Showing Respect for Every Human Being

I must apologize.  In my rash desire to push an agenda of social justice and anti-racism, I committed the very sin I preach against by not respecting the dignity of every human being.  Too often I let my passion and fervor run my mouth without being certain of the facts to which I am referring. 
During the sermon this past Sunday, while commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, AL, I made reference to Ferguson, MO and the case involving Michael Brown.  My intention was to say that 50 years later, we still have much work to do in the cause of civil rights, as reported in the U.S. Department of Justice’s report finding systemic racism in the city’s judicial system.
My offhanded comment, however, did not respect the facts about Michael Brown’s case and the police office involved in that situation.  The same report from the DOJ reports that Darren Wilson acted in self-defense and he has been exonerated of any crime by a jury of his peers in the death of Michael Brown.  I was wrong to bring that case up as an example of racism.  I am sorry.
I am grateful for being held accountable for my words and deeds and apologize if they detracted from hearing God’s word.  I believe it is critically important to connect our Christian faith and tenets to current events; I need to be more accurate and respectful in my references.
We are a country founded on principles and upheld by laws.  As citizens, we are required to obey those laws, and if we believe that a law is unjust, we have the right and responsibility to change that law, in a law abiding way.  We task a group of people to uphold those laws for us – our police and military. They have a very difficult job.  These men and women and their families sacrifice much in order for us to enjoy our way of life.  I do believe the significant majority of our police and military do their duty with the utmost integrity, without the intended malice of racism.
Such authority must be acknowledged and checked. When a system becomes unjust or is shown to be broken in some way, such as having inherent racially bias tendencies in how it exercises its purpose, corrective actions need to be taken, not just to fix the identified problem, but in how the entire system works.  This is where the difficult conversations about race need to happen – without blame (another of my sins).  Only then can we have a true transformation.
We need to continue to discuss the sin of racism as well as the need to respect all people.  I invite you to participate in the film presentation and discussion of “The Differences Between Us” sponsored by the Ministry of Racial Diversity this Friday, March 13th at 7:30 PM.  Thank you for the opportunity to continue this journey.
Happy Lent,

Rev. Valerie+

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