"Last June, 60% in a USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll described Floyd's death as murder; that percentage has now dropped by double digits to 36%." - USA Today
"Metaxas ...: 'For context, just so you know, the guy came at me with his bike and was very menacing for a long time.' Metaxas said he had been escorting his wife and Maryland pastor Harry Jackson to an Uber ride." - WORLD
"The counter argument—that protesting is incompatible with a Christian ethic—is usually made from texts like 1 Peter 2:13-14....But this is the beauty of the freedoms we have in the United States. Our government itself protects our ability to protest." - Jesse Johnson
"In an earlier blog I emphasized the importance of moral clarity for an effective protest. The case of George Floyd dripped with moral clarity — so much so that 78% of the country agreed that Derek Chauvin . . . should have been arrested immediately. However, such a national consensus and borderline unity was intolerable for the anarchists. It was necessary for them to muddy the moral waters to accomplish their objectives. And so they began to divide us." - Carl Ellis
"Riots, as Haddock and Polby argue, 'are apt to be a more or less recurrent, if unpredictable, feature of social life,' not because of persistent injustice but because of the perverse incentives of rioters and poor public policy" - Acton
"Within the pressure-cooker of the Coronavirus pandemic we continue scraping at the festering wound of sinful racism. My heart breaks for my fellow black neighbors and for every police officer out there." - Cameron Pollock
Lord, sometimes an injustice is so grievous that even the inattentive pay attention. Our nation is reeling at the merciless death of George Floyd. If that were not enough, it is tragic that so many have dishonored this man’s death by their rioting and looting, thus providing ammunition for the enemies of racial equality. More people have died or been injured because of such abuses, multiplying further injustices to business owners, by-standers, or peaceful protestors. Fighting injustice with further and greater injustice displaces addressing the real issue.
Father, we know we have a problem. Practical solutions, however, seem elusive. Your Word tells us that man sees the outward appearance, but You look at the heart. We ask Your help to change attitudes and hearts, and help us value the dignity of all people.
We have nearly 700,000 police officers in our nation, and it only takes a few to tarnish the image of the overwhelming majority who truly seek to protect and serve. Help us weed out the few who are prone to nurture racial hatred or are mentally unstable, and encourage the very many who expend themselves on our behalf.
We know these social eruptions evidence a greater build-up below the surface. We look to You for guidance, protection, and changed hearts. Help us remember that we are all human beings, and we pray, O Lord, that more and more of us would embrace the Golden Rule Your Son taught us, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
"This is one of the short videos I recorded for my church, which I’ve been doing daily since the COVID lockdown started. I recorded it before I knew about the rioting and looting in protest of the death of George Floyd. I had received questions from my flock about whether Christians may, or even should, protest police brutality, considering Romans 13 tells us to submit to government." - Clint Archer
