Prejudice
“ ‘Prejudice’ is a word that comes from two words: ‘pre’ or before and ‘judice’ or to judge. So when we are prejudging against each another, we are really pre-judging him or her.” (Marianne C. Sailus)
“Make no mistake, from a Christian point of view prejudice is a serious wrong because it is sacrilegious. Sacrilege, as defined by the Oxford American Dictionary, is “disrespect or damage to something sacred.” As Christians, we believe life comes from God and that human beings are created in “the image and likeness of God.” To then disrespect or damage others in our thoughts and actions is to profane God’s creation.” (Sacramental Living)
“We are wired to choose sides—we make tidy distinctions between people based on race, ideology, nationality, economics, or education...It’s easy to sort people into groups. Sometimes, this is accompanied by the darker spiritual sickness of prejudice. We are made in the image of God, who is a Trinity of love; we are made for communion, and prejudice violates God’s intention for us all.” (Father Barnabas Powell)
“Prejudice in any form is in direct opposition of these commands of love from our Lord and it actually separates us from Christ. ‘Such a person is outside the spiritual teachings as set down by Christ and the great saints who followed His footsteps. The entire therapeutic pedagogy of the Ecclesia is built on the practice of humility. To follow Christ means to have the capacity to coexist with other people who may be radically different from you.’ ” (Kyriacos C. Markides)
“The problem today with the words hypocrisy and prejudice is that the mere hearing or reading of these words typically brings to mind thoughts of another person or some group of people. Rarely do we first think of ourselves when we hear or read these words and acknowledge we all possess these traits to some degree. This is a root cause of many issues today because true Christianity which leads to real Christ-like love of others begins with humility.” (Sacramental Living Blog)