Black & White Streets of Christmas




Proverbs 1:20

 Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square.


Ferguson, New York City, Cleveland. Unarmed black males killed by white police officers. Die-ins at Malls, protests in the streets. Baltimore, New York City. Police Officers shot or killed. Nary a sound. All is quiet. Nary a peep. Hypocrisy? For certain.

The black males killed to one degree or another engaged the police inappropriately, even with illegal behavior. The police didn't randomly select these individuals without cause. There was probable cause for their confrontations. We can certainly condemn the heavy-handedness of the police, but easy for me to say. The cops didn't know if the suspects were armed. Just because some thug winds up not having a gun doesn't mean that the police officer knew this beforehand. And I certainly wouldn't take the word of a suspect. Good way to become a casualty.

The police officers killed? Doing their jobs. The two cops killed in NYC were minorities (a term I really don't like). Latino/Hispanic and Asian. Not even White. Cold blooded killing. Period. Baltimore cop shot during a routine traffic stop.

I frankly wonder if younger evangelicals are losing their grip. From what I have been able to glean, younger evangelicals are lining up behind the protesters, lending their voices to the din of chaos. The whole movement seems dishonest, too black and white for the truth. I have had simply enough of Shane Claiborne and his pathetic Twitter posts about Ferguson et. al.

The truth is somewhere in the middle of all of this, on the streets covered with trash, being blown around by the odious winds of charlatans. Some cops abuse their power, sometimes with lethality. Some black males are of the criminal class. Bad dudes, hardly the best poster boys to illustrate the narrative of innocence and abuse of power. Seriously. I would at least try to find male victims of color who truly did not unwisely provoke the police. Like kicking a German Shepherd and not expecting the jaws. That these individuals are not being forwarded suggests that they are not available.

Truth is the first casualty, Christ came to die for sinners, black, white, and everyone in-between, for all races, and all people. In all cities, all streets.Our streets are dirty, our streets are mean. Reflections of tarnished souls that only Christ's blood can wash clean. This Christmas season, I think our nation and her inhabitants need to sweep our own souls.




   

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