One guy's views concerning perceptibly irrational “protests”

I already know that mine will not be a popular opinion, but my opinion is worth just as much as others being touted these days.

I don’t know about others, but I am finding it difficult to keep up with all of the commentary from our “news” and other opinion/emotionally-driven hysteria being published right now regarding the amount of violent protests occurring throughout the United States. Honestly in the back of my mind, I ask myself, “when did America become the France of the late-80s, early 90s where a citizenry takes to the street in an inexplicable, irrational burning, looting, destruction of beautiful cities and monuments, and the irrational terrorizing of a population who had little/nothing to do with the events that occurred" in an equally irrational demonstration of violence by people sworn to uphold the laws of our nation? When did the very institutions of our government become the enemy of the people? At what point do we “place guillotines in Trafalgar Square” and start arresting public officials only because they have worked hard to attain and hold a place of prominence amid our communities? It seems only appropriate to ask these types of questions given what we see each time there is a grievance concerning what one person does against the majority opinion.

Let’s not be too contemplative about this subject of "majority opinion"; the majority opinion, these days, holds a lot of sway as people fail to look, rationally, at a topic, and are very quick to base an opinion exclusively on how a provocative headline reads. Our mainstream media, in turn, has become a divisive, hate-infused, provocative source for flames waiting and hoping for a spark and, routinely, the two do meet in the most unexpected and inexplicable of fashion. One of the more pervasive concerns seems to be that our contemporary society is routinely confusing passion with substance when examining (when/if they do) a well-defined, informed position on a matter. Few people anymore, from the choice of a barber shop to the choice of a political candidate, seem to take the time needed to actually self-educate and become informed on a matter before rushing to an opinion steeped in perceptible ignorance. Worse yet, they take a base and expand upon it with an even more ill-informed opinion resulting in a vicious cycle of less than optimal positions rooted in nothing more substantive than uneducated silliness. Ignorance does not, in any way, form, or fashion equate to bliss; it remains, simply, ignorance. Is this what may be occurring now?

Dan Crenshaw (regardless of your opinion of him) stated, in his newly released book entitled “Fortitude” (Hachette Book Group, 2020), that while our mainstream media is not the enemy, they “…can take advantage of a population that jumps to conclusions and doesn’t engage in…” rational, informed thinking anymore (p. 103). The exudate of outrage and dread (as seems to be the case now) can be fueled by the rise in prominence of social media and other instruments of communication that are not adequately suited to render any form of educated stance on many subjects - much of social media is merely less-than-sufficiently-informed opinion about subjects, yet, our society has come to accept it as an authoritative source for information. Our media/social media seems to do little more than fuel ignorance of an actual position/counter-position that would be better communicated via a rational discussion. Some of us, a little older and more experienced, may remember the days of our childhoods when the evening news actually shared the news and we were permitted to think what we wanted on a subject instead of a 24-hour a day diatribe of isolative opinions?

You see, watching some of the current events, as they play out, causes my stomach to stir and my emotions to sour. As rational people, we cannot allow such violent ignorance to overrule our soundness of mind; we need to be better informed before rushing to judgment and even-tempered when viewing crises through the lenses of our contemporary mainstream and social medias. But then, we may not be dealing with rationally-minded people, right? I, personally don’t feel that ONLY black lives matter; ALL lives matter! Why do we not see those signs being held up amid this craziness? Is it because true tolerance and inclusivity is not news worthy? Does that position not sell headlines? As Christian-mind people, I believe we should be asking questions concerning inclusivity (love your neighbor and all that nonsense, right?), but we don’t. We allow our opinions to be clouded by the “popular vote” and sit back and do not voice a concern over what we are experiencing amid our “news”.

Is this current state of affairs truly a “public outrage” or is this amount of suspiciously unnecessary outburst of public discontent merely being fueled by a hidden cadre of criminally-minded individuals who may be seeking attention on a much larger scale? Is this really just a group of ill-informed individuals using this as an excuse to further a “cause” that could not take hold a few years earlier? In example, has anyone asked why bricks were pre-staged along the streets of Dallas, Texas in the cloak of darkness and during the night? I don’t know, but it was publicized yesterday when city officials noticed it and had them removed. One, childish, young man was apprehended when he assaulted a police horse and attempted to incite a riot...things that make you wonder I suppose. (Of course, that story was not well-publicized as it involved only one lone-perpetrator who received no following whatsoever).

On that subject of activism, let’s remain cognizant that is is defined as a “doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Such actions involve attempts to have an opposing side of an argument understand the other sides’ opinion/position on a subject. Let’s be clear, Jesus and the twelve disciples were activists; Ghandi was an activist; Martin Luther King, the actual theologian and MLK, Jr, were activist; Rosa Parks was an activist; even, as much as it frightens me to admit, a minimally-educated teenager, Greta Thunberg is an activist. All good people who used rationality to communicate a cause without inciting violence from anyone. How many of the named folks advocated burning down communities, stoning people with bricks, looting, and terrorizing entire populations? You see, and for this, let’s return to our definition of activism; rationally discussing an argument and counterargument is activism. Burning down police stations, overturning cars, stoning people with bricks, and looting are criminal acts and serve no purpose amid a rationally-focused discussion. Are we, truly as a society, not able to discern the difference anymore?

Honestly, I try to live my life nested within a Christian-based foundation of morals and values and if you find that wrong, I will not apologize. I am not a very religious person, but the foundation upon which I entered my adulthood resonates strongly with me (you know, “train up a child in the way he should go and, when he is older, he will not soon part from it”; Prov. 22:6). As stated in Bennett’s Moral Compass, we “should not pass sentence according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men; but to discern with a true judgment between things visible and spiritual” (“Prayer for True Knowledge”, p. 754). Perhaps there is something to a past education in as well as a foundation of basic morality and being reared in a society that valued the presence of a mother and a father? I harken back to some of my upbringing where I learned from church, early in my childhood, that “a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit” (Matt. 7: 18).

I am no Bible scholar, but I do read scripture from time to time. Biblically, we are instructed that “as new wine is found amid a cluster of grapes”, we should not destroy the cluster because of a few bad ones when there is “benefit in” saving the bunch while ridding the cluster of the few bad ones. In the current events that are occurring, is this the crushing of an entire bunch of grapes, or should we be allowing our tried and tested system of justice to allow, truly, officials to weed out the bad fruit so the good fruit can continue to prosper? The important thing to remember is that this takes time; harvesting is not a quick process and only an experienced harvester can do so without cause for concern.

What do I mean? I “back the blue”, but, as a former police officer (albeit, reservist), I know there are times when police officers’ judgment is called into question. Those, like any other job, (when caught) are dealt with by supervisors to ensure a cop does not continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. If she does, she will eventually be removed from the police department’s employ and asked to find another line of work elsewhere. There are also criminals amid policing agencies who, like any other criminal, use opportunity to conduct the most heinous of offenses. Until they are caught, the crimes continue unless abated by the very authorities among whom these criminals serve. This does not apply only to policing agencies, but to hospitals, the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts, the local 7-11, our nation’s military, and goodness knows amid the very churches that people attend to find soul cleansing salvation. Do we burn down our churches because there are less than saintly saints amid the ministerial staffs? Do we burn down our pastor’s home because he is an adulterer? Do we burn down the Pentagon because we have murderers amid our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines?

Arguably, not, but I find it ironically humorous that, less than a week ago, our broadcasters were publicizing ads asking people to love their neighbors amid a global pandemic and this week, we have seemingly forgotten all of that and are back to killing/hating one another over “micro-aggressions”. It is disheartening, but it does seem to be the real world with which we must contend. In the words of Rodney King, a long-forgotten public figure and (in his own right) an activist, “can’t we all just get along?” I am beginning to feel that we cannot.