Saying Black Lives Matter is racist, but can hurt feelings, overlooks the fact that it isn’t a new slogan; the present problems have simply made it seem nearly-necessary to show support for our black brothers and sisters. It isn't necessary. All human life still equally matters, and emphasizing one race’s importance subconsciously exalts their importance in society.
Now...a point of greater importance. Truth almost always hurts our feelings because we disobey whatever fact it demands we obey. Truth never hurts when we consciously and perseveringly TRY to live by, and up to, whatever facts it demands. Indeed, merely making serious efforts to obey its facts reduces or eliminates hurt feelings we otherwise bear. As an example, I’ve never heard a tither feel hurt when hearing tithing preached. But for those who don’t tithe—a different response. That’s the powerhouse message Jesus taught in John 8:31-32. Knowing and living by and for God’s will both forgives our sin and empowers life beyond the guilt of having sinned. A great release that gives us freedom of thought and perspective. So...let truth hurt—its natural impact when we don’t obey its demands. For in release from the sin we also experience release from its guilt! The entire Christian message teaches our liberation from a past that bound us and gives us a future of spiritual freedom. God won’t have us returning to the shackled life Christ forgave. His own resurrected life shamed all satanic powers arrayed against him, symbolized by the 16-man Roman guard at his tomb. His resurrection so terrified the soldiers that they “became as dead men.” But Jesus didn’t rush over, shred their standards, strike them dead, then break their swords in two. He instead let them be witnesses to the leadership that they had committed a colossal blunder—SIN—by having him crucified. His personal resurrection rendered destruction of heathen symbols unnecessary. True, later in Ephesus, the former dabblers in the white and black arts brought the scrolls of that life to the burning Acts 19:18-19. Their decision, however, not Paul’s. That truth applies to the Fifth Suggestion. Black culture today has the ability to live pro-actively for their freedoms rather than responding reactively to the slavery of their ancestors. One hundred fifty-five years of freedom enfranchises them to be 155 light-years beyond that unjust, criminal and sinful imposition. Their present attacks on Confederate symbols instead at least implies a needless mental and emotional captivity to them. You have risen far beyond the limitations the Confederacy placed on your ancestors—indeed on the potential THEY had to excel. Since they had no opportunity to excel, and you have by your creative successes in many fields, you prove the Confederacy lived a lie—and would have been proven a lie had your ancestors enjoyed your freedom. The clinching argument against slavery in any race, at any time, is that all races, once free, instinctively develop God-given skills within them, and ACHIEVE. Removing the symbols will never increase self-esteem like personally having gone beyond what the captor expected could be accomplished. Indeed, leaving them in place shames the shortsightedness of the penitentiary culture that began in 1619 and lasted till April, 1865. Indeed, letting them remain mocks the racism that raised them as symbols of a Lost Cause that God considered a Sinful Cause. Sixth, the problems of drugs, incarceration rates and welfare dependency, whatever the culture, must be solved from within the culture. Not by restricting funding to police departments so more community money can be SENT into the afflicted communities. The billions of tax dollars spent over the decades have helped a few but failed to solve the problems of the many in black communities. Why would we think millions more would? We have surely heard the old saying, “Don’t send good money after bad.” Here’s a single suggestion that could increase home ownership in black communities, improve their neighborhoods and make them uncomfortable places for drug dealers to hide. Establish a black-operated financial consortium, tapping for investment purposes the millions of dollars in their businessmen, pro-athletes and professional people—as well as inviting public, not government, investment. Pay dividends to investors by making loans to people for home purchases or improvements, charging interest according to the ability to pay. Allow for an incremental rate increase as their income grows. Give nothing. Expect people to pay their way. That’s as essential for their confidence as individuals as for your profit. That empowers individuals and families to make a home from a house and a neighborhood from scattered families. That’s only a small effort, but it’s a start. A bigger help would be if married couples of different races, who have succeeded in careers by taking advantage of educational opportunities, would rear families in those communities, buy homes, improve them and model what life can still be when caring, capable people lead in the effort. Many such neighborhoods in America have been rehabilitated in just that way. End Part III
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