We The People....
The other night I was driving three teenagers in my car from a work event. When they got into my car they instantly began asking if I had certain comforts. "Do you have wifi?" one asked. "Do you have a hot spot?" said another. "Can I charge my phone?" said another. This went on for several minutes until finally I had to say, "Look, just sit here and ride. We will be getting to where we are going soon but in the mean time you just have to be uncomfortable." To this I heard a lot of sighs and saw long faces to then finally the question was asked, "How far away is the place we are going?"
So when I think about what makes us all American I think about the "American Dream" and when I think about the "American Dream" I think about the desire to be comfortable. We all want it, comfort. We all want to have what we want when we want to have it, no questions, no exceptions, no "accept-tions" also. We pride ourselves as Americans as being a very "accepting" country and that if you are not an accepting person then we are old, bigoted, yesterday, etc. But I don't think being accepting is a part of the American Dream because it does not make us comfortable if we are truly honest. Many of my closest friends are those that are more or less just like me or value what I value. This bothers me because I know it is not cool to be like that but that is just the way I am. I try to make friends that are not like me but in the end I end up just attaching myself to those that do. It takes too much work the other way around. It make me feel uncomfortable. I think I am a pretty typical American in feeling this way. We are not a very accepting people as we would like to think. We want it our way, no exceptions with our closest friendships and love interests. We just have to be so dang comfortable, right?
So what is comfort? There is a song I like by a rapper named Andy Mineo called "Uncomfortable." In it he says, "never love nobody, be selfish, and never sacrifice." See I like that definition of comfort because that is exactly what it take to be comfortable. People are complicated and can't be controlled so why love them? Why understand them rather? I know that the way I see a situation and my perspective on the world is the best one so why be empathetic to others? Why care? Why not be selfish? Plus, I am treated pretty well here in America. I got wifi, or government stamps, or no wife or kids, got a nice puppy, or a lot of followers on my social media handle so I'm good. No need to sacrifice. I'm comfortable. I got the Dream. Wait a minute! Someone, a black someone, just got shot by a cop, again. He had a gun or he did not have a gun. He was resisting arrest or was completely complying with the cop without any need to warrant police aggression... it doesn't matter. The fact is that someone black (basically always male) got shot and that makes me uncomfortable so I don't like it. Maybe I will post a live stream on social media while the person is dying in front of me instead of calling 911 for an ambulance. I just need to feel comfortable again and to do that I have to not really care and be selfish. Social media live casting will help with that. Ah, now I feel better! People getting shot by police is not the real American Dream because it makes us feel uncomfortable so we need to reinforce the Dream by hating cops, by hating the law.
We all feel uncomfortable around police. Why is that? Spare the stories that it is because cops are always trying to kill people. I don't think that is the real reason. I think it is because we hate following rules, rules make us uncomfortable. We are so use as Americans to having things our own way that we just hate the law. We hate those that uphold it regardless of if they are doing it right or not. We just want them out of our way and law abiders and upholders make us uncomfortable because they basically are in our way. They kill The Dream. In every case of police action the resulted in a death I read also that the suspect (or victim) was in some form resisting arrest, resulting in them being shot. To this one might say, "well, does a person resisting arrest mean they deserve getting shot and killed?" To answer this question we need to be against the American Dream, we need to be selfless, actually care, and be empathetic. If I was a police officer and am encountering a situation where a person is resisting arrest I will likely switch my brain to self-preservation and error on the side of my life versus theirs. That is just being honest. Not to mention it is difficult to assess if someone is about to pull a gun or not at any given moment I am going to suspect this more if they are not listening to my commands. At the end of the day its my life versus theirs, that is just being a human being. Now place this mindset to a police officer and it is easier to understand why people get shot. I know there are racist cops, cops that are hopped up on stimulants and pride and corrupt social systems that reward the privileged and ignore the marginalized, these societal situations are biblical in their age and continuous reciprocation. But the truth is that a police officer regardless of their flaws represent a road block to us being comfortable because they have the authority to tell us what to do and we hate that. I hate that.
I confess that my biggest struggle as a man, as an American, and I believe because of being a black man is that I do not trust authorities and I hate being told what to do. As a result I have resisted authorities all my life and it has gotten me metaphorically shot over and over. In this and having the grace to grow in wisdom I simply have learned that I need to comply to make it home alive. You can not fight when you are dead. Furthermore, I think it is interesting that it is us black males that are almost the only ones getting shot, not black women. We men are an aggressive gender, aren't we? I think about the situation that Israel was in when Jesus started walking on the scene, doing miracles and proclaiming that "the Kingdom of God was at hand." Jesus had many followers as a result of his ministry but many of them wanted something different than what He was giving. Rome was oppressing Israel during the time that Christ walked and many Israelites wanted freedom, freedom from the rules of Rome, freedom from the laws placed upon them. At one point the Jews tried to forcibly make Him a king, yet Jesus resisted. This fact used to confuse me. Why wouldn't he want that? Even more, Jesus did not overthrow Roman rule with a new Israelite government. He didn't do what so may Jews wanted. This bothered me. Didn't he know that Israel was being oppressed? Wouldn't God want the oppressed to be freed? Maybe Jesus was wanting a form of spiritual freedom from the law (or Law) and its oppression that did not result in needing to riot and loot stores. Maybe the path to solving the problem's in this country with race, police shootings, and the many problems with crime within poor communities in general needs to start with complying with the law humbly. I think Jesus understood this and did not want Israel to get distracted with the many social movements happening during His day that was distracting people from seeking true freedom, regardless of external situations. Jesus gave us the freedom to comply and feel uncomfortable and not also feel like we are a lesser person. He did this by dying on a cross proclaiming our infinite value as limitless and priceless beings. Black or white. Poor or rich. Privileged or marginalized. We can comply, be spat on, oppressed, or just be told there is not any wifi available and be okay. Or desire for comfort is killing us. All of us. All of us as Americans are dying because we do not truly want to understand another person's situation. It is too uncomfortable. There are many social active positions we can all take towards many law centered initiatives that oppress different ethnical, economic, religious, and social groups but I believe that the first step that must be taken is to simply comply and be willing to be uncomfortable. This is in fact one of the requirements that MLK asked for potential followers to be willing to do. This is also what I believe Christ embodied in being the best societal activist I can think of.
"So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor."- 1 Peter 5:6
The other night I was driving three teenagers in my car from a work event. When they got into my car they instantly began asking if I had certain comforts. "Do you have wifi?" one asked. "Do you have a hot spot?" said another. "Can I charge my phone?" said another. This went on for several minutes until finally I had to say, "Look, just sit here and ride. We will be getting to where we are going soon but in the mean time you just have to be uncomfortable." To this I heard a lot of sighs and saw long faces to then finally the question was asked, "How far away is the place we are going?"
So when I think about what makes us all American I think about the "American Dream" and when I think about the "American Dream" I think about the desire to be comfortable. We all want it, comfort. We all want to have what we want when we want to have it, no questions, no exceptions, no "accept-tions" also. We pride ourselves as Americans as being a very "accepting" country and that if you are not an accepting person then we are old, bigoted, yesterday, etc. But I don't think being accepting is a part of the American Dream because it does not make us comfortable if we are truly honest. Many of my closest friends are those that are more or less just like me or value what I value. This bothers me because I know it is not cool to be like that but that is just the way I am. I try to make friends that are not like me but in the end I end up just attaching myself to those that do. It takes too much work the other way around. It make me feel uncomfortable. I think I am a pretty typical American in feeling this way. We are not a very accepting people as we would like to think. We want it our way, no exceptions with our closest friendships and love interests. We just have to be so dang comfortable, right?
So what is comfort? There is a song I like by a rapper named Andy Mineo called "Uncomfortable." In it he says, "never love nobody, be selfish, and never sacrifice." See I like that definition of comfort because that is exactly what it take to be comfortable. People are complicated and can't be controlled so why love them? Why understand them rather? I know that the way I see a situation and my perspective on the world is the best one so why be empathetic to others? Why care? Why not be selfish? Plus, I am treated pretty well here in America. I got wifi, or government stamps, or no wife or kids, got a nice puppy, or a lot of followers on my social media handle so I'm good. No need to sacrifice. I'm comfortable. I got the Dream. Wait a minute! Someone, a black someone, just got shot by a cop, again. He had a gun or he did not have a gun. He was resisting arrest or was completely complying with the cop without any need to warrant police aggression... it doesn't matter. The fact is that someone black (basically always male) got shot and that makes me uncomfortable so I don't like it. Maybe I will post a live stream on social media while the person is dying in front of me instead of calling 911 for an ambulance. I just need to feel comfortable again and to do that I have to not really care and be selfish. Social media live casting will help with that. Ah, now I feel better! People getting shot by police is not the real American Dream because it makes us feel uncomfortable so we need to reinforce the Dream by hating cops, by hating the law.
We all feel uncomfortable around police. Why is that? Spare the stories that it is because cops are always trying to kill people. I don't think that is the real reason. I think it is because we hate following rules, rules make us uncomfortable. We are so use as Americans to having things our own way that we just hate the law. We hate those that uphold it regardless of if they are doing it right or not. We just want them out of our way and law abiders and upholders make us uncomfortable because they basically are in our way. They kill The Dream. In every case of police action the resulted in a death I read also that the suspect (or victim) was in some form resisting arrest, resulting in them being shot. To this one might say, "well, does a person resisting arrest mean they deserve getting shot and killed?" To answer this question we need to be against the American Dream, we need to be selfless, actually care, and be empathetic. If I was a police officer and am encountering a situation where a person is resisting arrest I will likely switch my brain to self-preservation and error on the side of my life versus theirs. That is just being honest. Not to mention it is difficult to assess if someone is about to pull a gun or not at any given moment I am going to suspect this more if they are not listening to my commands. At the end of the day its my life versus theirs, that is just being a human being. Now place this mindset to a police officer and it is easier to understand why people get shot. I know there are racist cops, cops that are hopped up on stimulants and pride and corrupt social systems that reward the privileged and ignore the marginalized, these societal situations are biblical in their age and continuous reciprocation. But the truth is that a police officer regardless of their flaws represent a road block to us being comfortable because they have the authority to tell us what to do and we hate that. I hate that.
I confess that my biggest struggle as a man, as an American, and I believe because of being a black man is that I do not trust authorities and I hate being told what to do. As a result I have resisted authorities all my life and it has gotten me metaphorically shot over and over. In this and having the grace to grow in wisdom I simply have learned that I need to comply to make it home alive. You can not fight when you are dead. Furthermore, I think it is interesting that it is us black males that are almost the only ones getting shot, not black women. We men are an aggressive gender, aren't we? I think about the situation that Israel was in when Jesus started walking on the scene, doing miracles and proclaiming that "the Kingdom of God was at hand." Jesus had many followers as a result of his ministry but many of them wanted something different than what He was giving. Rome was oppressing Israel during the time that Christ walked and many Israelites wanted freedom, freedom from the rules of Rome, freedom from the laws placed upon them. At one point the Jews tried to forcibly make Him a king, yet Jesus resisted. This fact used to confuse me. Why wouldn't he want that? Even more, Jesus did not overthrow Roman rule with a new Israelite government. He didn't do what so may Jews wanted. This bothered me. Didn't he know that Israel was being oppressed? Wouldn't God want the oppressed to be freed? Maybe Jesus was wanting a form of spiritual freedom from the law (or Law) and its oppression that did not result in needing to riot and loot stores. Maybe the path to solving the problem's in this country with race, police shootings, and the many problems with crime within poor communities in general needs to start with complying with the law humbly. I think Jesus understood this and did not want Israel to get distracted with the many social movements happening during His day that was distracting people from seeking true freedom, regardless of external situations. Jesus gave us the freedom to comply and feel uncomfortable and not also feel like we are a lesser person. He did this by dying on a cross proclaiming our infinite value as limitless and priceless beings. Black or white. Poor or rich. Privileged or marginalized. We can comply, be spat on, oppressed, or just be told there is not any wifi available and be okay. Or desire for comfort is killing us. All of us. All of us as Americans are dying because we do not truly want to understand another person's situation. It is too uncomfortable. There are many social active positions we can all take towards many law centered initiatives that oppress different ethnical, economic, religious, and social groups but I believe that the first step that must be taken is to simply comply and be willing to be uncomfortable. This is in fact one of the requirements that MLK asked for potential followers to be willing to do. This is also what I believe Christ embodied in being the best societal activist I can think of.
"So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor."- 1 Peter 5:6
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