Posted on 07/09/2016 5:49:02 AM PDT by Kaslin
After the fatal police shooting of two more black men in Louisiana and Minnesota earlier this week, headlines blared, “Black Lives Matter!” Now, after the fatal sniper shooting of 5 police officers and the wounding of 6 others, headlines blare, “Blue Lives Matter!”
As Americans, we must come together and declare that All Lives Matter, regardless of color, ethnicity, or social status. Every life is precious in God’s sight and must therefore be precious in our sight as well.
Together, we must condemn all acts of cold-blooded murder.
If a police officer with malice and aforethought kills someone with no possible just cause, he or she must be found guilty of murder, regardless of his badge and uniform. And when it comes to the sniper killings in Dallas, no civil-minded person can possibly condone the targeted, intentional, planned murder of other human beings, no matter what animosity they hold towards officers of the law.
We must also commit to listen to all sides of the current controversy, determining that this is not the time to seek a political advantage. This is the time for justice, and justice requires that we carefully weigh all the relevant evidence and that we ask the difficult questions.
Is it true that black males are discriminated against in the courts and are unfairly targeted by police? Is there still systemic racism in America, as many have argued?
Conversely, is there hypocrisy in the Black Lives Matter movement, as prominent black athlete Ray Lewis has argued, since the vast majority of black deaths are at the hands of other blacks?
Is it true that some police officers are trigger-happy, especially when dealing with blacks? Or do these officers have just cause to fear for their lives?
What about the charge that there is only concern when there is white on black violence as opposed to black on white violence? Is there any truth to this?
And what about each of us? Do we respond publicly only when someone of our own skin color (or ethnicity or religion or affiliation) suffers an apparent injustice, or do we respond equally to all apparent injustices, whoever the victims might be? What biases lurk within our own souls?
For the most part, in the midst of the agony and the bloodshed and the political and racial divides over these killings, all too little constructive conversations take place. The emotions run too high, and understandably so.
But until we can learn to listen to each other and not just to talk to each (or past each other) I fear the divide will only grow deeper.
Speaking for myself, I have never been racially profiled, but I have learned much from black callers to my radio show who have shared their own difficult experiences, helping me to gain a much fuller perspective.
I have also learned much from police officers who have shared their own perspective with my listeners, filling in another part of the story.
There really are two sides to many stories, and before coming to firm conclusions, we need to hear all sides out. Are we willing? Do we really have a choice? And will we make any true progress if we speak only in broad, rhetorically-barbed terms?
There is now a terribly disturbing video from the Minnesota shooting, as a black female passenger sits in a car next to her dying boyfriend, just shot by the police after being pulled over for a broken tail light.
Putting aside the unique, social-media nature of the video – why is the woman almost calmly narrating what is happening as her boyfriend bleeds to death next to her, groaning out loud? – she tells us that her boyfriend informed the officer that he had a licensed weapon and he was reaching for his ID in his back pocket when he was shot.
Did the officer simply ask this man to produce his license and registration, shooting him four times in cold blood when he sought to comply with the police directive?
If so, why does the officer scream out (with great emotion), “I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand off it!”
Hopefully, the truth will come out about this shooting, as well as about the shooting in Louisiana, and hopefully justice will be served (although the dead cannot be brought back to life, regardless of the verdicts).
But we must do everything in our power not to capitulate to anger or to fear, not to allow racial (or class) tensions to escalate, not to combat perceived violence with intentional violence, and not to turn this week’s tragedies into a political football. Otherwise there will be a river of blood flowing across this nation.
Those of us who are leaders in the Church must set the example, having the difficult conversations, challenging one another’s perspectives, calling on the mercy of the Lord, and being God’s prophetic voices in a fallen society as well as His agents of redemption and reconciliation.
Right now, America needs our help.
False, and there was never any reason to believe that. He has a lot of traffic violations, but never arrested for a serious crime.
I have read he didn’t have a permit for his gun.
Also false, although this was due to lack of knowledge about the CCW permit system in MN.
The shooting occurred in Ramsey County. The sheriff's office said they had not issued Castile a CCW permit. But, Castile lived in another county in the recent past, and it's been confirmed that a CCW permit was issued to him in Hennepin County. It remains valid throughout MN, until renewal.
I cautioned a lot of posters on FR about jumping to conclusions over this, due to the wording of statement by the Ramsey County sheriff. It largely fell on deaf ears. Now, many of them still don't want to accept it.
I have read that he wasn’t stopped for a broken taillight.
This is probably true -- the taillight may have been a ruse to do an ID check. The officer called dispatch before the stop, saying that the driver resembled a robbery suspect.
Have you seen the picture of the robbery suspect? Looks exactly him. As I have said on other threads, I will wait until ALL the info is in. And it’s likely we won’t ever get all the info.
I see the resemblance. But, I don't see a distinguishing feature that would confirm they are the same person.
Even the police officer reported to dispatch:
"The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just ‘cause of the wide set nose,”
I don't fault the officer for pulling Castile over to check his ID. I've talked to the officer in my area, and he says they catch people up to no good by doing an ID check. But, they also encounter a lot of people that are legitimate, and release them quickly.
Where I think this went wrong: the officer didn't treat Castile as a robbery suspect until the encounter escalated out of control. And Castile didn't know he looked like a robbery suspect, so he inadvertently triggered the escalation.
As I have said on other threads, I will wait until ALL the info is in.
I think that's a good idea. But, I'm appalled at how many people have convinced themselves Castile was a "bad guy" based on the flimsiest of evidence, and ignore all the contrary evidence without "incontrovertible proof".
Important people lives matter. Minority lives matter. The rest of us not so much.
Loretta Lynch said because of the Dallas shooting, everyone in the US is feeling confused, scared, fearful. Hmmmmm... not me. I think it was horrible, but it doesn’t make me fearful and scared in general. I asked my husband about it. I said “after the Dallas shooting, how are you feeling?”
He said “HUNGRY!”
I think Obama WANTS everyone fearful and scared so he can ride in and save the day!
All human life, unborn and already here, MATTERS!
Save the whales, eagles, trees, but KILL OUR BABIES. THAT is the true tragedy.
TRUE!
It goes without saying that all human life is precious, but that misses the point slightly. Saying “black lives matter” is a slight miscommunication; the movement would be more accurately called “black lives matter too.” This addresses the ideas that all lives matter, while emphasizing that there is culture, in some quarters, that may not necessarily value black lives, as much - which is the core of their beef.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.