I wanted to take a few moments to share my thoughts on the past week's events that began in Charlottesville, VA and have flooded the news cycle and social media. I've heard it said that to be silent on this issue is to be complicit, or at least complacent. I don't want to be labeled as either of those so I want people to know that I oppose white supremacy. I oppose Nazism. I believe that all of us are created equal. As a man of faith, I believe we are all children of God and the second most important commandment I try to follow is to love everyone.
That's not easy all of the time. It's especially not easy when people say and do stupid things because of hatred. Whether or not President Trump intended it, what I'm trying to take form his statement claiming that there were "fine people on both sides" is that all people have the same rights to believe how they want. I might be lambasted for this, but I suppose it could be within the realm of possibility that there were good people in the "Unite the Right" group who were misguided, lost, and confused. I still question why those people didn't get out right away when they found themselves marching anywhere near a Nazi flag. Regardless, I don't wish those people to be hurt or harmed, but I do wish them to see the error of their ways.
And I want the people who are victims of hate speech and intolerance to be safe and loved. Any amount of hate and persecution that any person suffers is unjustified and many individuals and groups experience so much from day to day. How I wish that could end.
One point for the record: I don't think President Trump handled this situation well at all. He's not a great speaker. He is easily riled up. He is not tactful. However, I think the knee-jerk reaction most of us had to his first response was out of line. Why can't we condemn "hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides"? We all have room to improve. Sure, we want our leader to unequivocally condemn Nazis and KKK and racism. But if he had done that would it have healed the wounds? Would it make our country better? If only it were that simple.
At times like this I am reminded of teachings from the Bible that I try to adhere to, but frequently struggle with:
In John 8 in the New Testament, scribes and Pharisees bring before Jesus a woman caught in adultery. They explain how the Law of Moses decrees that such a woman should be stoned to death and they ask Jesus how he interprets this woman's plight. Christ delivers one of His most profound teachings by saying, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:7). All those present walk away one by one, leaving Jesus and the adulteress behind. How can we be so quick to judge and condemn others faults when we are not perfect ourselves?
Another lesson is from His Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 5:43-44. He says, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy." But then He clears the air and explains a higher law that we should be following: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Wow. That's not easy, but it's not supposed to be. That teaching is supposed to make saints out of sinners.
There are other questions regarding the events in Charlottesville that I am still wrestling with.
I wonder: how would we be talking about this differently if the driver had run over and killed one of his own rather than Heather Heyer?
How would the conversation change if a member of the counter-protesters had been behind the wheel instead?
I don't know the answers to these, but they make me think that we can admit that there may have been violence and misconduct on both sides in Charlottesville while still condemning racism, bigotry, Nazis, KKK, and white nationalists.
One last concern. And this is for everyone that has called out President Trump (myself included) for his statements that seem to indicate a moral equivalency between the opposing groups in Charlottesville. Have you seen the platform of some of the counter-protesters? Because they seem to be proclaiming a moral equivalency between our police and the KKK and white supremacists. Just look at the sign in the picture below: "COPS & KLAN GO HAND IN HAND". The same sign is touted by other counter-protesters in the photo at the top of this post.
And the picture at the top of this post carries the message "AGAINST WHITE SUPREMACY" which an overwhelming majority of Americans agree with. Yet that same banner also has the words "screw the klan, the confederacy, & the cops".
Now, I'm not blind. I know historically there have been many KKK members among our police forces, especially in the South. But to use such language against the men and women who leave their families behind and put their lives on the line every day they work is as bad as what people are blaming President Trump of saying. So we need to look at ourselves in the mirror.
I just hope we can be less divisive, because I know the extremes we saw in Charlottesville and elsewhere in the country and in news coverage are a tiny sliver of a minority in our country.
I am grateful for brave people like Heather Heyer who peacefully stand up against hate. My prayers are with her loved ones. And I am grateful for good men and women of police forces around the country who serve and protect us. I know there are a few bad apples, but the majority of them are great men and women. And I guess that's my lesson. The majority of Americans are great. We have a few bad apples, but we need to cease with hypocrisy, impatience, misunderstanding, and our frequent knee-jerk reactions to events. If the best of us can't be a little better, then what hope is there for anyone else?
And now, basically everything I wanted to say sung by someone much better than me: