Immediately, I am reminded of a book in the Bible. It is only one chapter. It is the book of Jude. Its subject is concerning apostasy. For my purposes here, I am not as concerned with the purpose of the book as much as I am with how it starts. Jude writes this. “Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else.” For me, I would say, “Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about my hunting trip. But now I find I must write about racism. Yes racism. It seems, for too long, we hunters have lived on the fringes when it comes to this subject. Many of us say we are not racist, but we also know many are. And it feels like, because of what we have in common (guns and hunting), we have not been as vocal as we needed to be for our black neighbors – many who also like to hunt. Today is my day to take a stand. I am appalled by many of the recent incidents I have watched and even witnessed. And it’s no longer good enough to only offer a mediocre gesture of support for the black community. For me there are two types of hunters and fishermen – racist and not-racist. These two groups should have very little they do together. It should be a dividing line. It should be one question, if not the first question to ask, before we stand side by side, in support, on any other issue. I will stand supporting my Second Amendment rights or my hunting rights with blacks, whites, gays, straights, city folk, rednecks, Republicans, Democrats, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, atheists, and even criminals. But I will not stand beside someone who thinks their race was made in the image of God, but not another’s; and as a result, treats the other race inferior. If you are a hunter, a gun owner, and are a racist, I am NOT on your side. I am NOT in your fraternity. I am NOT one with you in anything. If you are a racist, it is impossible to believe in the God of the Bible – a God who claims to have made all people in His image. Those made in His image have the same sweat and blood. I do not stand as a man of color; I stand as a man of image – God’s image. The same image he gave to every single human. I am not a part of the white race. I am a part of the human race. I stand against racial pride, arrogance, and hate. And just so you know, if the choice came between me standing with my gun or standing with my black brother against racism…… well, I’ll let you figure out where I’ll be. Enough is enough. Post it on your hunting lodge, on your truck, and talk about it often. Let everyone know that just because you have a gun and camo, does not mean you’re on the same team.

 

Gary Miller      

gary@outdoortruths.org