Terrorism: Playing with Numbers

On this day known in infamy as 9/11, it is fitting that we talk about numbers.

I was in a debate recently with some friends about the NFL protests over police brutality. Some folks were saying there are no structural injustices in the police force. Rather, they argued there are some isolated "bad apples" who do bad things. The incidents may be bad, but the number of them is not statistically large when you look at a nation of 300 million (I'm paraphrasing a bit here).

Numbers can be funny. You can get them to say all sorts of things.

Today is the anniversary of 9/11. The attacks of 9/11 "only" directly caused the deaths of less than 3,000 people. But yet we all know how traumatic that day was to the whole nation. Laws were changed as a result. Wars have been waged. The whole attitude of our nation changed and to my eye still hasn't recovered. We've become a darker, more fearful and more hostile place since then.

In recent reports, there were 98,000 public schools in the U.S and 33,000 private  The Parkland school shooting was the 208th school shooting since Columbine 19 years ago. 208 school shootings seems like a large number until you compare it with 131,000. There is “only” a 1 in 629 chance that your school will be one of them--more likely than winning the lottery by far but still a slim chance.

4,400 people were lynched in the Jim Crow years, most of them African Americans. As horrific as that is, you could argue that is "only" 55 per year--nearly 5 per month if you average it out. "Only." Another way of looking at it: That is 5 people per month--every month--for over 80 years. Can you imagine what that does to the psychology of a population living with that (literally) looming over their heads?

Not only is the number of lynchings bad enough as it is, but for every person lynched there have been no doubt dozens more who have been beaten, robbed, raped and threatened. Lynching was used (and is still used) as a weapon of terrorism against a whole population of people. Step out of line, express yourself too much, ask for too much, and even worse, demand too much, and the threat of lynching was always there. There were people who no doubt spent their whole lives looking over their shoulder, monitoring every word they said and behavior they made in order to avoid a situation that could escalate to lynching. They hid their God-given light so as not to attract too much attention or anger. That’s how terrorism works.

And THAT is the situation many African Americans find themselves in today when it comes to their relationship with the police force. We know there are good cops. I assume--and hope--that the majority of them are good. I have friends and family members who are cops. I haven’t seen any of them on their beat, but as far as I know all of them are good. I trust in that. But there is a significant percentage of cops who are not so good--some reports say the number of bad cops is as high as 15%. If so, that's huge. But perhaps worse, there is a system that covers for them--a system of loyalty, secrecy and power.

For every killing, there are no doubt dozens of instances of racial profiling, harassment, beatings,  rapes, wrongful arrests, wrongful convictions and disproportionately long prison sentences compared to whites. And for every one of those, there are millions of our fellow citizens waking up today wondering, ”Is it going to be me today?”

The situation is not unlike the problem with abuse in the Catholic Church. Many of us are hesitant to speak up because we know many good priests. We don’t want to disparage all of them in one swoop.  But the small percentage of bad priests has caused a huge problem. And even worse, the system has been willing to cover for them. That’s the problem with see today with the police. The system seems unable to hold police officers accountable.

Perhaps you have heard the litany of names of wrongful deaths alleged and remembered by groups like Black Lives Matter--Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, etc. To my friends who say that list of atrocities--however horrible it may be--is not statistically significant in a population of over 300 million, I hope this post has shown that not to be the case.

This is why NFL players are taking a knee.

Why Are Christians So Easily Blinded?

Are doctors of divinity blind, or are they hypocrites? I suppose some are the one, and some are the other; but if they felt the interest in the poor and the lowly, that they ought to feel, they would not be so easily blinded.

Harriet Jacobs

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Chapter XIII The Church and Slavery

Harriet Ann Jacobs, public domain picture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Ann_Jacobs 

Harriet Jacobs is describing the disturbing relationship between Christianity and the practice of slavery in the above quote.

The quote can apply to any of us in any situation.

Jacobs hits the nail on the head: It is perfectly understandable that we will fall short of what the Gospel demands of us. But is it really understandable that so many of us fall short so easily?

If the poor and lowly were first on our minds, as the Gospels demand, would we say and do the same things that we currently say and do?

Take the situation with immigrants and refugees today in America. We preach a Gospel of hospitality but practice exclusion on a hairpin trigger. Few of us really know what immigrants and refugees have gone through. Fewer still take the time to investigate. Yes, there may be some rare times when we may have to say "No" and build a wall and exclude. But... why are we so quick to do that? Why is that our first response? On top of that, many Christians get angry if anyone even suggests they consider doing something other than excluding people.

The same holds true for race relations in America. Many in the black community tell us that racism is an ongoing, destructive element in society. Before someone even finishes saying, "Black lives matter," another person will cut them off shouting, "All lives matter!" It's a clear sign the second person doesn't want to hear what the first person is saying. Why are so many people so quick to get angry and turn away? The least we can do is listen to what each other has to say before rushing to any conclusions. After talking to each other, we may not totally agree on every point, but why are people so quick to be defensive before actually listening?

In Jacobs' time, the practice of slavery was in full swing. Today, we can all recognize instantly how evil and awful it was. But as Jacob points out, there were many Christians who found it all too easy to shrug their shoulders and dismiss it. They said things like: "Maybe it's not as bad as it seems," or, "Maybe it's actually a good thing deep down," or, "Well, it's complicated," or some other excuse. Those are the same excuses we hear today about contemporary issues. There was a mountain of evidence screaming that slavery was evil, but folks allowed themselves to be so easily distracted by any perspective or anecdote, no matter how small, that reassured them that slavery might not be so bad after all.

There was plenty of fake news about slavery in the early 1800s. For example, some people investigated the conditions of slavery and said that the slaves seemed happy and prosperous. Many people in the North allowed themselves to be so easily deceived by stories that made no sense and were obviously staged. Likewise, they would hear 99 stories of the horrors of slavery and then one story surfaced where the conditions we not quite so bad, and they allowed that one story to blind them to the 99. People today are deceived by the same things. Many Christians are so quick to believe lies about immigrants, refugees, the African-American community, Native Americans and any other group that raises their voices demanding justice and mercy. One questionable incident may discredit a mountain of evidence on the other side.

When slaves escaped, many people in the North helped re-capture them. They would say a nineteenth-century version of: "What part of 'illegal' don't you understand?" After all, it was against the law for a slave to escape and for someone to assist them. Today, we realize that the entire system of slavery was immoral and we regard the people who gave them sanctuary as heroes. The entire system needed to be changed. Many immigrants today wallow in detention centers and many refugees suffer in camps all because "it's the law."

It is easy for most of us to look back on slavery and instantly recognize the evil it was. But what are the issues today that we are allowing ourselves to be deceived about?  HINT: It is probably when we are unwilling to calmly hear what someone else has to say. Our quick, defensive reaction is usually a sure sign of our own shortcomings and blind spots. It is our duty at those moments to take the time to understand why we are so quick to shout over someone else and block out what they are saying. Why are we resisting what they are saying?

The Gospels instruct us to think first of the poor and lowly. That message is on almost every page of Scripture in one form or another. It's in every parable and sermon of Jesus. We all do a poor job of putting into practice the awesome vision described by Jesus of Nazareth--the Beatitudes and the Greatest Commandment are both mind-blowing and revolutionary. To say we fall short is an understatement. We know that. It's a given. It just goes with the territory of the Gospel.

We also know there are times when we are all also hypocrites. We preach a Gospel that we fail to emulate. This is also somewhat understandable. The Gospels are so bold that it is a foregone conclusion that we will fail putting them into practice in such a broken, fallen world.

But this is no excuse for the fact that each of us can, in fact, do better.

The message of Harriet Jacobs haunts me: Why are we so easily blinded?

A Meditation: Black Lives Matter

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Illustration by Vectorstock, Malchev, Andrew Glencross.

 

By Andrea and Frank Lesko

 

We invite you to join us in a virtual (but real) social media prayer and meditation.

 

We'd like you to get comfortable wherever you are--at your desk, on the subway or at home. And quiet.

 

Put yourself in the presence of God. Or rather, acknowledge that you are already there.

 

We're going to say something, and we'd like you to sit back and think about what comes to your mind when you hear it.

 

Close your eyes and begin to be aware of your breath.

 

Allow your breaths to become deeper and deeper until you can feel them down in your belly. 

 

After a bit, allow your breathing to come back to normal.

 

As you breathe in, imagine your are taking  in peace and love - imagine them as feelings or as words, or however they form in your mind's eye.

 

As you breathe out, imagine your thoughts and worries and preconceptions being exhaled.

 

Sit with this for a few moments - breathing in and out. 

 

Now I am going to give you a phrase. Allow your clear head to simply feel or think whatever comes to mind when you hear it.

 

There is no right or wrong.

 

Just allow your thoughts and feelings to be.

 

The phrase is... Black Lives Matter.

 

Remember to continue to breathe in deeply,

 

And breathe out.

 

***

 

Allow some time to sit with this thought.

 

What comes up for you?

 

How does it feel in your body when you hear the words?

 

Joys, pains, memories.

 

Be aware of any tensions, reflexes, resistance.

 

Suspend any judgments, conclusions or distractions, but take notice if you want to react in that way.

 

Just let the thoughts be. 

 

Try to avoid leaving the topic and jumping elsewhere.

 

This is not about the #BlackLivesMatter movement. 

 

This is not about "All lives matter." 

 

It's just the expression that black lives--in their own right--matter. 

 

Just experience it.

 

***

 

Maybe it's awkward to you,

 

Maybe you want to wiggle away and change the subject.

 

Perhaps your breathing immediately becomes more shallow.

 

Ask yourself where is that coming from?

 

***

 

It's perfectly normal to have biases and prejudices. Even people who believe they are beyond having prejudices probably have some subtle angst or awkwardness in relation to somebody. There has probably never been a human who didn't grow up with some kind of bias against somebody--except Jesus.

 

Whether it's the rednecks in town, the "dumb Polak" down the street, "them Jews", homosexuals, hippies, blacks, you name it.  We all got somebody that we just can't stand... and perhaps hate. If you are in a minority population, you might even pick up the sentiments of the larger population and have a bias against your own group! You can say it's part of human nature. It's tribalism--we stick with our tribe and have an implicit bias against the others.

 

Jesus challenged this continuously through the Gospels. He kept approaching people as fully equal, human persons. It didn't matter if they were rich or poor, popular or unpopular, whether they smelled funny, were sick, or were a member of the "unapproved" groups of the day. He developed quite a reputation for hanging out with "sinners and tax collectors." For a Jewish male to associate with a Samaritan woman, for example, especially someone who was known publically as "sinful," was to incur scandal upon scandal.  It's hard for us to image for us today just how scandalous that was. 

 

That Jesus could do this so consistently, without a hint of prejudice recorded in the Gospel narratives, is perhaps more evidence for his divinity than any other miracle! Humans just have a really tough time with that, and we've never met a person would could do it as consistently and constantly as Jesus did in the Gospel narratives.

 

We can and should be held accountable if we hurt people through our biases and prejudices, but we can at least have some compassion for having them. We inherited many of them. We are soaked in a culture that is full of them, some of them so subtle--yet strong--that we don't even realize we have them. They are just part of the fabric of life--birds fly, fish swim and black people are second class. It can take a lifetime to untangle oneself from a culture rife with them. 

 

There's a paradox. Shaming yourself for these thoughts is not likely to be helpful.  But those are also thoughts that need to be purged and healed so that you can grow into the being God made you to be and that we all can grow together in peace and harmony as one human family.

 

The problem becomes much more urgent when our biases and prejudices are combined with institutional power. This is what we call racism. That's when these prejudices are not just quirks that individual people have, but they are put into practice and damage real people.

 

Police can gun black men and children down in the streets over the most questionable behavior, with almost no consequences whatsoever. Black people go to jail more often--and with harsher sentences--than white people for the same behaviors. When people take to the streets to protest, they are tear gassed and silenced--how dare they speak up and question the way things are! 

 

Even justice-minded white people, who thought racism was yesterday's news, are coming to terms with this.  How did we miss it?

 

***

 

Black lives matter.

 

Black people matter.

 

This is a good thing.

 

Let’s breathe into this thought.

 

If it's a frail idea to you, build it up. Give it roots. 

 

Give it strength.

 

If it is strong, imagine it stronger.

 

***

 

Let's think about the goodness of black people.

 

Created in the image and likeness of God.

 

Who show us something about what God is like.

 

For far too long, they have been treated like their lives don’t matter. Like they don’t deserve time and attention.

 

To quickly change a discussion from “black lives matter” to “all lives matter” only reinforces what many believe in the first place: That black lives do not deserve special time and attention reserved only for them.

 

So let's change that.

 

***

 

When people say, "black lives matter," they are affirming what is rightfully theirs. 

 

They are not demanding it. 

 

They are not asking for your permission.

 

You can’t give them value--their value comes from the Creator. 

 

They are affirming what God said: "And it was good."

 

So very, very good.

 

Black lives matter.

 

***

 

Black lives matter.

 

Say it.

 

Love it .

 

Embrace it.

 

Suspend other thoughts.

 

Suspend the exceptions,

 

The qualifying clauses,

 

Everything else.

 

Just repeat after me:  Black lives matter.

 

Black people matter.

 

This is a good thing, a complete thought all unto itself that doesn't need any qualifiers, exceptions or footnotes.

 

It is a thought whose time has come--it is overdue, in fact.

 

God announced the goodness of black lives at the moment of Creation. We've got some catching up to do.

 

There is a time later to talk about everyone and everything else.

 

Right now, let’s just embrace the thought that black lives matter.

 

Cherish that thought and the people that go with it.

 

Amen.