“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9.
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” Isaiah 1:17.
It’s Sunday morning. It’s another sunny day in Alabama and unfortunately, another day where an innocent man gets into captivity by the police. He happens to be a black man. He is innocent in this case but he is still in jail. As a Christian who seeks justice in this unjust world, I post a message in social media stating, “How would you feel if the police arrests you wrongly? Think about this for a minute…”
The post was followed by a video from CNN about the arrest of a black man who was jogging. About a minute after that, I get a message like this… (Not actual, paraphrased).
John Smith: I would be pretty angry. But, I would not fight arrest and fight in court, suing many people.
I replied, “Me too but I’m not black. African Americans, on average, are convicted wrongly much more often than caucasians. What this video tells me is how much distrust some members of the African American community have against the police.” *Showing a graphic stating that African Americans are 7 times more likely to be convicted of murder, 3.5 more likely to be convicted of sexual assault and 12 times more likely to be convicted of drug charges when innocent.
I got a reply like this (paraphrased here) which read…
John Smith: “I’ve always understood that and always took the stance. But, this is our societal reality. It is possible to be changed but it needs to be done by a large group of people.”
Thinking critically about the former, I kindly replied, “Right, many people do. Just because this has been our reality for long isn’t good enough for me and I suspect many others. Many Americans should try to understand other people situations first before making a judgement on them. At least, this is how I see it.”
The conversation ended right there. Thank Goodness.
The Lord asks us to stand for what is right. To me, keeping things are they because “it is our current circumstances and always been” isn’t the best way to handle problems. I would argue the the former is unchristian and uncaring but that’s just me.
Do what is right. Be strong and never forget to stand up for justice. The Lord is watching… very closely, ladies and gentleman.