My understanding of
predestination from scripture tells me that I did not choose when, where, or
into what circumstances, I would be born. Therefore, I cannot apologize for
being a Southern American white male.
However, the other side of
predestination is this: every person born has the same objective: Become
conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
The day I became self-aware
(some call this the age of accountability) of my need for a Savior I became
responsible for every decision I made from that moment. I choose to hate; I
choose to love. I choose to be violent; I choose to be peaceful. I cannot
justify my actions based on anyone else’s actions because I am not accountable
for them, only for myself.
My upbringing occurred
during the ‘60s in Birmingham, Alabama. My father was a police officer under
Bull Conner. He regularly wore riot gear, and was part of the police force that
engaged in scandalous acts toward the civil rights protestors of that day. I
don’t know to what extent he was involved, if at all, in any of the unlawful
violence toward some of the demonstrators. I was only nine when he died. We
didn’t ever talk about those things before then, or if we did, I didn’t fully
understand them.
My father was shot by a
black man (I use “black” because it seems to be the current vernacular, i.e.
“Black Lives Matter”) while trying to retrieve the stolen property of a
business he was sworn to protect. For those who know me, you may not have even
known the race of the man who shot my father. I never bring it up because to me
it is irrelevant. My father is dead, and that’s all that I knew at the end of
the day.
I admit I am prejudiced; not
racially, but on behalf of the police who serve us regardless of skin color. I
always lean toward the officer in any situation, because I know what happens
every morning when he or she leaves for work, and the heavy sigh of relief of
their spouse when they return home safely each evening. They live every day
with the thought that today could be their last.
I’ve seen many statistics
thrown about these days. One that is glaringly absent is the number of assaults
against police officers. The latest data that I could find was from 2013. Over
28,000 police officers were assaulted that year; 461 people were killed by
police that same year. Less than 1% of individuals who injured police officers
died as a result of their actions. That seems like a lot of restraint to me.
Until you hear the complete
story of a particular incident you cannot make a judgment. Even if there is
video of the actual event (in the current case, there is not) you do not have
the whole story. Until you have approached a car with unknown subjects, not
knowing if they will be friendly, respectful, and compliant, or combative or
noncompliant, you have to assume the worst case scenario for your own safety.
The other issue is the
injustice of our legal system. If your side loses the court case it is always
unjust. But, until we have a better system in place it is the only way to
resolve these issues. Violence against police is not the answer regardless of
the circumstances. If the office involved did something wrong he will have to
answer for that. Until we know the whole story we cannot become judge and jury.
As with any segment of
people that you can measure, there are some people serving as police officers
that are bad people. With the vetting that occurs, and the endless training
they receive, I believe it to be a small number. Also, good people can make bad
decisions. Both of those are dealt with through the legal system, and I believe
it has been pretty effective through the years. There is an automatic
investigation anytime an officer is involved in a shooting. He surrenders his
weapon on the spot and is assigned to alternate duty until the incident has
been investigated. What if you were held to that same standard in your job?
What if someone came behind
you and checked everything that you did, and if found in error, you would be
reprimanded, or worse? I realize when you introduce guns it changes things
drastically, but the level of scrutiny to which officers are evaluated is far
beyond any other industry that I know.
The end result is this: when
stopped by an officer, regardless of how unjustified you feel it may be, try to
be kind. Do what they ask. Do not do anything that would give them reason to be
alarmed (sudden actions, abusive language, threatening gestures, etc.). If you
feel their actions are inappropriate then pursue legal action toward them. It
is your right, and they are responsible for their behavior.
The answer to all of this
was given in the second paragraph. If each of us would pursue that which we
were created for – becoming the image of Christ – all of this would be moot.
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