Thursday, July 18, 2013

"Vigilante justice"


This year, Russell Moore took over as head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission — the huge Protestant denomination’s highest-profile post, particularly on matters of politics and policy. 
How do you feel about the verdict? 
Regardless of what Trayvon Martin was doing or not doing that night, you have someone who was taking upon himself some sort of vigilante justice, even by getting out of the car. Regardless of what the legal verdict was, this was wrong. And when you add this to the larger context of racial profiling and a legal system that does seem to have systemic injustices as it relates to African Americans with arrests and sentencing, I think that makes for a huge crisis. ... I think many people assume our racial tensions are in the past because we have a Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, an African American president, but these sorts of situations demonstrate the raw reality that that’s not the case. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/an-interview-with-russell-moore-of-the-southern-baptist-convention/2013/07/18/40957c32-ef2a-11e2-bed3-b9b6fe264871_print.html

i) How is monitoring the movements of Trayvon equivalent to "vigilante justice"? Doesn't "vigilante justice" connote lynching? Charles Bronson in Death Wish

ii) As Bill Vallicella put it recently, "Why say that Trayvon Martin was racially profiled by Zimmerman when you could just as well say that he was gender profiled or age profiled or behavior profiled?  Old black females walking down the street are not a problem."

iii) Moore acts as if we have a white establishment oppressing blacks. He's trapped in a timewarp. We have multiracial juries and multiracial police forces, as well as minority mayors, judges, governors, legislators, law professors, police chiefs, district attorneys, attorneys general, &c. 

iv) I'm guessing that white men are arrested and sentenced for violent crimes at far higher rates than Asian-American women. Does that imply a legal system that does seem to have systemic injustices as it relates white American men? Or does that reflect the fact that men are generally more prone to crimes of violence than women? 

v) Maybe racial tensions are kept alive by folks like Moore who continue to peddle a false narrative. 

7 comments:

  1. The Southern Baptist convention is rapidly losing members. I suspect that out of desperation, they are trying to attract more minorities in order to add member ship and appear more diverse....and so this is why they've become politically correct on issues such as this and immigration. This is only my theory, though. I can't prove it but I do suspect it.

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  2. Wow, didn't expect to see this rhetoric from Mohler or Moore. Very disappointing

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  3. "Why say that Trayvon Martin was racially profiled by Zimmerman when you could just as well say that he was gender profiled or age profiled or behavior profiled? Old black females walking down the street are not a problem."

    I suspect it is because most people think it is unlikely that Zimmerman would have stopped him if he were a young white or hispanic man walking down the street.

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  4. Why assume he could even tell Martin's race? Didn't this take place at night? Wasn't Martin's face concealed by a hoodie? Wouldn't Zimmerman have to get very close to him before he could tell that Martin was black? Presumably, Zimmerman didn't know Martin's race until he got out of the car and approached him.

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  5. Perhaps I just don't understand America, but why assume that this man was racially profiling? What justification is there for this? Do we have any evidence that he was a racist? Or are we all considered racist until proven not racist?

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  6. As a Christian and Southern Baptist I did not appreciate Moore's comments. I left the following comment at another site on this issue.

    I think some of Dr. Moore’s comments were irresponsible and flame fanning.

    "Most white evangelicals, white Americans, are seeing this microscopically in terms of this verdict, and most African Americans are seeing it macroscopically. It’s Trayvon Martin, it’s Emmitt Till, it’s Medgar Evers, it’s my son, it’s my neighbor’s son, it’s my situation that I had."

    There are certainly differences in the way some white and some black Americans see this verdict. I wonder if microscopically and macroscopically could be interchanged with objectively and subjectively. A macro view without details allows much subjectivity while drilling down in a micro sense allows us to see details to make a more informed, objective opinion. This method from micro to macro is how we learn, make decisions and mature. It’s how we do theology, learn the Bible, disciple others, etc.

    The other cases he lumps in with the Zimmerman case are nothing like it. But coming from a Christian leader, people will blindly go along with his words without caution. I think we want our Christian leaders to be more careful with their words.

    "Regardless of what Trayvon Martin was doing or not doing that night, you have someone who was taking upon himself some sort of vigilante justice, even by getting out of the car. Regardless of what the legal verdict was, this was wrong. And when you add this to the larger context of racial profiling and a legal system…"

    The first sentence says that Zimmerman acted as a vigilante from the beginning. It assigns motive and intent that Zimmerman planned to take the law into his own hands- both unproven. Did he even watch the case or read the evidence? Also, note that Martin’s key witness has now said she believes Martin threw the first punch.

    On the stand during the trial, neighborhood watch training did not discourage folks from following people from a safe distance. In fact, following from a safe distance helped make arrests for criminals who broke into Zimmerman’s neighborhood. Zimmerman seemed to have a good reputation as a good, helpful, concerned neighbor based on trial testimonies. A Christian leader should not impugn the character of Zimmerman calling him a vigilante whether agreeing with his actions or not.

    Further fanning the racial flames is Moore’s lumping this trial into the larger problems of racial profiling. Much evidence has been given the Zimmerman did not racially profile, so Moore may have been more helpful were he clearer with his words.

    One thing so many seem to forget is that both Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman were made in the image of God. Both made poor choices that night.

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  7. He never approached Martin. He got out of the car to see where he went, then on the phone call they say "are you following him?" and Zim says "yes" and they say "we don't need you to do that." So pretty soon he's back by his truck, and says he has no idea where the kid is. They hang up, and next thing anyone has is a 911 call with a background of someone being beaten and screaming for help.

    I'm so sick of these pastors acting like lawyers without even examining the evidence that IS publicly available.

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