Thick, black smoke billows from a burning car in Ferguson, Missouri. A grand jury has investigated the shooting of Michael Brown and has determined that the evidence does not offer sufficient cause to indict officer Darren Wilson for any crime in the shooting.
We often use the word “apocalypse” to describe events that are chaotic and destructive. Both adjectives certainly describe 2014 in Ferguson. First came the shooting. Then came the riots. Two other young black men have died in the Greater St. Louis are in the meanwhile. The Missouri National Guard had to intervene. The Department of Justice has begun its own investigation. Never has the Ferguson pot settled below a simmer since the day Brown died.
The root meaning of the word “apocalypse” is something along the lines of “unveiling.” For my part, the events in Ferguson have served as something of an unveiling. I had hoped that we were further along in racial reconciliation. I had hoped that our nation was prepared to resolve differences more productively. I had thought that police forces were generally more representative of their communities and that tensions were not quite so high as they obviously are at least in some quarters of our country. I disagree with so much of President Obama’s politics; I had hoped that the one silver lining of his term of office would be a greater harmony among the races during his sojourn at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A different set of facts have been revealed, as has my erstwhile naïveté.
The Apocalypse is the actual Greek title of the final book of the New Testament. John’s Apocalypse tells us the prophecy of the end and forms a major portion of the foundation for Christian eschatology. The events in Ferguson tell us more about our anemic eschatology than they do about our poor ethics.
A healthy eschatology will help us to see one another based upon our shared spiritual future rather than our diverse genetic heritages. Our eschatological citizenship makes us a part of a united nation that is far more polyglot than the United Nations. It reaches to every tribe and tongue and people. The barrier is torn down. We are now one. When we speak and act as though we are not one, we out ourselves as believers who do not actually believe, at least as far as our eschatological destiny is concerned.
A healthy eschatology will give us a hunger for justice, both in the sense of micro-justice (in this particular case of Officer Darren Wilson versus Michael Brown, was this shooting justified?) and in the sense of macro-justice (does Ferguson generally offer a just society of day-in-and-day-out equal treatment under the law for all of its citizens without regard to race?) Both, after all, appear in The Apocalypse: both the settling of scores with vast people-groups on a national scale and the appearance of each individual human before God’s final tribunal. Being an eschatologically minded Christian will cause you to care about both.
A healthy eschatology will denude us of our incredulity when human beings act destructively toward creation, toward others, or toward even their own selves. This surprises you? Have you not read The Apocalypse? Why, again, did you think people were above such things? Good eschatology should never rob us of our compassion over the anguish human destructiveness brings, but it is difficult to read and believe the apocalypse while retaining a Pollyannish notion of the essential goodness and tranquility of humankind.
A healthy eschatology will remind us that spiritual forces are at work in the world, both of the evil and the good varieties. Pundits on news channels are not giving us the whole story, and they will never be able perfectly to analyze or predict what human beings will do. There are variables in the equation that are invisible to the analysis of the world. The people and the police of Ferguson, Missouri, are pawns in a cosmic battle.
A healthy eschatology will evidence itself in such seasons as a deep yearning for something beyond. I’ve written about Rich Mullins before. He penned these lyrics that are undeniably Christian and deeply applicable to this situation. The song is deeply, passionately eschatological. I think it exemplifies the way we believers ought to feel at moments like this.
I believe there is a place
Where people live in perfect peace
Where there is food on every plate
Where work is rewarded and rest is sweet
Where the color of your skin
Won’t get you in or keep you out
Where justice reigns and truth finally wins
Its hard fought war against fear and doubt
And everyone I know wants to go there, too
But when I ask them how to do it they seem so confused
Do I turn to the left?
Do I turn to the right?
When I turn to the world they gave me this advice
They said boy you just follow your heart
But my heart just led me into my chest
They said follow your nose
But the direction changed every time I went and turned my head
And they said boy you just follow your dreams
But my dreams were only misty notions
But the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses
And the Giver of dreams He’s the one I have chosen
And I will follow Him
I believe there’ll come a time
Lord, I pray it’s not too far off
There’ll be no poverty or crime
There’ll be no greed and we will learn how to love
And children will be safe in their homes
And there’ll be no violence out on the streets
The old will not be left alone
And the strong will learn how to care for the weak
And everyone I know hopes it comes real soon
But when I ask ’em where I’d find it they seem so confused
Do I find it in the day?
Do I find it in the night?
When I finally ask the world they give me this advice
They said boy you just follow your heart
But my heart just led me into my chest
They said follow your nose
But the direction changed every time I went and turned my head
And they said boy you just follow your dreams
But my dreams were only misty notions
But the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses
And the Giver of dreams He’s the one I have chosen
And I will follow Him
And oh, I hear the voice of a million dreams
Then I wake in the world that I’m partly made of
And the world that is partly my own making
And oh, I hear the song of a heart set free
That will not be kept down
By the fury and sound
Of a world that is wasting away but keeps saying
They said boy you just follow your heart
But my heart just led me into my chest
They said follow your nose
But the direction changed every time I went and turned my head
And they said boy you just follow your dreams
But my dreams were only misty notions
But the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses
And the Giver of dreams He’s the one I have chosen
And I will follow Him
Agreed Bart, this is just a thimble prick of the true unveiling to come. The greater justice is to worship the God that gives us faith to recognize sin, and run from it….and run to him. These situations are reminders of the ugliness of sin, and do call into our hearts for a verdict. Do we love, or do we build excuses. I hope we “hear the song of the heart set free” and love those that spit on us, hate us, and think differently.
Saints have an opportunity to be a light in the darkness. May we act on that opportunity day after day, even as Christ our Savior appears!
“A healthy eschatology will remind us that spiritual forces are at work in the world, both of the evil and the good varieties … The people and the police of Ferguson, Missouri, are pawns in a cosmic battle.”
Amen Bart! This, indeed, should be the Christian perspective. Much of what we see in Ferguson is a spiritual battle, not purely racial tension.
“The Maker of Noses”
Great song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmzWwGRrV50
This is really good.
Bart,
I long for the day described in Revelation 5:9-10. King Jesus will put away all racial tensions.
Just one more thought, though, as I read some people on Facebook, and hear about Tweets from some more, and read other quotes. It seems like some people are trying so hard to be racially sensitive that they excuse all kinds of bad behavior. And, it’s as if they’re saying, “No matter what the evidence is, lynch the White man. Because, we’ve got to look like we’re the more racially sensitive people. and thus, appear to be more sophisticated and intelligent.” So, the Black man, and the Hispanic man, and the American Indian can do no wrong. But, White people are guilty. Of what? Being White, and for every injustice done to any person of color in the history of the world. Why are we guilty of these things? Because, we’re White.
Bart, I’m not saying that you are like this, or saying anything like this in your OP. But, I am saying that I’ve heard many, many people talking like this. And, they seem to come across like this every time there’s a racial situation.
David
David,
Thank you for saying that. I say a hardy amen!
I think sometimes we get so busy being racially sensitive that we fail to call a spade a spade.
I see no reason to appease those who are constantly focusing on race. They will never be appeased. As Bart said, the fact that our citizenry chose a black President OUGHT to prove that our nation is not predominantly racist.
Maybe there was a time that white Americans needed to repent, but even so, there is absolutely no legitimacy in blaming white Americans for what has happened in Ferguson. There is far more black on white crime than vice versa, but I don’t see white people rioting in the streets.
I don’t think it is helpful for pastors or anyone else to continue harping about white Americans needing to repent of racism. Perhaps the calls for repentance would be better aimed at those in the black community who are actually involved in the racial hostilities.
Thanks, Matt, God bless you, Bro.
David
It’s a very strange day when I quote J.D. Hall’s take on anything. However, in this piece, he elaborates upon “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” taking to task such men as Stetzer, Piper, Moore and Obama.
I actually think Hall has a point. Sometimes, in our effort to sound overly compassionate and sensitive, we are in fact condescendingly treating with kid’s gloves the type of sinful misbehavior that should be boldly condemned–no matter the race of the sinner.
http://bit.ly/1vkGLlm
It warms the cockles of my heart to see that this issue is capable of bringing Calvinists and Arminians together. The gospel can’t do it, but prejudice sure can!
Chris,
Who is prejudiced? Who is racist? Please share.
David
Chris,
The word I would use to describe that comment is asinine. Race baiting is used when you don’t have a viable argument.
Chris R.,
Prejudice:
1. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
2.
any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
3.
unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.
You made the charge, now prove it.
“… treating with kid’s gloves the type of sinful misbehavior that should be boldly condemned–no matter the race of the sinner.”
Rick, I do believe that in the volumes of articles and blogs I have read on this subject, you are the first to mention that awful 3-letter word “sin”! The pulpits in St. Louis County and beyond might consider incorporating that in their sermons next Sunday.
Dr. Patrick,
When Obama, Stetzer, and Moore must be admonished in the same sentence I think we have to sit up and say, “Nashville, we have a problem.”
Agreed. Perhaps I can put my Marketing degree to good use in promoting a solution. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving!
Good idea!
Happy Thanksgiving and Roll Tide.
I’m not sure how to feel about this, Rick 😉
I read your entire article twice. On this matter, we completely agree. Happy Thanksgiving!
Rick & JD,
The article by JD Hall is the most racist, offensive, and insensitive article I’ve ever read on the Ferguson matter. Particularly, did I find his lecture to the Black Church offensive. The attack on President Obama, Moore, Stetzer, Piper, and others was also appalling. Is this the same JD Hall that made the comments that contributed to the death of President Caner’s son? If so, he is an equal opportunity offender. Rick, is JD Hall a member of the SBC? His remarks are highly more inflammatory than the repented of controversial remarks that were made by Richard Land. I find your endorsement of his remarks troubling, but, I respect your right to affirm his wrongheaded and arrogant views. What makes Hall think that he has the moral standing to lecture the Black Church? Moore, Stetzer, and Piper deserve our love, respect & prayers. There commentary leads to healing, unity, and resolution to the race problem that evangelicalism is perpetually challenged by. Hall’s comments lead to division and disunity. I’m unsure as to whether or not, I belong to the same SBC as JD Hall. Rick, would u be so kind as to let me know? Thanks.
Dwight,
Just a few observations of this SBC layman:
“The article by JD Hall is the most racist, offensive, and insensitive article I’ve ever READ on the Ferguson matter.”
I read JD’s article and while blunt, I didn’t see it as racist. Maybe we have a different definition of the word “racist”.
“The attack on President Obama, Moore, Stetzer, Piper, and others was also appalling.”
I saw them as criticisms, blunt as they may be. No one is above criticism because of their status.
“Is this the same JD Hall that made the comments that contributed to the death of President Caner’s son?”
This appears to me as personal attack on JD, designed to discredit the individual, not his opinion. It is of no relevance in this discussion.
“If so, he is an equal opportunity offender.”
Agreed. JD is blunt, sometimes overly blunt. Again, irrelevant in the discussion.
“I find your (Rick’s) endorsement of his remarks troubling, but, I respect your right to affirm his wrongheaded and arrogant views.
To me, this seems to be a personal insult to Rick. Also, just because you believe his views to be “wrongheaded and arrogant” does not necessarily make it so. Such a statement shuts down any real debate.
“Hall’s comments lead to division and disunity.”
In my opinion, virtually all of the 400+ comments and opinions on the whole Ferguson mess leads to division and disunity, including your comment.
Final personal opinion:
Whenever I see the “R” word used in an accusatory fashion, it’s a debate stopper. I see it as a dismissal of anyone’s opinion but their own. Not a good method of persuasion. I also think that I’m not alone in this opinion.
Thanks for your consideration.
Dwight,
Sorry, I intended no offense. I respect both you and your ministry. However, we clearly define “racism” differently, and not just in this case. I disagreed with you about the Washington Redskins’ name being racist.
I am uncertain of JD Hall’s credentials in SBC life. It seems like I heard he was part of either the state convention or the national one but not both. Such things change quickly.
Randy White is a Southern Baptist Pastor in Katy, Texas. His comments echoed those of Hall. I do not for one minute believe that Randy is a racist. http://bit.ly/1vsTX6n
I think the life lesson here is one we should apply to all persons of all ethnicities: (1) don’t get high, (2) don’t rob a store, (3) if a police officer engages you, neither run away nor charge him, and (4) if a legal verdict does not go the way you want it to go, do not burn down your community or you too will be thrown into jail. (Or at least you should be.)
Dwight, brother, I am just keeping this real, as they say. Sure, I admit racial and ethnic injustice exists, and we have work to do. But I do not believe that this young man died because he was black, but because he broke the law three times—getting high, stealing, and resisting arrest—and when an officer feels his life is being threatened, he will use force.
Even so, his death is tragic and I do pray for his family. I know they must be hurting terribly.
Dwight, maybe you could give us a definition of “racist” so that we can all be on the same page here. Your reaction to JD’s article is quite strong and quite negative, so I think it would be helpful if we could understand the lens through which you are reading it. Maybe instead of the ad hominem attack you could interact with the content of his article to give us some clarity on your reaction.
JD is not someone with whom I often agree. His manner is brash and sometimes vicious. Once in a while he succumbs to immature hubris that is communicated in a know-it-all fashion. He has been inflammatory and accusatory toward some of my personal friends and acquaintances. He has questioned the salvation of people I know to be good, godly, and deeply devoted followers of Jesus. In it all, I have never read one word which would indicate that he possesses one racist bone in his body.
Also, your question regarding JD’s interaction with Ergun Caner’s son is a veiled accusation against JD in order to denigrate his viewpoint. That, sir, is not only an unkind comment, it is, in my limited experience with you on this blog, beneath your character.
Dwight,
There is but one church, the body of Christ. When parts of that body decide to exclude other parts, to segregate themselves off from the body racially or by gender, or by nationality, or by economic position, or by anything other than one’s position on the Gospel, then those people create disunity and discrimination.
One prominent minister, who happens to be black, declared that if there were more black jurors on the GJ in Ferguson, then there would have been an indictment. Do you see how racist that is? It declares that he knows the truth [arrogance], and that only blacks get it right, [bigotry], and that the non-blacks, the white-folk, must have been racist for the way they voted [more bigotry].
Would it not be better and more in line with the way of our Savior, to allow that other people, different in color from this man, might be honest and forthright in their assessment, just the same as he believes that the colored folk on the jury were?
Does he know that the jury split along color lines? I don’t know what he knows but what if it didn’t? What if it did? The key to racial equality is to not judge based on the color of the skin.
And yet this man of God did that. Don’t be like that guy, who acted like a racist.
What the black community needs is to trust in God, to get their ‘rights’ from God, and not from the world. We all need that, both as individuals and as the groups we find ourselves in.
So don’t be like that guy and play the part of the bigot. There is only one church, white and black, male and female, Jew and Greek.
The only surprising thing about JDH’s piece is that a sensible thinker like Rick Patrick would sign on to it wholesale. Rick, did you intend to let all of that represent your thinking?
You might reconsider. Start with the “communist” community organizers.
JDH has apologized for his interaction with the underage kid that committed suicide. That’s not on the table here but everything he says from one on will be cast in that shadow. Sensible people, out of an abundance of caution will make more sober judgments about signing on to his stuff, much less linking it.
I’ll take Moore and Stetzer on this a thousand time before JDH.
Bro Dwight: I haven’t read Hall’s article, so I won’t comment on that. But I think your repeating the charge that Hall contributed to the young Caner’s death is unwise. Yes, in some circles that is a narrative that has gained traction and some momentum but I think a fair reading of the circumstances doesn’t allow us to come to so firm a conclusion as some would like us to. Even the blogsites and people who are responsible for creating and spreading that narrative are careful to use the phrase “may have contributed”.
William,
I am as surprised as anyone to find myself in agreement with Hall on this matter, but the “communist” comment is one I read in a news article just this morning. Some protesters are indeed blaming Capitalism itself. Really.
Let me say that JD has caused me personal anguish. He has misrepresented Connect 316 and our board decisions on a number of occasions. I sincerely weep when I think about his ill-advised interaction with Braxton online. JD and Seth both have really offended me on a number of occasions. But in this case, they are saying things I think need to be said.
For another example of the same approach from a brother with whom I agree about almost everything, Dr. Randy White, Pastor of FBC Katy, Texas: http://bit.ly/1vsTX6n
I heard a news sport on Fox yesterday saying ISIS has offered to send people to Ferguson. Does anyone know any more about that? If true that is more than quite disturbing.
“But in this case, they are saying things I think need to be said.”
I agree. The immediate and visceral reaction that you and JDH received might demonstrate another reality – that serious and honest dialogue about hard issues and address them on both sides – is not what some desire.
It seems the only acceptable critiques are those non ending lectures about how white men must “understand” and “accept culpability for racial tensions” etc…
Yesterday I posted a question about African-American culture and music that exacerbates tensions, and even encourages violence against police officers – response? radio silence.
I will add another – again politically incorrect – but what kind of home life must a person have where as he would commit a strong arm robbery, assault a much smaller store clerk, refer to a police officer seeking to detain him a “_ssy”, attempt to take said officers gun, and get into a physical altercation with the police officer – all in a span of just a few minutes? These actions do not seem like one of a neophyte to criminal activity.
Here’s the information on JD Hall. He is pastor of Fellowship Church of Sidney, in Montana. As to SBC affiliation, you can decide for yourself from the pertinent section of their website below:
“Affiliations
Fellowship CHURCH is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention because we are in general agreement with their historic beliefs and confessions of faith, although we do not SUPPORT the “Cooperative PROGRAM” of financial giving through the SBC because of reasons we’ve articulted here. Instead, we support other missions agencies that we believe to be good stewardship of God’s resources, including New Tribes, To Every Tribe, Children Evangelism Fellowship, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and many missionaries we support directly). We also affiliate and whole-heartily recommend Founder’s Ministries, Reformation Montana, and the National Association of Family Integrated Churches.”
Here’s one other voice saying essentially the same thing as Hall and White. This time, the author is an African American Calvinist named Voddie Baucham whose article was posted at The Gospel Coalition.
Like Hall and White, Baucham calls for personal responsibility on the part of African Americans. He exposes the weakness of exploiting blue on black killing while ignoring black on black murder. He stands strong for law and order and gives no comfort at all to any philosophy that might justify the kinds of riots seen in Ferguson.
Again, to my surprise, here’s another Calvinist author of an essay at a Calvinist blog whose view on this issue cuts through “the soft bigotry of low expectations” with real talk and a persuasive argument. It’s certainly worth reading: http://bit.ly/1HFVRHo
At some point, we must ask the question, “Why do charges of racism emerge when JD Hall, yours truly or Randy White offer similar perspectives, but when Voddie Baucham, as an African American, says the same things, he is never charged with racism?”
If a white man and a black man say the same things, they should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
Rick you are right on brother. See sometimes we Cs and NCs can agree.
Vodie (I quoted part of him elsewhere here) is on target. Would that more would listen to his voice.
Lots of money quotes in that Voddie article – it’s simply outstanding!
“It worries me that so many Christians view themselves primarily as members of this or that ethnic community more than they see themselves as members of the body of Christ.”
“My (black) sons have far more to fear from making bad choices than they have to fear from the police. The overwhelming majority of police officers are decent people just trying to make a living. They are much more likely to help you than to harm you. A life of thuggery, however, is NEVER your friend. In the end, it will cost you . . . sometimes, it costs you everything.”
Another gem from Voddie:
“In the end, the best lesson my children can learn from Ferguson is not that they need to be on the lookout for white cops. It is far more important that I use this teachable moment to remind them that “God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). Moments before his death, Michael Brown had violently robbed a man in a store. A man doing the best he could to make a living. Minutes later, Brown reaped what he sowed, and was gunned down in the street. That is the sad truth.”
Rick,
I just penned a response to JD Hall and Randy White that I hope gets posted within the next couple of days.
For now, suffice it to say that Thabiti has written a post rendering Baucham’s arguments null and void. Therefore, I won’t respond to his missing the mark by a mile. See Thabiti’s latest post that addresses Baucham’s flawed thinking on the Ferguson matter.
Secondly, you list all of the negatives concerning Mike Brown, without addressing the negatives and flaws of the police and justice system as it relates to this case. That is not abnormal though, it is sort of expected.
Finally, none of the negatives that you mentioned related to MB deserve the death penalty. But after reading Hall and White I now better understand why you and others simply don’t get it. We have different life experiences; different world views; and based on an unusual statement by Randy White that I will highlight in my post, we even see the Bible and the gospel differently. That then explains our different conclusions on this matter.
I too appreciate, respect, and value your ministry. I remember sitting in the Connect 3:16 breakfast meeting in Baltimore-as a lone Black man-wondering if I belonged there. As we unpack the differences in the thinking of Black Christians(Voddie is very much an exception on this issue) and White Christians, I simply would be totally out of place. I recognize that you and JD Hall are strange bedfellows here. But on this issue, I fit with neither of you. If Connect 3: 16 embrace Randy White’s of the Bible as it relates to race, I simply would be totally incompatible. I sensed that my presence due to my embracing all of the spiritual gifts as spelled out in the Bible may have been uncomfortable for your group as well. I personally admire your intellect and personality. On this issue, as is often stated: we will agree to disagree. Well, maybe we can agree on something related to Ferguson. And that is, do you support the notion of police being required to wear body cameras?
Dwight,
“for now, suffice it to say that Thabiti has written a post rendering Baucham’s arguments null and void. Therefore, I won’t respond to his missing the mark by a mile.”
Null and void? On what basis?
Dwight, It does appear that Thabiti is moving toward a more reasoned consideration on this tragedy. I think he is right about this one specific thing expressed in one of his later posts…..Thabiti said… “To put it another way: We won’t have any men left to be responsible husbands and fathers if we continue with this systemic program of disproportionate arrest and sentencing. There is good in changing the way police and courts act and think when engaging African Americans.”
Thabiti is correct that there is not so much a disproportionate rate of black on black crime vs. white on white crime…. only about a 7-8% difference on average. I like the way he is beginning to see what we have encountered and focused around for the past 15 years, in that, it is a situational lack of a fathers and a failing support system of government enslavement to the single mothers, predominately black (some white) that is at a critical tipping point in the black communities.
A longer term systematic approach to raising the younger preteen black males (but not always black) within a solid structural form has proven to pay dividends in the communities we serve. But, it does not address the runaway arrest rate of the teens and young black men. That is our next 10 year focus. To form systematic and wider reach into the black males teen community and families within our area with opportunities for education, work studies, and more formal structure. We are forming intentional teen peer structures with white males and black males working together.
Dwight,
Let me say first, that I do indeed believe Police officers should be wearing body cameras whenever possible. Most law enforcement, at least from anecdotal evidence, are not opposed to this.
While I appreciate your passion on this subject, I think you, and by way of extension Thabiti far too quickly are dismissing the message that Bro. Bachaum is presenting.
Just one example, while it is statistically true that White on white homicides are only a few percentage points above black on black, that really isn’t the disturbing part.
The disturbing part is that 41% (2648) of the total(5776) homicides in 2012 were committed by blacks on blacks. The percentage is slightly less if all homicides with all ethnicities are included. The black population is roughly 13% of the total population (from census bureau data), yet commit upwards of 30% of the murders in the US. I am just combining the numbers that Thabiti quoted. I know that doesn’t include every homicide, but the force of my point remains I think.
Black on black homicides as percentages of the population are dramatically higher than white on white homicides.
The quick approximations I did fall out like this.
A black man is 5-6 times more likely to be killed by a black man than a white man will be killed by a white man. (just a quick approximation, don’t hold me to these percentages, but the dramatic difference will still hold)
The numbers of homicides per capita is what people are really getting at when we talk about black on black crime.
I want reconciliation. I want racism to end. And surely we all know that the only way for the sin of racism to fully and finally end is the return of the King of Kings.
I am trying to empathize with you my brother, I want to understand your feelings and outlook. I do. I pray that change will come. I guess we have to agree to disagree about Ferguson. I don’t like saying that. I think Christians should be able to appreciate Truth and agree on what is Truth, but maybe we can’t, at least in this instance.
I know you are hurting, and in whatever extent that any of my comments hurt you, I apologize and ask forgiveness.
I weep for Michael Brown, for the ones who feel so downtrodden and marginalized by society, and I weep for Darren Wilson, because one day he, like all of us will stand before a holy throne and have to give an account.
Don, I think the stats do tell part of the story… but the they also reveal a concentration of culture that has to be taken into account… One stat guy put it this way …… “the problem is not among the black population as a whole; rather, it is due to a “small sub-culture that glorifies violence and lives and dies by the gun.” It is the gang culture, characterized by widespread criminality, tribalistic warfare, through-the-roof unemployment, extremely high rates of out-of-wedlock births (72.1 percent among blacks in 2010), widespread welfare dependency, and nihilistic art typified by “gangster rap.”
And he went on to say…. “The horrifying homicide rate among black Americans is the most visible and tragic symptom of a much deeper cultural disease. And the cure is a philosophy of reason, individual responsibility, productive work, and life-oriented values.”
And that is exactly what we are seeing come to the surface as we work in the urban community among a certain age range.
But to your point, …it is tragically out of control either way.
Bart,
Thanks for helping us to see this in eschatological terms and spiritual terms. It is so easy to look at this solely through secular lens. And indeed, to some extent I’ve done that. Your post brings me back to at least attempting to look at this from a larger perspective. I needed this reminder.
BTW, Russell Moore & Ed Stetzer has delivered great commentary on this subject as well.
Thanks, Dwight. I appreciated your own statements encouraging lawful and peaceful dialogue rather than looting and violence.
COMMENT ONE:
I’m not sure that it serves well our black brothers and sisters to side blindly against the police in this incident. In the Pruitt-Igoe instance, local police simply stopped responding to calls in that area. This deprived everyone in that area of justice, and the weak became the prey of the strong. I believe that police, even when the relationship has deteriorated, generally serve a needed purpose—all the more needed in high-crime areas like Kinloch-Ferguson. If the local police force withdraws because they cannot defend themselves, the people who suffer from that will be the residents of Ferguson.
COMMENT TWO:
I try to ask myself: What if this had happened in my town. Here’s what I think…
1. I think I’d support the police officer. A guy just robbed a store, got into an altercation with a police officer, got shot. I think I’d land on the side of the police officer. I think I’m consistent here, because I do not think that Officer Wilson is guilty of a crime.
2. I think I and a lot of my peers in Farmersville would be asking ourselves, “What is wrong with our community that one of our kids would do something like this?” Even though I would expect the individual criminal to take responsibility for his own actions, I’d still regard the whole incident as indicative of a problem that I wanted to solve. We’d then get busy about trying to solve it.
That’s the way, for example, that Americans have generally responded to mass school shootings, which are overwhelmingly perpetrated by white boys. What’s the problem and how do we fix it?
The temptation for me is to look at a community like Ferguson and fail to ask that question. In my opinion, THAT is where a “soft bigotry of low expectations” occurs, when it occurs. When we write off communities like Ferguson and just presume that cities cannot function in any way other than to create areas like Kinloch and Ferguson and count urban violence as just a cost of doing business, THEN we are guilty of a “soft bigotry of low expectations.”
But I think those problems CAN be fixed. I’m not saying that I know how to fix them, although I think I have some good ideas (and I’d say the same thing about school shootings). What I have tried to do in my writing about Ferguson is not to let my belief—having seen the available evidence—that this particular shooting was justified be something that leads me to accept this kind of situation as an acceptable status quo.