(RNS) — The Supreme Court’s latest ruling on voting rights rests on a faulty premise — the idea that the best way to address racial inequality is not to consider race at all.

In its ruling, the court shifted the burden of proof for race-based gerrymandering of congressional districts from demonstrating discriminatory effects to proving racist intent.

Its harm may extend not only to minority representation in Congress and state legislatures, but to race relations and to Christian witness.

For several decades now, many white Christians have been taught to see “colorblindness” as a virtue — a sign of spiritual maturity that rises above division.

But the 1965 Voting Rights Act was born from a confrontation with the color line.…