In December I wrote this –about how I don’t have time to engage with what happened to Michael Brown in Ferguson and all that was happening. About how it seemed messed up, yet I needed to put food on the table for my family and didn’t have the emotional energy to do anything about it.
Since then I have felt similarly. I haven’t found the time to read more about Eric Garner or Freddie Grey or Tamir Rice (a 12 year old referred to in the media as a thug) or John Crawford or the McKinney Texas pool party or Waco biker rally gone wrong or Bruce/ Caitlyn’s acceptance or Rachel Dolazal transracial feelings. I haven’t made the time to see if the statistics posted on Twitter, Facebook or linked websites were accurate or inflated and one sided. I didn’t fact check articles and photos of the differences between being an unarmed black teenager and a heavily armed white biker or between being transgender and transracial.
I didn’t read into them much because I believed them to be true. Without buying into the media’s theories and without thinking their questions are actually being discussed, I made my mind up. I know that the color of people’s skin affects how we communicate and interact with a person. How we expect the police to interact and respond. How we accept and appreciate someone’s work or worth.
In the midst of avoiding digging into current events, I have read most of The New Jim Crow and have started feeling even more helpless. I have read and discussed with a few people how the systems of slavery—power, intimidation, suppression— are still alive and well today in the prison industrial system and law enforcement regulations.
And I turned off the audio book, after a couple hours a week, because it was too much to learn and apply.
But then, this week. A young adult went into a church and shot 9 innocent adults after praying with them for an hour. If you take race out of it, that is a tragedy. If you add race into it, it is an intentionally hateful tragedy that took over media AND social media. If you listen to what might be his motives you weep that it is 2015 and this happened in our country.
So it has me thinking about how to respond. And as I looked at Christian friend’s posts and attempted to ignore the media’s biases, I noticed a lot of Bible verses that made sense. But the one that resonated in me more than anything wasn’t directly shared- The golden rule. Matthew 7:12 although it is not exclusively Christian.
Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
In fact, it is basic ethical living. The Jews live it. The hippies live it. The Muslims live it. Most atheists live it. Eastern and animist traditions practice it.
- Don’t choke someone out unless you want to also be assaulted.
- Don’t judge someone running, lest ye be judged.
- Don’t barrel role and handcuff someone in a swimsuit for no reason unless you wouldn’t mind that humiliation.
- Don’t listen to and believe in talking boxes of hate unless you want to be hated.
- Don’t suspect that the blacks have crack issues, the whites have meth issues, the Natives have drinking issues unless you want them to think you have a donut issue.
- Don’t sit and pray with someone for an hour and then murder them, unless you feel you….well, just don’t
While some are calling for the country to be taken back to church, and for Jesus to come again, I think we need to realize He doesn’t want to hang with us, until we treat each other civilly and how we want Him to treat us.
We need to listen more not talk less.
Welcome not condemn.
And love not hate.
I used the excuse before that I wanted to give space for minority’s voices to be heard. I said my words would just add to the noise. But it seems like we need more noise. When it is our turn to talk we need to speak up. We need to be among those screaming
THIS NEEDS TO STOP NOW.
I don’t have the time to be silent while I read and hear what others are saying. For I need to remind people to treat me as I would treat them and go from there. Maybe I (and you) can actually change this world.
I used the excuse before that I wanted to give space for minority’s voices to be heard.
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I said my words would just add to the noise.
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But it seems like we need more noise. When it is our turn to talk we need to speak up.
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