June 28th, 2015
FORGIVENESS OR "COMFORTABLE SILENCE"?
In Memory of Rev. Clementa Pinckney,
Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson,
Ethel Lance, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor and Susie
Jackson
In Memory of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lance, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor and Susie Jackson
Murderers
have a choice. They can choose NOT to go against God’s commandment by not taking someone's life or they can fulfill their grotesque need to kill and eradicate LIFE based on their hateful ideology, whatever that may be.
When I see and hear of murderous acts against good and innocent people who contributed so much to the value
of our society and God's masterpiece called Life, it takes all that I can
muster up not to personalize and cultivate the desire for vengeance. And by the
way, I usually end up succumbing to this primal compulsion of yearning for
retribution. It is said that it is our
natural instinct to react in order to self-protect against evil and when we
have been wounded. We don't naturally
offer an overflow of forgiveness, charity and understanding when we've been
wronged.
Amazingly,
the families of the victims from the
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, offered
the murder suspect God’s love and forgiveness…FOREGIVENESS! It may sound like a
very simplistic term however, to my mind, the very notion of forgiveness and
the enormity of this concept, is difficult for me to grasp on an emotional
level. One woman told The Guardian newspaper
that she was praying for the man believed to be responsible for the mass
killing. "I'm just thinking that the devil stepped in," Avis
Williamsgrant told the paper. "I'm
praying for the young man also. We’re all God’s children, and even though he
did what he did, he was just a little sick." William Dudley Gregorie, a city councilman and
trustee of Emanuel Church, said, "We’re
not a church that hates. We’re a church that’s full of forgiveness." Jesus Christ even forgave a murderer. Who
was it? It was Saul of Tarsus - who became the Apostle Paul, the greatest
Christian who ever lived! At one time Saul hated Christians, and was
responsible for sending many of them to their death: "I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death" (Acts
22:4).
If
this murderous atrocity was perpetrated against one of my family members how
would I EVER begin to forgive the sinner?? Are you joking?? I would desire nothing more than to
stick red blazing hot fire pokers in the murderer’s eyes!! The deep level of hate and contempt
that I would bear would feel as if it could no longer be contained within the confines of my mind, heart and soul but rather burst forth like a bulging damn of water. Yet the bible instructs us to think and act otherwise.
Going
against God’s law and not forgiving the wrong doer only creates sin within us.
Being unforgiving creates a malignant cancer which grows and festers within us
and eventually kills our spirit and will blind us to the social realities of life.
Forgiveness involves
not holding the sin against the sinner any longer. Forgiveness does not mean we
should forget or trust the wrong doer. Forgiveness is different from trust. Precautions
are taken, and the dynamics of a relationship will have to change. “The prudent see
danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty”
(Proverbs 22:3). Jesus told His followers to “be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
In the context of racism and hate we must be “innocent” (willing to forgive) yet at the same time “shrewd” (being realistic and pragmatic).
Forgiveness empowers our very being and existence in the name of Jesus Christ.
As a white female anti-racist advocate and ally, I have made it one of my missions to respond to racist opinions centered on controversial news articles posted on the Internet. It never ceases to amaze me, the deep rooted racist attitudes and mindsets that still exists throughout our country! It simply boggles the imagination the level of ignorance and vile hatred which is spewed by individuals from ALL walks of life ultimately crippling our society! After reading the news article and then the multiple post responses by individual readers, I try to provide a different perspective in a non-threatening way to those of my white race who appear to view life from a very bias and stereotypic lens. I am met with such revolting and unyielding resistance from most individuals. Most will not even consider or view the value in taking the time to search out information that just might add another viewpoint for them to consider. In my frustration in not being able to appeal to their sense of humanity and invoke the slightest interest in learning new knowledge, I find myself personalizing and carrying such similar views of contempt but towards the bias and racist posters, therefore, I am mirroring their negative thoughts and behaviors. At the end of the day,
by joining in on the mud-slinging that goes occurs on the Internet news sites, I am no better than the bias posters and I also
become part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
In essence I have
learned a great deal from the family members of the shooting victims, the congregation of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in
Charleston and The President of The United States of America, Barack Obama. I too have a choice. I have been humbled and I have begun to see
value in the concept of Forgiveness as it does not equate to a “comfortable
silence”. On the contrary, forgiveness is a necessity in order to truly see,
raise our collective voices and challenge with exuberance for that which is put
before us, in the name of racial equality.
