I really don't know how to start this article. I don't know what to say. There are so many words to be said and so many emotions that I cannot put into words. I should probably start at what seems like the best place to start: the beginning.
The beginning for me was about a week and a half ago- with the first death that caught the new's attention. I am horrible with names, especially of people I have never met and people who have passed away already. Evidentally this guy was going on a morning jog one day, and two 'white men' (apparently one of whom was an ex-policeman) killed him. The problem was, for me, I saw it everywhere. I mean, I understand that it is on the news, but so many artists and social media 'stars' were posting about it. I did not want to dwell on the fact that someone had died and I did not like thinking about it.
The problem is, there was more that made me mad. I am not out enough, and I live in a private community with little blacks anywhere near, but I am sure that blacks and whites and all other races or skin colors in between are shot or murdered all the time- possibly even from those who don't like the victim's skin color. I know this is not okay, but I didn't understand why everyone had to focus on one man's life and ignore all the others. Also, sadly, I guess it did not really click that he had died. I mean, people die about every 10 seconds I was once told. So what made this one person more important than any other? Not really anything, except to the news the story behind his death. The problem was for me, that I did not realize that his life mattered- like do all lives. I probably watched too much Lord of the Rings recently.
So, I made a comment that I understood his life was important, but I think that those 'stars' should make a big deal on that, but other things too. These were all Christian singers that I am talking about, so there is so much evil in the world other than just racism going on around us. I think this hits them harder because most of them (I suddenly realized) are African American. So, this means so much more to them than it does to me. But, it should mean that much to me.
While this first death was all the rage, I was getting comments on my one comment about how "I can't be a Christian if I do not realize the importance of this" or "I will never understand" so much that I removed my comment. I could go into depth on this another time because, while I was wrong, it hurt that others were judging me based on one comment that was not all wrong.
So, I slowly came to realize that this was totally wrong. Then comes along this other murder- this time very evidentally by a police officer, and he was practically choked to death. Then this one brings up another interesting point- this one was clearly by a police officer, but I feel like I do not understand this whole story either. For example, no one has told me if this man was guilty of anything or if the officer was seriously just racist. While this man was totally still wrong, and the victim was still murdered, I think this would shed a slightly different light on the matter if the victim was about to be arrested for a crime he did commit. I for sure think that the officers (yes, the three who did nothing were thereby doing something) could have handled this WAY differently, but I wish I got more of the full picture.
This specific case I have not made a single comment on it until this article today. I have not talked to anyone about it except for my sister, this morning. I have learned my lesson from last time about commenting on posts. It sounds like Facebook and Twitter are THE PLACES to argue and debate, so good thing I do not have either. I understand how all those African Americans feel right now, and I am terribly sorry for what the world has done. I personally do not think that I am too racist. While I might notice skin color, I don't believe it changes the way I look at people, and I pray that it never will. I think that different skin colors is so cool- it gives color to our world!
I also understand that different people come from different cultures. While I am sure that not all African Americans have the same culture, I think this could have a big impact on what comes next in this story. I was informed that oftentimes if an African American is hurt (mentally or physically) even if they were guilty, they feel like they have lost respect and all other African Americans feel that they lost respect because someone of their kind was hurt. Again, this is not always true, but their response is to retaliate.
I am sheltered, as I mentioned before, so I have not seen any of the protests- in person or via online. I have heard that they have been anything but peaceful. This breaks my heart for many reasons. The biggest one is that everyone is mad at all the police officers because of one man's death. Not all police officers are racist. Not all police officers are mean. I think that they deserve more credit than they get, and when one officer does something wrong they get all the blame. For every one man killed by a police officer like this one African American was, there are hundreds of thousands to probably millions of times where police have protected you when you were in danger and you did not even know it. They are not all bad, and they are not all-bad. I'd love to see what the police officers (or ex-police officer) would say now after they have all this negative attention. Are they sorry or do they still feel morally right? I mean, I was able to learn to care about every person's life recently because of a comment I made. I learned from my lesson. I know what these men did is way more serious so it probably would not be JUST to let them back out, but are they really sorry? What would Jesus do?
I think that is a great way to bring me to what should be my final point- I think that so many Christians are leaving Jesus out of this picture. Jesus died for our sins, so if those men who killed another turn to him, should we be mad that they are now saved? Even if they are not Christian's should we not show the guilty love? I'm not saying we should release them, but could we pray for them? And finally, some I have heard have said that this is not part of God's Will. Yet, I am going to mention one of my favorite verses again on this Blog: Romans 8:28 says "For God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." I mean, even for those who are not, God will work everything for His glory. But for those of us who are saved, God is watching out for us and if we die, it was in His plan. God is still in control, whether it seems we can see it or not.
God Loves Y'all,
Mary Beau
Comments
Post a Comment