Editor’s Note: The opinions in this article are those of Michael Goings and do not necessarily represent the views of The Dillon Herald.

If I told you that the recent incidences involving the slayings of two African-American men in Brunswick, Georgia and Minneapolis, Minnesota, respectively, did not have a bearing on why I thought it necessary to write this article today, I would not be truthful.
To be perfectly honest, I was already in the process of doing an article on another very relevant issue when the idea to write this one preempted and delayed it until another time. However, the compelling reason why I am doing this particular piece came out of a question and answer segment that we recently did on our “Weighing It by The Word” Broadcast that airs on Outreach Family Fellowship’s Facebook Page on Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m. The topic of concern and interest was Racism, Social Activism, and Justice.
When the idea to deal with this particular issue came to me, I shared it with a few folks who I customarily consult for advice on such matters.
Due to the recent slayings that have galvanized, alarmed, and even incited some, a few thought that I should be very careful about how I approached this matter. I grappled in my mind about the issue that I was pretty certain the Holy Spirit had given me.
On the very day the airing was going to take place, all doubt (if any) and reservation that I had about dealing with this particular issue at this time was completely shattered by a phone call from a pastor from out of town, who I had not heard from in years.
This man, who regards me as a mentor, is a very prominent and established preacher and author of quite a few books with a wide audience who watches and listens to him on both television and his social media page.
He had called me to ask if he could teach from one of my books that I had written many years ago entitled Free at Last? The Reality of Racism in the Church. He had just re-read the book the night before and wanted my permission to share excerpts of it with his television and social media audience, as well as to make it available to them to obtain.
When he asked me that, I then had the witness in somewhat of a miraculous way that the topic I was going to delve into was ordained of God.
By now, you have already surmised that what I am referring to as American’s oldest pandemic is racism.
From a historical and contemporary perspective, the issue of racism that has been a part of our national DNA ever since the arrival of Europeans to this continent with African slaves and the exploitation and systemic decimation and confining of the indigenous people (Native Americans) on reservations, as well as other obvious racial acts like the interment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
This nation (that I love and am thankful to be a citizen of) has not been able to completely overcome its oldest, deadliest, and most divisive pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic and recent killings in Georgia and Minnesota have caused many to go to the streets in protest, social unrest, looting, and violence by agitators and thugs amongst them.
Andrew Young stated that these actions are just an outcry of suppressed anger and a sense of hopelessness about the unnecessary killings of black people, especially men, at the hands of “some police” officers.
Perhaps it is very appropriate to include these immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in regards to the public outcry and demonstrations through protest and even rioting that is occurring in various parts of the nation. Bear in mind that Dr. King was a staunch believer in non-violence and orderly protesting that the Constitution assures us. “Rioting is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. And it has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice has not been heard.”
A little over two weeks after making that statement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. While I have drawn your attention to the life and sayings of Dr. King, I might as well include this excerpt and paraphrase from one of his sermons he preached in Selma, Alabama on March 8, 1968: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Oh, what powerful and profound words these were that are just as pertinent now as they were when he spoke them in the heyday of Jim Crow.
There are some in the community of Dillon County and even the local church (who I am the under shepherd of) who are overly concerned and adamantly opposed to me addressing controversial issues that they fear, in their estimation, will only generate further anger, hostility, and unrest.
To these good members of my congregation and concerned citizens of our county, let me assure you that ever since I was delivered from a lifestyle of rebellion and reverse racism as a militant, aggressive, and angry Black man back in 1974, by the grace of Almighty God through the Blood of Jesus Christ, His only Begotten Son, I have endeavored to love and forgive everybody, regardless of their race, creed, or color.
I have made it a part of my life’s mission through my character, conduct, attitude, and interaction with people of various races, beliefs, and socioeconomic standings around much of the known world to be a part of the solution to what ails our culture and world and not the problem.
To give the appropriate response, the definitive answer to the question can America’s oldest pandemic be cured, I hesitate not to say that certainly it can. However, the way that some suppose, as commendable as the efforts of social activism, legislation, and even litigation by the judicial system have been to ally and alleviate this disease from America, it has come up short to completely curing it.
Due to the fact that racism is not only in the DNA of America, but in the DNA of humanity as a whole and is a derivative of man’s rebellion to His Creator.
The heart of man that is deceitfully wicked and the source of evil, destructive, and demented conduct and practices can only be changed and cured by the Great Physician. He and He alone is the cure. I am speaking from experience and not theory, opinion, or conjecture. If He healed and transformed my once cold, bitter, angry, and racist heart, He can do it for anyone.
At the end of day, racism is much more than a social pandemic that threatens the strength and survival of our culture and country. It is much more than the systemic suppression and stagnation of minorities by the bias and discriminatory practices and policies of the ruling majority. There are unseen powers and principalities who the Scriptures refer to as the rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12). These evil beings that are under the authority and command of Satan are the ones who are agitating, exacerbating, and manipulating the minds of people to achieve his agenda.
There is only one group of people in America who have been duly authorized to confront and subdue these invisible intruders and instigators. Social scientists, politicians, judges nor any natural human authority can prevail against these evil emissaries. Only those who are true followers of Jesus Christ can confront and subdue these evil agents.
In my conclusion, I submit that it is time for every church and Christian to take up arms through prayer and fasting, in order that we who represent Christ may truly be His warriors against these invisible enemies.
However, before we can be effective in our warfare, we must first make sure that we are delivered from the very thing (racism) that we are fighting against.
Anyone who calls themselves a Christian (whether they happen to be Black, White, Brown, Red, or some other color), who is racist or silent about racism in America is complicit and is part of the problem.