“Wait for the facts”. I used to repeat those well-meaning words a lot. Odds are, you already know what I’m talking about.
Yesterday, video surfaced of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota who was choked to death by a gang of police officers. All because he “resisted arrest” when officers cuffed him for suspected forgery. Yeah, suspected forgery.
It reminded me of when the same happened to Eric Garner, who suffered a similar fate for selling untaxed cigarettes in New York.
I’m addressing this to my fellow well-meaning white people (More specifically white Christians) who have spent the last few years thinking that just loving others and showing no partiality was enough. It’s not.
I say well-meaning because I know it to be true. The vast majority of white Christians are not racist, they try not to discriminate and they try to love everyone, regardless of race. But the vast majority of white Christians have been silent. I say well-meaning because I am in this group. I thought simply showing no partiality in my own life would be enough. It’s not and it never has been.
So first, to my African American brothers and sisters. I am sorry. I’m sorry I’ve been silent. I’m sorry I haven’t stood by you. I’m asking for your forgiveness.
Now to my white brothers and sisters. I understand, I get it. I’m an Enneagram 8; that means I’m the literal embodiment of “Facts matter more than feelings”. I’d apply this to crimes against black men and women, waiting to judge every crime until I had the full picture. I don’t think this is always wrong.
But here’s what’s wrong: I was searching for the wrong facts. I’m logical to a T, so I’ll try to explain.
You see, we should pay attention to facts, but we often look for the wrong ones.
George Floyd, based on the video, was not resisting arrest. But let’s say he was, does that matter? Let’s say he was yelling or struggling, does that justify killing him?
Maybe in North Korea. But our Constitution (Remember, I’m a slightly obnoxious Libertarian and strict Constitutionalist) grants the right to a speedy and fair trial by jury, prevents against cruel and unusual punishment. There’s this fantastic thing built into our country’s founding document called “Due Process”. Along with the printing press, cars and functional electricity, due process is one of the most important inventions in the history of the world.
It means you’re innocent until proven guilty. Even if proven guilty, there’s conviction, sentencing and then the serving of the sentence. Unless, of course, you don’t live to get to any of those steps.
Due process is wonderful for a few reasons. First, it provides a clear set of steps to be followed every time. Second, it gives the accused rights. (Again, you know who universally hates due process laws? Every dictator ever.) Even the most guilty of guilty people is guaranteed the right to counsel and a trial, rights many of these victims will never be afforded. Even if “the facts” say someone was a violent criminal, he has these rights.
Those are big ifs, and you’d have to be ignorant to assume every victim of racism or prejudice fell into the “violent criminal” category. Even if they did, it wouldn’t matter.
But third, (And this is shifting focus a bit) due process allows an investigation to begin and the legal wheels to turn even before “all the facts” are in. The facts can and should go to a jury to be decided.
I digress, the point is that facts do matter. When we say, “Let’s wait for the facts to come out,” we’re not wrong. But if I may, let’s examine some facts that we (read “white Christians”) often forget, fail to see, or even ignore:
Fact #1: Everyone has a right to life. Quick side note: Conservatives are right to make such a fuss about abortion, but shouldn’t life after birth be just as important? If at all possible, the right to life should be protected. Police officers are specifically trained to de-escalate situations peacefully and protect people. Most are quite good at it. Those that aren’t usually aren’t trying.
Fact #2: Our African American brothers and sisters are hurting. To de-legitimize their hurt on any grounds would be unloving and cruel. Imagine if we went to a friend who had just lost a loved one to cancer and said, “Yeah, but we can’t jump to conclusions, he could have been a smoker.” Does that somehow make it better? Does losing someone to a drug overdose make it better?
I tend to default to logic over emotion far too often. Again, facts matter. But that does not mean people’s emotions do not matter. They matter quite a lot, actually. And right now, there are a lot of people that are deeply hurt and deeply afraid.
But even more than being hurt, our black brothers and sisters also have to go to bed fearing for the lives of their children. The moment we realize the validity of these fears is the moment we realize that other facts are not nearly as important. Our friends, fellow church members, and colleagues are hurting because of sin in the world. They’re hurting because of our refusal to even halfway acknowledge their hurt. Those facts matter, perhaps more than any others.
Fact #3: Nuance exists. Recognizing the use of excessive force does not make you anti-police and recognizing injustice in America does not make you anti-American (Think about it, disliking modern children’s tv doesn’t make you anti-child and disliking certain aspects of the education system in no way makes you anti-teacher).
Calling evil evil does not make you a traitor to your own race, church or political party (Seriously, when did this become a political issue?). But staying silent in the face of evil does make us complicit in that evil. It helps evil to go by other, less convicting terms like “tragedy” and “isolated incident”. It normalizes evil. When evil is normalized, we begin to see it as less than evil.
So what do we (Again, speaking mainly to the white Christians here) do? I don’t have all the answers, but I do have some ideas.
We need to speak out both privately and publicly. Our God is a just God and he’s called us to be just people. As Paul says in Colossians, “There is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:11).
He continues, “ Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col. 3:12-14).
What if we lived like this? What if we put on compassionate hearts and lived kind, humble, meek, patient lives?
That’s part of it. The other part is that we cannot remain silent. Christ is in all, and we owe it to our African American brothers and sisters to stand up to oppression and injustice. I don’t have much of a platform but I need to publicly advocate for change. Change can only come through Christ and I’m going to do my darndest to spread the love of my holy, loving and just Father in heaven.
Sin kills and it won’t ever be fully eradicated from our midst until Jesus returns. But we can take steps to eliminate it.
What is required of us, what is good? Micah answers that. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic. 5:7)
We’re not living out this verse, y’all, and we have to do better.
I’ve been silent far too long. No more. Come Lord Jesus.
Coffee Theology 