Letter on Ferguson situation
As the President of the Interfaith Ministerial Alliance, I have just sent the following message to our members in relation to the situation in Ferguson, Mo.
The Rev. Dr. Randolph W.B. Becker
President, Interfaith Ministerial Alliance (IMA)
In the hours since the announcement that there would be no Grand Jury indictment in the death of Michael Brown, I have felt a great range of emotions: Sadness, emptiness, anger, indignation and so much more. I chose to sit with those emotions as they poured out and let them interact with the values I hold most dear.
Now, in the light of day, I find another set of emotions: Vision, determination, hope.
No, those latter emotions don’t erase the earlier ones – they are the products of letting my spirit wrestle with the “is” in the search of the “to-be.”
Yes, our world is one deeply divided by the concept and perception of race.
Yes, injustice occurs on a daily basis with a prejudice to occur against people perceived as different.
Yes, the justice system, tied up in knots of archaic and self-sustaining laws, often fails to meet the cause of human need and dignity.
Yes, might has once again triumphed over right.
But still . . .
Still, despite all the failings of our society to heed the admonitions of the spirit, I can envision the world I want to live in, a world that focuses on connections, not differences.
Still, even when the system fails justice’s call for equity, I can sense the possibility of a world founded on justice rather than brutality.
Still, when the forces who claim to “Serve and Protect” seem only self-serving and status-quo protective, I can have faith in that long moral arc that tends toward a time when those called to the service of community will truly be of and for the whole community.
Still, when the pain of denial and the hurt of betrayal call out for expression in the streets of our nation, I can believe that nothing will change until I transform my pain and my hurt into constructive actions of change — change in myself, change in my community, change in my nation.
But only if . . .
If people of faith can find the streets to protest, they can surely find the streets to build the better world.
If people of faith can challenge one aspect of a racist system, they can surely challenge the whole notion of divisions of humankind by which we are separated from our sisters and brothers.
If people of faith can fall down on their knees in prayer for deliverance from the evils done in the name of civilized society, they can surely rise up on their knees to join with others in creating the change that is needed.
If people of faith can despair at the present shameful conduct of the “already,” they can surely find hope in the vision of the “not-yet,” becoming preachers and prophets of a better time ahead which will be the work of our believing AND our acting together.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., knew all the emotions of last evening . . . but he also knew all the emotions of this morning. I am reminded of this anthology of his words, which I commend to you for use in the sanctuaries of your worship this week:
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
There are some things in our social system to which all of us ought to be maladjusted.
Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear, only love can do that.
We must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation.
The foundation of such a method is love.
One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
We shall hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.
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Rev. Dr. Becker,
Thank you so much for putting into clear words the understandable frustrations we all are feeling with regards to the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, but at the same time eloquently expressing your faith and determination that we can do better if we put aside our anger and listen to the words of Dr. King. I’m with you 100 percent.
I hope you will be able to attend the candlelight memorial this evening at six on South Beach for Charles Eimers. Your presence would strengthen our resolve to live Dr. King’s and your words.
While I agree with the sentiment of Rev. Dr. Becker, I do not understand his, as well as many others, thoughts that there was injustice done in this case. The Justice System has worked the way it is supposed to up to this point, right or wrong. The system is supposed to get JUSTICE. It is not supposed to up get vengeance for a cause!
There are still avenues within the system that can be taken!
BUT, there is NO excuse for violating the Law with all the rioting and destruction! Even so-called peaceful protesting, as advocated by Dr. King, does not change the law. Everyone seems to forget that Dr. King also advocated changing the Laws that we do not like. That is the way it is supposed to be done in a Democracy! That is the reason we have Elections in America.
The injustice here was almost unbelievably obvious:
1. The officer instigated the conflict, did not de-escalate the confrontation and used deadly force in an apparent jaywalking incident.
2. The prosecutor presented defense evidence to a grand jury, discounting his own case and undermining his own prosecution witnesses.
3. The grand jury, which usually will indict a “ham sandwich,” declined to pursue any charge at all, which doesn’t allow the officer the chance to clear his name, as well as trampling on the grave of an unarmed 18 year old.
And you have questions about why the public is outraged by the situation?