Today has been called “our country’s second independence day,” and for good reason.
On this day in 1865, US Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, where he announced that the Civil War was over and that the 250,000 slaves of Texas were free. Even though President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had been signed two years earlier, the lack of Union soldiers in the Confederate state of Texas meant the proclamation was not enforced until Granger arrived.
Celebrations among former slaves soon ensued. The next year, freed slaves celebrated the anniversary with prayer services, church gatherings, speeches, readings, picnics, and rodeos.
Today, Juneteenth parades, concerts, cookouts, and other events will be held across the country. Every state except Hawaii, North Dakota, and South Dakota currently recognizes Juneteenth as a state holiday or day of observance.
Racial justice and the sanctity of life
Juneteenth should not only be a secular holiday—it should be a spiritual holiday as well.
As an evangelical Christian, I am deeply committed to a doctrine we call the “sanctity of life”—the belief that life is sacred from conception to natural death. This doctrine is often invoked with regard to abortion, the tragic killing of unborn children. In recent years, it has also been applied to the escalating practice of euthanasia.
But it also applies to the sin of racism. And just as with abortion and euthanasia, this cause is worthy of our best, enduring commitment.
In responding to nationwide calls for racial justice, this week we have been discussing Benjamin Watson’s claim that we need awareness, advocacy, and action. We’ll close with his third imperative as God’s invitation to us today.
God’s word calls us to three kinds of action in response to racial injustice in our…
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