Why I am Against Diversity

I am a bi-vocational pastor, which means being a pastor is not my only job.  I also work part-time for a large, Fortune 500 corporation.  And in corporate America we hear a lot about the importance of diversity.  Once I had to sit through a 4-hour HR training course on the reasons that it made sense for my company to give hiring preferences to blacks and women.  The prevailing wisdom is that a diverse church/company/organization is better off.  I don't buy it.  Here are four quick reasons why Christians should not buy into the goal of diversity as a moral good.

First, the goal of diversity is racist/sexist.  In the name of diversity, organizations specifically hire people because of the color of their skin or because of their sex.  We're told that it is not racist, because the end goal is not an all-white or an all-black company, but a diverse company.  In other words, we're told that the end goal is not racist, and therefore the means is not racist.  But the end does not justify the means in this case, because the means is the textbook definition of racism.  Hiring people b/c of their race is racism, regardless of the ultimate goal.

Second, the goal of diversity decreases quality.  Diversity does not accomplish what it promises, and proponents of diversity know it.  The idea that diversity makes us stronger is only a lie used to convince people that it is okay to give special advantages to one race over another.  It is a lie that enables people to be racist.  Think about it.  Are we really supposed to believe that an organization will be better off simply because it is racially or sexually diverse?  Let's take an obvious example -- professional sports.  Do you think an NBA basketball team will better off if it decides to add an equal number of women as men, and an equal number of whites as blacks?  That example is silly only because it is makes my point so obvious.  Or take the Navy Seals.  Do you honestly want the Seals to focus on racial and gender diversity, or on selecting the most qualified warriors they can find?  The best workforce is created not through the arbitrary goal of diversity, but by ignoring race and sex and hiring people based on their character, intellect, skills, and abilities.

Third, diversity as a goal is unbiblical.  Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to aim for a racially diverse church, or for a racially diverse company.  We should not make it our goal to exclude certain races.  That is racism.  That does not glorify God.  Our goal should be to treat men and women, whites and blacks with equal dignity and respect.  But if our church is mostly white or mostly black, that doesn't mean we are racist.  It does not mean that something is wrong with us.  It could have something to do with the community we are in -- if it is mostly white or mostly black.  Or it could have something to do with our culture -- white culture and black culture are significantly different in America.  We dress differently, talk differently, listen to different types of music, eat different foods, etc.  And birds of a feather flock together.  There's nothing wrong with that as long as we love each other and can work together for the Gospel.  The Bible teaches us to judge people according to their character and beliefs, not according to their race or gender. 

In summary, diversity is merely a lie told to deceive people into tolerating racist and sexist behavior.  It is a form of virtue signaling.  It is using people of color for your own vanity -- to make you look like you are not a racist so that you can get a pat on the back from the diversity pushers.  If I have to hire a black man or have a certain number of black people in my church or company to prove to you that I'm not racist, then you have a problem, not me.

Note:  This post was originally published on February 4, 2017.

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