in countenance and character that make up the human race.

Racists see only color. They do not reason, they do not compromise. They are content to sit in the filth of their own racism and complain of what has been done to them by others of different ethnicities and cultures. They blame their own lack of talent and ability on others saying, “If only those people did not exist I would have a better job, I would have more opportunity, I would have a better life.” But the fact is they would just find somebody else to blame for their own inadequacies, somebody else to hate, somebody else to take advantage of. This is the rhetoric of the Klan, of the Nazis, and the Panthers. Divisive, destructive, disgusting. Such rhetoric must be rejected decisively and absolutely.

As the Declaration says, “All men are created equal.” After that it’s a race to the finish. We must all demand our rights, while keeping in mind that we don’t have a right to everything, not even most things. Most things we wish for in this life have to be earned, and if we receive a leg up from someone else along the way, it should rightly be recognized as charity, not entitlement. Everyone deserves a fair chance, not a guaranteed result. Everyone’s life matters, but if it’s going to matter in this country it’s going to have to matter the same for everyone. Departmentalizing by color can only be counterproductive now. If it has to be black lives matter then you can be sure it’s going to be white lives matter and then the war can begin in earnest. I reject that philosophy. I say “All lives matter!”