Black Lives
Matter (BLM) is a movement that started as a response to the death of Trayvon
Martin, a black teenager, who was killed by Hispanic neighborhood watch leader George
Zimmerman in Florida, back in 2012.
Zimmerman
was later acquitted of a second degree murder charge, causing a backlash of
protests. The phrase “black lives matter”
became a rallying cry in that community and it grew from there.
Since then, there
were several different incidents of blacks who had confrontations with police
and were killed, causing the BLM slogan to be fixed in the public eye.
The focus of
the slogan then shifted to protest police brutality by white officers against
black citizens.
Two Sides of the Same Coin
As a slogan,
“black lives matter” is absolutely true.
Black lives certainly do matter.
There is intrinsic value in all humans, since we are all created in the
image of God (Genesis 1:27). Blacks
should not be thought of as less than any other people group. As human beings, we should all be treated
equally. But the flip-side to that
equality is personal behavior and
accountability. As persons, we are
all equal, but common sense dictates that one should be evaluated by his
actions, his individual behavior. If an
individual behaves well, he should be acknowledged and/or rewarded. If the individual does not behave well, then
he must be corrected. Parents are
primarily responsible for properly directing their children into adulthood. If the parents fail to discipline a child,
the authorities will be forced to do
the correcting later on. This goes for
any and every people group.
When Police Stop You
The reason I
bring this up is because some of the confrontations with the police that BLM
advocates like to point to are highly questionable. In some cases, the individuals involved with
the police were not cooperative or were downright disrespectful, even violent. But just
because a person’s life “matters,” doesn’t entitle him to misbehave.
No matter
what color you are, bad things tend to happen when you fail to cooperate with
the police (no matter the officer’s race).
I’m not saying that the cop is always right or that the individual is
always wrong. I’m saying that things
almost always turn out better (for both parties) if the policeman is shown
respect and cooperation. That’s not an unreasonable request. If you feel that the officer overstepped his
boundaries, you can always take it to court. That’s better than getting tazed or shot for resisting
arrest any day.
Behavior also
matters, and using generic or vague slogans like “black lives matter” to justify
criminal behavior (as they sometimes do) is wrong. ALL lives matter, but all lives should act
responsibly, as well.
Racism in the Police Force?
Many blacks
feel that there is racism in most of the American police force and also in our
laws, and that they (blacks) are being singled out for harassment. For the record, I believe that racism does
exist in America, but I believe that it is found in individuals and not built
into the laws of our country. I believe that most police officers are good people
and that they just want to do their job and go home to their families at the
end of the day. But I strongly disagree
that racism is rampant in the American police force or that America’s white
officers set out each day with an agenda to harass black people. I don’t think anyone can bring forth actual
evidence for that. And I don’t believe
that there is “systematic racism” in government organizations throughout the
country, since our society tries so hard to be politically correct. It seems that many in the BLM movement are
blinded by raw emotion and tend to promote knee-jerk reactions when certain confrontations
happen, before all the facts are known.
What has
followed from that blind rage is, in many cases, rioting, mindless vandalism of
local businesses (which have had absolutely nothing to do with the original
problem), and the hurting and killing of innocent people. But lashing out in anger at the wrong people
helps no one.
If a cop of
any color hurts or kills a person of a different color for no valid reason,
then be angry at him, not all people
of his color, because THAT ITSELF is racism.
No matter
the race of the victim or the perpetrator, rather than let our emotions flare,
let’s give the authorities (if possible, an unbiased and independent group)
enough time to sort out what actually happened.
Then proper legal action can be taken, if necessary. Let’s not be afraid of the truth.
If a white police officer committed a crime, then let him be tried by
the law and punished accordingly. If a
black “victim” was a criminal or was in the act of committing a crime and his
resistance caused the problem, then he cannot blame anyone else for his bad
decision. Whatever happened, the truth
is the truth. Instead of immediately
lashing out with claims of racism, give the authorities time to figure it out.
We need to
realize that there are cases of black cops killing white people and there are
cases of white cops killing black people, but BLM seems to ignore the former but
loudly proclaim the latter. If it can be
proven that the confrontation was indeed caused by racism, then the officer
should be exposed for that. But to
scream “Racism!” before you know the facts only causes more problems for
everyone.
There were
even shrill cries to “defund the police” during some of these riots. But does any sane person really want
this? Is their hatred so deep that they
would desire this kind of suicidal legislation?
Black lives are in far more danger without
the police than with them present.
Ironically, I heard of one particular “defund the police” rally that
requested the services of the police as protection during the rally! Hypocrisy at its finest.
Living Up to Their Name?
Saving black
lives is indeed a worthy cause. But if
protecting black lives is really BLM’s purpose, then shouldn’t they be more
concerned about black on black
violence? I don’t see much effort by BLM
to remedy that, in spite of its supposed deep concern for protecting black
lives. Now, to be fair, there is also a
high incidence of white on white violence, as well. But for a movement that seems to be on a massive
crusade to fix problems and to promote the protection of black Americans, their
lack of concern in this area makes their motive suspect.
Also, abortions
in the black community are the highest of all people groups in America. Since BLM likes to protest so much, why are
they not protesting abortion clinics or Planned Parenthood, which is where the
vast majority of blacks, BY FAR, are getting killed? Innocent black babies have been getting
brutally slaughtered by the millions in America, but very little, if anything,
is being done by BLM to stop it. In
fact, they seem to encourage it.
So, don’t
tell me that black lives really matter to you if you’re supporting abortion or
if you’re ignoring black on black violence.
Where’s Dad?
Furthermore,
if the organization that calls itself Black Lives Matter really believed in its
name, it would support fatherhood. One of the biggest problems in the black
community is children growing up without a father.
I disagree
with former president Barack Obama on many things. But I totally agree with him on the following
quotes about fatherhood in his 2008 Father’s Day speech:
“But if we
are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that what too many fathers also are is
missing – missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities,
acting like boys instead of men. And the
foundations of our families are weaker because of it.”
“You and I
know how true this is in the African-American community. We know that more than half of all black
children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled – doubled
– since we were children. We know the
statistics – that children who grow up without a father are five times more
likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out
of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral
problems, or run away from home or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are
weaker because of it.”
See here:
https://www.politico.com/story/2008/06/text-of-obamas-fatherhood-speech-011094
Single
parenthood does sometimes happen and it isn’t always avoidable. There are many well-adjusted single parent
families out there, but if any society is going to flourish, there must be a
strong presence of the traditional family unit, i.e., a family with one (male)
father and one (female) mother, living together and lovingly caring for their
children (for whom they are responsible).
The New and Improved “Family”
But on the
official Black Lives Matter website, we see that one of their goals is to:
“…disrupt
the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each
other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one
another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and
children are comfortable.”
Notice that
in their stated goal, the words “parents” and “mothers” are specifically
mentioned. But “fathers” is not. It seems to be designed that way.
The traditional
family unit has provided stability and has stood the test of time in America
(and in most other parts of the world).
And by the
way, haven’t we heard this “It takes a village” nonsense before? This was Hillary Clinton’s idea of an
American “family.” But these missing
fathers in the black community seem to not even be able (or willing) to handle their own normal family responsibilities, how would they ever handle the
responsibilities of a “village”?
And yes,
this is Marxist language. Marxism is the basis upon which Communism is
built. Socialism and Communism are what
follow this type of “family.” This is
where your children ultimately belong to the state and everyone ends up
oppressed by a dictatorship!
And speaking
of Marxism, Co-founder and Strategic Advisor of Black Lives Matter, Patrice
Khan-Cullors, admits in a video that she and Co-founder Alicia Garza are
“trained Marxists”:
https://nypost.com/2020/06/25/blm-co-founder-describes-herself-as-trained-marxist/
This should disturb
all Americans.
So, how are
black lives supposed to flourish under the BLM guidelines? The very thing that caused the great majority
of the problems in the black community in
the first place (i.e., the disruption of the family) is what BLM is
striving for!
The Truth About BLM
BLM seems to
assume that all those that are, or were, stopped by the police and got hurt or
died, were purely victims, specifically
victims of racism.
Could it be
that some of them were not so innocent as BLM makes them out to be?
According to
the evidence, some were indeed less than innocent. But will BLM retract their false
allegations? Will they admit their
deception? Not according to this very
interesting article by an independent research and analysis organization:
Here are
just a few quotes from the above article concerning Black Lives Matter:
“Repeated
observations of Black Lives Matter representatives makes it seem that BLM has a
strong need to misstate the statistics.”
“Black Lives
Matter is a professional grievance organization that only cares about one race,
and only if members of that race are murdered by members of just one other
race.”
“Legitimate
organizations do not jump to conclusions and make false claims and then refuse
to retract these claims once they are proven to be incorrect.”
“Black Lives
Matter is creating the impression they are true through only publicizing
killings of black individuals or through selectively reporting data points
(i.e., staying silent when blacks murder blacks, or when an officer kills a
person who is not black, etc.). In most
cases, Black Lives Matter disseminates false information to the public about
those cases. When this information is
eventually debunked, Black Lives Matter does not issue retractions – so their
followers think incorrect information – that is, changes the narrative of the
incident is true.”
“Black Lives
Matter provides a constant stream of false information to the public. Their incorrect information is promoting
riots, like the nationwide riots that have occurred in response to the George
Floyd killing. As with the
protests/riots in Missouri in response to Michael Brown, the participants are
using the meme “Hands Up… Don’t Shoot,” which never happened in the Michael
Brown case. Because Black Lives Matter
did not issue a retraction, the protesters still think this occurred.”
According to
another article concerning BLM, this writer says:
“Let’s set
the record straight: Black Lives Matter is part of the Democrat establishment’s
extreme left wing. They are a political
tool used to manipulate black Americans, compelling them to vote Liberal… They
think they can use the death of a few black people to whip up black Americans
into a frenzy… they turn black Americans against their neighbors and do nothing
as innocent lives are lost.”
It also
described BLM as “a domestic terrorist organization that relies on threats and
violence to achieve its goals.”
See here:
https://spartalive.com/stories/the-black-lives-matter2-grand-deception-is-real,35722
Racism and Guilt
There are
many whites (and others) who have joined the ranks of the BLM movement,
thinking it is a worthy organization.
But some have suggested that many whites join out of guilt. There does seem to be much guilt-inducing
rhetoric by BLM members.
But no one
needs to apologize for being white (or Hispanic, or Asian, etc.), as some have
actually done. But on the other hand,
there are also many blacks who see through the hype and deception of BLM.
Again, BLM
is fostering in its members a chronic “victim of racism” mentality, where they
find a white racist under every rock and behind every bush. Apparently, these racists have also
infiltrated the ranks of every police department and government institution in
America. Emotion abounds, but evidence
of this “systemic racism” throughout America is non-existent. If you notice, when BLM members are presented
with any kind of evidence, the chanting and screams begin and they almost
always try to drown out those who are presenting rational arguments and real
evidence. By the way, this is one way
you can tell someone is losing an argument – when the yelling and chanting
start. Apparently, BLM members don’t
always want to know the truth, but they are
known to make ridiculous demands upon political leaders and American
institutions. The hate, rage and hype
continue and one of their main goals seems to be to capture the mainstream
media’s attention.
Another Cause of Deception
And speaking
of the media, they are also a major problem for this country. Concerning chaos and misinformation, there
are few as guilty as the mainstream media in America. The media doesn’t seem to be able to say
anything negative about Black Lives Matter.
They have the resources to check out the facts of a story, but they
either ignore the facts, or they choose not
to verify the facts. As long as they can
get a story and keep up their ratings, they will run with it. The media is not seeking to remedy the
problems, but participates in BLM’s deception by holding hands with them to
further a political agenda.
Conclusion
Ok, so what
is the answer to all this fighting, misinformation, destruction and chaos? There is no real secular solution to this scenario.
But there is a spiritual one - get
rid of the hatred in the heart, whether it is found in blacks, whites,
Asians, Hispanics or whoever. And how do
we do that? The answer is the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Someone once
said about racism, “It’s not a ‘skin’ problem, it’s a sin problem. As I said in
the beginning, we are ALL created in God’s image. We know that from Scripture. We also know that every one of us were born with
a sin nature (Romans 7:14), with a natural tendency to lie, to steal, to cheat,
hate, fornicate, covet, etc. And, if we
are honest with ourselves, we must confess to failing God at many points in our
lives, i.e., we broke His Law. Whether
it was long ago or very recently, we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s
standard (Romans 3:23).
And the only
way to get rid of the hatred or racism in your heart… is to get a new
heart. I’m not just talking about going
up to the front of the church and “make a decision for Christ.” It is far more than that. It is recognizing your own spiritual
bankruptcy, your pride, your unclean thoughts before God, your utter inability
to get to Heaven by your own good deeds.
It is a total surrender to
Him. This applies to even the best of
us. The prophet Jeremiah said that the
human heart is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked…” (Jeremiah
17:9)!
When we
recognize our sin and the multitude of times we offended God, then we can
receive forgiveness. We sinned, and just
as in a court system, a penalty must be paid for your crime. But when we offend a holy and majestic being
like God, we can never pay the fine required.
But all is
not lost. The Son of God (Jesus Christ)
humbled Himself and came down to earth and became a human being to live a
perfect life, and then die a horrendous death on the cross in order to pay for our sin debt. This debt payment is a free gift to anyone
who wants it. All we need to do to
receive that forgiveness and make it to Heaven is to repent of our sins (i.e.,
turn away from them in disgust) and trust in His suffering on that cross. Surrender to His will and He will give you a
new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). I know,
because I, too, have offended God and lived my earlier years in rebellion. I deserved
eternal punishment. But while I was yet
living in sin, Christ died for me (Romans 5:8). I am not the same person anymore.
Please turn
to Jesus Christ and then pray for all members of the Black Lives Matter
movement. That’s the only way true peace
(internal and external) will come about.
Yes, black
lives matter, and yes, all lives matter – but eternal life matters the most.
The gospel is simple, the gospel is clear. There are only two places to go. You have a choice to make. Where will you be for eternity?
