I believe our Maker created humanity with the capacity for anger so that, since we live in a world messed up so badly by evil, we could rightly be angry at what is unjust. So often our anger leads us to wrong places, though, because it is excessive or misguided or motivated by selfishness. We've got a lot of anger going on in Ferguson, but as Ecclesiastes tells us, there is nothing new in that.
I guess the thing that bothers me most in this case is the dependence on emotion and conjecture and assumption by some, to the degree that they would place judgement on a person as heavy as murder, before knowing hardly a single fact about the case. For our justice system to work, we have to stay steadfastly trained on the facts. It is not possible to say, 'well in this case, we can just pretty well know what happened without investigating.' Let's just use our good intuition about what surely happened based on a few demographics. No! We all know that's ludicrous. Haven't we all watched enough police and detective shows to know that sometimes [ok, usually] not every fact about a case is immediately apparent. You have to search for facts, evidence, the truth. Not every witness is telling the truth and even for the majority who are, the observation skills of human are proven to be highly fallible. For those of us not involved in the investigation, we have the hard task of waiting. Waiting before we make the judgment in our own minds, because, well, that's what wise, intelligent people do.
Let me just say, if Darren Wilson, a police officer whose job it is to be an authority figure and uphold the law, is found to have not done that, then he should be dealt with according to the law. If he acted wrongly in shooting Michael Brown, then by all means, we need to fight to make sure that is known and justice needs to be administered. I understand that those in power have often misused it and need to be always accountable. We can all be thankful for many of the peaceful demonstrators who I believe have that as their agenda.
The primary word I hear used to describe Michael Brown is "unarmed." Is it just me, or is that the focal point in all this...along with race. Of course it's horrific to think of any young man's life coming to an end in such a way, but does the fact that he was unarmed equate with his innocence? If I go into a bank and rob it, unarmed, I'm still thinking that there is a distinct possibility that I'm going to be shot by a police officer if they show up and I don't immediately do what they tell me. Police are taught to show great restraint and only shoot in certain circumstances. And again, there are bad cops out there. I know. But this 'He was unarmed!' proclamation immediately became the rallying cry, as though we could make a final judgement based on one fact. Police are, in fact, allowed to enforce the law with firearms for their own safety, in self-defense, and to protect others as far as I know.
I find it astonishing that so many groups and individuals quickly announced their stance, Standing in Solidarity with Michael Brown before any of us knew scarcely a single fact. Why would this be? Why would the Washington Redskins want to identify themselves with Michael Brown before knowing all of what happened? Do people really believe that strongly that that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that Darren Wilson was doing his job correctly and Michael Brown made some very poor choices in those moments? And so we come to it. The real issue, at least in the minds of many. Maybe Officer Wilson did it due to underlying [or not] animosity that he has for African Americans. So many white officers in a predominantly African American community. After all, racism is a huge problem in our country. Always has been. In fact, racism and ethnocentrism has been around since the beginning of time. It's part of our messed-up human nature that says 'our group is better than your group.' Again, Solomon was right, nothing new under the sun.
I hate racism with all my heart. It makes me sick. It has made me weep. I have a deep love for each people group that lives on the earth today. I have lived in Africa [just 4 months] and Southeast Asia. But I will never know fully the difficulties that are part of the African American experience in the US today. My son will, as he's African...and American. :) So we will try to help guide and help him in that, but only as 'outsiders.' If Wilson had racism in his heart and that inspired him to shoot Brown unjustly, I believe that is able to be found out and he'll go to jail for murder.
The question is, how do we take what we know and form a belief system that is accurate when it comes to reacting to a story like what we have in Ferguson. It's hard. But if there are those [of any color!] who would make assumptions about the hearts, the internal goings-on and motivations of either of those men, Brown or Wilson, based on the color of their skin, then that, my friends, is the very definition of racism. People are people. To be highly valued. Made in the image of their Creator. [That's my own belief. You may not adhere to it.] Seeking justice will not include laying yet another layer of racism on top of the old one. I realize that these issues are very complex and understand that they are highly emotional, in ways. There are deep flaws in the system often times. But we will not atone for the hatred of individuals and the community or nation-wide racial ills by continuing to draw lines around our racial groups and "standing together" based solely on race.
I was reminded a week or so ago about John Adams- before he was John Adams- and the Boston Massacre. In early March 1770, five citizens of Boston were shot and killed by British soldiers after a skirmish which led to the formation of a mob. The soldiers were then patrolling the city, much to the chagrin of the populace. There was an uproar with a nearly universal cry among the people that those eight British soldiers, who were surely given the command to fire by their Captain, Thomas Preston, be hanged. "Boston at the moment, however, was in no mood for an impartial sifting of the facts. Extreme patriots regarded the absence of a lynching of Preston and his men as proof of the impartiality of Boston justice." [Excerpted from John Adams: Party of One by James Grant; 2005.] Long story short, no one thought there was need for much of a trial. "Everyone" knew those redcoats were power-hungry murderers. They wanted justice now. No one would defend the British troops, that is, until they asked John Adams. I'll end with some words from him, starting with his words to the man who asked him to represent Captain Preston and his men.
"I had no hesitation in answering that Council ought to be the very last thing that an accused Person should want in a free Country. That the Bar ought in my opinion to be independent and impartial at all Times And in every Circumstance. And that Persons whose Lives were at Stake ought to have the Council they preferred: But he must be sensible this would be as important a Cause as ever was tried in any Court or Country of the World: and that every Lawyer must hold himself responsible not only to his Country, but to the highest and most infallible of all Trybunals for the Part he should Act. He must therefore expect from me no Art nor Address, No Sophistry or Prevarication in such a Cause nor any thing more than Fact, Evidence and Law would justify.” Forrest replied that that was all the defendant wanted. Payment of a single guinea constituted Adams’s retainer.
...Certainly this act of high-minded professionalism did not endear Adams to every Boston patriot.
...Here he was, he said, in feeble health but in the full bloom of professional success. Now he was preparing to throw away his life—for surely, where could the cause lead except to trouble, even death? —for the sake of his duty. Follow duty wherever it leads [Abigail] tearfully urged."
In the end, after all the witnesses were called and the arguments made, Capt. Preston was found not guilty and all but two soldiers were acquitted, with those two guilty of manslaughter. [This is a fascinating case to read up on, if you want to see the details.] I am NOT trying to make a statement that Darren Wilson is innocent. My point is that I do not know, as I have not seen all the evidence or heard both sides of the case in any reliable sort of way, and my hope is that we would wait patiently for truth. It is always worth the wait. Let's not assume the worst in people. And let's not act like we know what we don't know.
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