Herschel Walker: Slavery reparations are 'outside the teaching of Jesus Christ'

Former NFL star Herschel Walker — now an outspoken conservative voice — argued against slavery reparations during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. A devout Christian, Walker also said reparations are "outside the teaching of Jesus Christ."

What are the details?

Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner, cited Ezekiel 18:20, a verse in the Old Testament that reads, "The person who sins will die. A son will not suffer the punishment for the father's guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son's guilt; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself."

He argued during last week's virtual hearing that "we use black power to create white guilt. My approach is biblical: How can I ask my Heavenly Father to forgive me if I can't forgive my brother?"

"I never want to put anyone's religion down, but my religion teaches togetherness. Reparations teach separation," Walker noted. "Slavery ended over 130 years ago; how can a father be asked [to allow] his son to spend prison time for a crime he committed?"

He also said that if reparations are "a fee or a correction for a terrible sin of slaveowners, government, and others, but we punish a non-guilty party, is it not creating division, a separation with different races? I feel it continues to let us know we're still African American rather than just American. Reparations or atonement is outside the teaching of Jesus Christ."

Walker also wondered how reparations would work on a practical level, given all the difficult factors surrounding the subject.

"Reparations — where does the money come from? Does it come from all the other races except the black taxpayers?" he asked. "Who is black? What percentage of black must you be to receive reparations? Do you go to 23andMe or a DNA test to determine the percentage of blackness? Some American ancestors just came to this country 80 years ago, their ancestors weren't even here during slavery. Some black immigrants weren't here during slavery, nor their ancestors. Some states didn't even have slavery."

What else has Walker said?

In October, Walker declared that black Americans are not oppressed.

"I started thinking this poor black kid from South Georgia got a chance to represent the United States of America," he said, referring to his time in the 1992 Winter Olympics as a bobsledder. "I've been hearing a lot from people saying, 'We're oppressed.' Well, I'm here to tell you, you're not."

He also encouraged Americans to vote for then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 November election.

A month before, Walker blasted the Black Lives Matter movement as "anti-government, anti-American, anti-Christian," and "anti-everything" — and challenged NFL leaders regarding whether they will support what he said is a Marxist movement.

Last summer, he called out those in favor of the Defund the Police movement, saying he'd gladly "meet with American Airlines, Delta, and Southwest and make a deal to fly them to countries that don't have police. I want them to be happy!"

What's the background on reparations?

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who was part of the virtual hearing, introduced H.R. 40 — the Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans Act — in 2019 to "examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to present and recommend appropriate remedies."

Last week, it was revealed that President Joe Biden supports studying reparations. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the study would be part of the Biden administration's "commitment to take comprehensive action to address the systemic racism that persists today." In February 2019, Kamala Harris said she supports slavery reparations.

But Americans overwhelmingly oppose reparations, as a Reuters/Ipsos poll last summer found that only one in five respondents agreed the U.S. government should use "taxpayer money to pay damages to descendants of enslaved people in the United States."

WATCH: House Judiciary Committee hearing on reparations for Black Americansyoutu.be