Over the past three months, I have been off dealing with numerous medical issues. Therefore, I have had a lot of time to study, think, and pray. This time of medical challenge for me has coincided with a period of severe national distress. It is apparent that our country, our states, our cities, our communities, and our families are in DESPERATE need of unity and revival.
One of the more distressing aspects of the response to the events of these past weeks and months has been witnessing the often vacuous way in which our national discourse occurs. Worldviews are constructed from anecdotal experience rather than emanating from core principles, education derives from memes and tweets rather than classical books, debate, or lectures, and virtue is signaled by what we do or don't post on social media versus how we live our lives in community.
The need for unity has never been greater, and yet the division seems to be worsening. The source of the matter remains what it has always been when it comes to societal discord: pride and self centeredness foster a bitterness and hate that makes a common ground impossible to cultivate.
Though I have some clear policy ideas, I am persuaded that our only hope as a nation is for God to intervene. We need a different kind of revolution than what we are seeing. A spiritual revival is our only hope. We need to have the mind of Christ as outlined in Paul's letter to the Philippians:
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."
Since becoming a Christian, I have endeavored to look at all people the way God sees them, trying to see from His perspective, with love and concern for their ultimate/eternal good. The fact is, we are all one race, the human race. God has made it clear that He loves the whole world, so, who am I to do less than that? We would be a better country if this idea took hold.
With the right heart attitude of humility and mutual concern, I believe some common ground is achievable. But, what saddens me is that the personal connection required to promote the conversations needed to solve real problems are sabotaged by narratives that foment hate, distrust, and division. Dialogue is sacrificed on the altar of politically correct "woke-ness" and all too often anger is the response to disagreement.
It should be self-evident that unprovoked or excessive police brutality and the tragedy of unnecessary loss of life, such as occurred with George Floyd, are heinous evils that should be opposed and punished. There is also no doubt that there are remnants of the institutions of slavery and Jim Crow that have impaired the rise of black Americans in our society over the last 150 years.
However, in the current climate, there seems to be no method by which we can disagree about the best steps to be taken to even the playing field and lessen the impact of systemic disadvantages of slavery and Jim Crow and promote equal opportunity for all. These are things that are needed, but we should never fall into the notion that equal opportunity implies equal outcomes. What policies and methods taken to level inequality are certainly up for debate, though you would have a hard time knowing there is any debate in our current racially charged political climate. These discussions are impossible because emotions are permitted to rule over data and facts.
The notion of systemic institutionalized racism as manifested by police brutality is probably the most poignant and powerful emotional tool used to end debate and initiate demands for action on race issues. But what of the facts? Recognizing that there are limits to sociological analyses and pitfalls with interpretation of databases, a mountain of data strongly suggest that there is actually not a systematic attack by police on black people:
Digging into the Washington Post database on police shootings and FBI crime data as laid out in the articles above (and other reports) simply does not support the popular narrative of an "open season" on black people or a marked over representation of blacks as targets of police brutality, which is the very foundation for the national riots and violent protests. Even granting that there is likely some discrepancy and over-representation of blacks, the question of severity remains, and making the claim of systemic institutionalized racism is just not supportable by facts. There are many excellent commentaries on this topic if one is open minded and interested in examining them further (feel free to disregard political leanings of the commentators and just hear them out on the data).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
What the riots and violence do is provide a distraction for a truly systemic issue. They serve to excuse or provide cover for the mismanagement of communities, cities, and states led by leftists that have had disproportionately negative impact on black communities and families for decades. If one dares to contradict the foundational principles of the Black Lives Matter movement or call into question institutionalized racism, then you are somehow disqualified from having anything else to say about how to make meaningful changes in the lives of black people, and by extension any disadvantaged people groups.
I reject the notion that to be sensitive to the plight of black people requires an agreement with leftist, socialist political theories in order to deal with past injustices. I reject the notion that my skin color makes me personally guilty of the wrongs that have been and are currently being committed against black people and therefore make me unqualified to speak any word of dissent. It is my strong opinion (supported by evidence I am happy to share) that the left and democratic policies have hurt, not helped the black community, and should be resisted. Since the 1960s, leftist policies are entrapping more and more lower economic classes in a dependency state and this increasingly includes whites, Hispanics, native Americans, but have disproportionally affected the black community. What is clear to me after reading and listening to vast sources on these topics is that this is a long social, political, and economic discussion. It is my goal to give a reasonable foundation for discussion.
This IS a conversation and debate worth having! Unfortunately, the fact remains that the very conversation we need to have can not even be started in the current climate, where disagreement with the party line is shouted down as racist and tone deaf. The acceptance of the widely held narrative of blacks being hunted or as the persistent and unending victims of institutionalized systemic discrimination should be subjected to analysis.
I believe we should discuss the best way to promote the flourishing and success of all our fellow humans. We need to reject the unending fostering of identity politics, the growth of the dependency culture, and the fueling of distrust that divides groups from each other. Failure to do so will only lead to an enduring national tragedy and ultimately undermine the fabric of our free society.
I believe we should discuss the best way to promote the flourishing and success of all our fellow humans. We need to reject the unending fostering of identity politics, the growth of the dependency culture, and the fueling of distrust that divides groups from each other. Failure to do so will only lead to an enduring national tragedy and ultimately undermine the fabric of our free society.
Despite its many flaws, I believe that the United States is still the greatest experiment in human liberty and self government and has generated the most successful economy in human history, as well as the most tolerant and inclusive society as well, and is therefore a nation that is still worth fighting for.
