Choose Wisely. Justice or Order.
In the wake of yet another shooting of an innocent Black person by a rogue police officer, a lot of my family and friends are posting that they back the blue.
When the protests began, this was an important sentiment that helped us to focus. Now, we know that most of the protests are peaceful and most of the agitators are outsiders on the far-right or far-left.
"Back the blue" is a truism. I agree. My friends agree. Your friends agree. On most days, this would not be controversial. Today, not so.
We all want order, and we all want justice, and we all hope that we never have to choose between the two, but if we have to choose, then most of us will choose justice. We must.
When a rogue cop chokes out a Black man, then he is maintaining a type of order.
When a rogue cop chokes out a Black man, then he is inflicting the gravest injustice.
(If you really want to understand the difference between order and justice, then you should read "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by MLK.)
Sadly, we are being asked to choose between orderly injustice or disorderly justice, because there is no justice in the old order.
Choose carefully. Choose wisely.
The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament were all about justice and mercy, not about order.
In Jesus' time, I'm sure there were some people who backed the Romans, who railed about the small businesses that were hurt when Jesus turned over their tables and released their animals, who reassured themselves that if Jesus really wanted to live, then he just should not have caused so damn much trouble.
MLK said that we can have justice and order, and I agree, but we must change. We will.
The Civil War monuments are coming down, and no one will ever put the statues back on the pedestals.
The Confederate banners are coming down, and no one will ever put the flags back on the flagpoles.
The boats are burning. The toothpaste is out of the tube. We can never go back.
So, if you back the blue, as I do, then I hope that you choose justice over order, as I do.
I know that most of my friends are not racist, I know that some of them are, and I wish that it were not so hard to tell the difference today.
I hope that those who post that they back the blue are not "taking sides" and choosing order over justice. When a rogue cop chokes out a Black man, there are not two sides.
Also, I hope that they realize that there are a few rogue cops and a lot of good Black men, and that if they seem to choose order over justice, then they seem to stand with the rogue cops and not with the good Black men.
When the protests began, this was an important sentiment that helped us to focus. Now, we know that most of the protests are peaceful and most of the agitators are outsiders on the far-right or far-left.
"Back the blue" is a truism. I agree. My friends agree. Your friends agree. On most days, this would not be controversial. Today, not so.
We all want order, and we all want justice, and we all hope that we never have to choose between the two, but if we have to choose, then most of us will choose justice. We must.
When a rogue cop chokes out a Black man, then he is maintaining a type of order.
When a rogue cop chokes out a Black man, then he is inflicting the gravest injustice.
(If you really want to understand the difference between order and justice, then you should read "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by MLK.)
Sadly, we are being asked to choose between orderly injustice or disorderly justice, because there is no justice in the old order.
Choose carefully. Choose wisely.
The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament were all about justice and mercy, not about order.
In Jesus' time, I'm sure there were some people who backed the Romans, who railed about the small businesses that were hurt when Jesus turned over their tables and released their animals, who reassured themselves that if Jesus really wanted to live, then he just should not have caused so damn much trouble.
MLK said that we can have justice and order, and I agree, but we must change. We will.
The Civil War monuments are coming down, and no one will ever put the statues back on the pedestals.
The Confederate banners are coming down, and no one will ever put the flags back on the flagpoles.
The boats are burning. The toothpaste is out of the tube. We can never go back.
So, if you back the blue, as I do, then I hope that you choose justice over order, as I do.
I know that most of my friends are not racist, I know that some of them are, and I wish that it were not so hard to tell the difference today.
I hope that those who post that they back the blue are not "taking sides" and choosing order over justice. When a rogue cop chokes out a Black man, there are not two sides.
Also, I hope that they realize that there are a few rogue cops and a lot of good Black men, and that if they seem to choose order over justice, then they seem to stand with the rogue cops and not with the good Black men.
