In light of the protests that are consuming Saint Louis, I thought I'd add my collected thoughts to the mix. I'm also going to try to do the impossible, and leave politics out of it. That's right, I'm not going to disclose what I think about the trial itself or what I think about the message the protestors are trying to get across. I'm just going to use my Catholic faith to view the events that have unfolded since the verdict.
Although I will refrain from sharing my political views, I will say that this trial and the protests surrounding it appear to be more about politics than justice in the courtroom. Maybe that does sound political, but I've tried to look at this situation as objectively as possible and this is the conclusion I've come too: it seems to matter more that Officer Stockley was white and that Mr. Smith was black than the fact that a human life was lost. It really hurts my heart that this seems to be the case. Instead of responding out of compassion and sorrow in our shared humanity, lines were immediately drawn based on the color of our skin. It feels like as the protests have gone on, we've all forgotten that Mr. Smith was a living, breathing man and all he is now is "black." I'll be honest, if this was white on white violence, I don't think we'd be hearing anything about this case. Everyone protesting is probably ready to tell me that that's the point; we're hearing about it because Mr. Smith was a black man who was killed by a white cop, but as a Catholic, I can't only care about the loss of the life of an African American. I need to care for the loss of life of every human being no matter what he or she looks like. If we really cared for equality of human beings, then it shouldn't matter what the person who died looked like; we should want the same justice and the same treatment for each individual person. Everyone has inherit dignity, so everyone deserves our compassion and sympathy. But I don't think everyone gets that. And I don't think that the divide is always along racial lines. I think that the people who get our culture's attention are the people we can use to further our cause. Right now, Mr. Smith is a piece of propaganda, an example for social movements to use. And that violates his dignity as a person. He is a child of God, not a weapon to be used in the political sphere. I say he has turned into a political weapon because I wonder what would have happened had the verdict come back guilty. Would the protestors in the streets now have been satisfied, or would they have called this case an exception to the norm?
That question leads me to the heart of my thoughts on these protests. I think the real issue here is far deeper than just racial inequalities we see today. I think the real issue is that we lack a willingness to forgive each other. Nothing will ever progress and get better unless we forgive one another for the wrongs that have been done to us in the past. Just like any relationship in life, nothing will get better if we do not believe that the other person can change. I think our country lives in a state of a held grudge. I don't think we have forgiven each other for the racism of the past. Until we do that, racial relations will never heal. We will continue to search for the cases that prove our point, and we will chalk up a guilty verdict as a rare exception. As humans, we psychologically look for evidence that proves us right, and ignore evidence that proves us wrong. I'm not trying to say that people are wrong to be upset here; I'm not making any political statement about this specific situation. I just think that the problem that underlies these protests and any protest that separates races is an inability to ask for and to give forgiveness. Until we forgive, we will always be pitted against one another. We will always be able to find something that is unjust and unequal. If we really want to move on, then we have to let go. And that's actually really hard. Whole generations have been defined by the things we refuse to let go of. I'm not suggesting that we forget them, I'm just saying that it's time we make room in our hearts to forgive them. If we forgive, then we can allow ourselves to think that the other person can treat us better. It won't magically fix everything, but it might free us from some of our tension. We might not have to assume that everything is about race anymore. We might be able to find other problems besides plain old racism that contribute to the inequalities we see today. We might even find that others are suffering in the same ways.
The way to forgiveness is not through violence. In fact, violence does the opposite of reaching the goals of most of the protestors. Violence makes other people afraid and it doesn't win any sympathy for a cause. I get it, most protestors out there aren't being violent, and they are speaking out against those who are, but we are all one Body in Christ, and what one does hurts us all. Jesus doesn't call us to violence. He calls us to turn the other cheek. He calls us to submit like He did to violence. He calls us to show how true and good our cause is by fighting violence with peace. A lot of groups that protest seem to claim that they hold a higher moral ground, that they are the good and the enemy is the bad. The way I see it, resorting to violence and stereotyping a whole group of people based on their profession and the clothes they wear is stooping to the same level of what these groups are fighting against. It doesn't make you better. We are all human and we are all answering to the same God. We all have to follow the same rules. Just because we might think our cause is holier doesn't give us the excuse to use whatever means necessary. It's not just about getting to where you're going, it's about how you get there too.
The violence I'm witnessing in this city is inexcusable, no matter which side is committing it. Instead of spending so much time dwelling on our anger and how we've been wronged, why don't we all spend a little more time finding room in our hearts to forgive? I know that seems hard, and maybe you even think it sounds like the absolute wrong answer, but all I know is that Jesus forgave even as He died on the cross. Asking for forgiveness while hanging next to Jesus set a criminal free. While it might be the hardest thing to do, it seems like the right thing to do, and maybe, just maybe, it'll set us all free too.
Although I will refrain from sharing my political views, I will say that this trial and the protests surrounding it appear to be more about politics than justice in the courtroom. Maybe that does sound political, but I've tried to look at this situation as objectively as possible and this is the conclusion I've come too: it seems to matter more that Officer Stockley was white and that Mr. Smith was black than the fact that a human life was lost. It really hurts my heart that this seems to be the case. Instead of responding out of compassion and sorrow in our shared humanity, lines were immediately drawn based on the color of our skin. It feels like as the protests have gone on, we've all forgotten that Mr. Smith was a living, breathing man and all he is now is "black." I'll be honest, if this was white on white violence, I don't think we'd be hearing anything about this case. Everyone protesting is probably ready to tell me that that's the point; we're hearing about it because Mr. Smith was a black man who was killed by a white cop, but as a Catholic, I can't only care about the loss of the life of an African American. I need to care for the loss of life of every human being no matter what he or she looks like. If we really cared for equality of human beings, then it shouldn't matter what the person who died looked like; we should want the same justice and the same treatment for each individual person. Everyone has inherit dignity, so everyone deserves our compassion and sympathy. But I don't think everyone gets that. And I don't think that the divide is always along racial lines. I think that the people who get our culture's attention are the people we can use to further our cause. Right now, Mr. Smith is a piece of propaganda, an example for social movements to use. And that violates his dignity as a person. He is a child of God, not a weapon to be used in the political sphere. I say he has turned into a political weapon because I wonder what would have happened had the verdict come back guilty. Would the protestors in the streets now have been satisfied, or would they have called this case an exception to the norm?
That question leads me to the heart of my thoughts on these protests. I think the real issue here is far deeper than just racial inequalities we see today. I think the real issue is that we lack a willingness to forgive each other. Nothing will ever progress and get better unless we forgive one another for the wrongs that have been done to us in the past. Just like any relationship in life, nothing will get better if we do not believe that the other person can change. I think our country lives in a state of a held grudge. I don't think we have forgiven each other for the racism of the past. Until we do that, racial relations will never heal. We will continue to search for the cases that prove our point, and we will chalk up a guilty verdict as a rare exception. As humans, we psychologically look for evidence that proves us right, and ignore evidence that proves us wrong. I'm not trying to say that people are wrong to be upset here; I'm not making any political statement about this specific situation. I just think that the problem that underlies these protests and any protest that separates races is an inability to ask for and to give forgiveness. Until we forgive, we will always be pitted against one another. We will always be able to find something that is unjust and unequal. If we really want to move on, then we have to let go. And that's actually really hard. Whole generations have been defined by the things we refuse to let go of. I'm not suggesting that we forget them, I'm just saying that it's time we make room in our hearts to forgive them. If we forgive, then we can allow ourselves to think that the other person can treat us better. It won't magically fix everything, but it might free us from some of our tension. We might not have to assume that everything is about race anymore. We might be able to find other problems besides plain old racism that contribute to the inequalities we see today. We might even find that others are suffering in the same ways.
The way to forgiveness is not through violence. In fact, violence does the opposite of reaching the goals of most of the protestors. Violence makes other people afraid and it doesn't win any sympathy for a cause. I get it, most protestors out there aren't being violent, and they are speaking out against those who are, but we are all one Body in Christ, and what one does hurts us all. Jesus doesn't call us to violence. He calls us to turn the other cheek. He calls us to submit like He did to violence. He calls us to show how true and good our cause is by fighting violence with peace. A lot of groups that protest seem to claim that they hold a higher moral ground, that they are the good and the enemy is the bad. The way I see it, resorting to violence and stereotyping a whole group of people based on their profession and the clothes they wear is stooping to the same level of what these groups are fighting against. It doesn't make you better. We are all human and we are all answering to the same God. We all have to follow the same rules. Just because we might think our cause is holier doesn't give us the excuse to use whatever means necessary. It's not just about getting to where you're going, it's about how you get there too.
The violence I'm witnessing in this city is inexcusable, no matter which side is committing it. Instead of spending so much time dwelling on our anger and how we've been wronged, why don't we all spend a little more time finding room in our hearts to forgive? I know that seems hard, and maybe you even think it sounds like the absolute wrong answer, but all I know is that Jesus forgave even as He died on the cross. Asking for forgiveness while hanging next to Jesus set a criminal free. While it might be the hardest thing to do, it seems like the right thing to do, and maybe, just maybe, it'll set us all free too.
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