I spend at least 40 hours a week working for a non-profit devoted to improving policing—mostly in the U.S. I’m also a former pastor of 13 years and a seminary graduate. That mix shapes how I look at the recently re-ignited controversies surrounding U.S. policing and leads me to four observations.
The Christian worldview recognizes some realities of human nature and society.
“…our civic life has become consumed by soundbites and Twitter feeds. Even those outlets that are supposed to be providing substance do not. Despite appearances, Fox News and MSNBC have much in common.” - TGC
“When it was originally published Tuesday, the article asserted that ‘it’s not possible to know a person’s gender identity at birth, and there is no consensus criteria for assigning sex at birth.’” - CPost
“…avoid the hot take. Christians especially should be slow to speak. People are complicated. Explanations that focus only on external factors of race, gender, ethnicity, or legal requirements may miss the motivations that animate individual human beings…. ‘out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.’” - WORLD
“we also need to remember that every headline is a sales pitch, crafted to grab our attention, accrue clicks, and make money. Media companies profit from our addiction to doomscrolling. They’re motivated to keep us doing it—drawing us constantly from one horrific headline to the next.” - TGC
“Humans tend to have an anchoring bias, a cognitive bias that causes us to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we are given about a topic. It’s a tendency highlighted in Proverbs 18:17: ‘The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.’” - TGC
“Hypersensitivity about ‘systemic racism’ has many people, of every race, hesitating about being honest about what they think. But honesty and forthright argument are the only antidotes to the fear many people feel, and the only road ahead to racial justice. I expect ad hominem responses to the essay that follows, or willful misunderstandings of its argument….But only good arguments—not silent cowering—can defeat bad ones.
“If you go on Twitter (enter at your own risk) you will see many rebukes of Don Lemon. Many Christians responded in shock at Don Lemon’s claims about Jesus’ imperfections. But I wonder if many stopped to think about what his declaration actually reveals about Christianity at large in America.” - Cripplegate
“Describing churches as a ‘major source of coronavirus cases’ is odd, since that’s not even the case their own article makes.” - C.Today
“Given the enduring importance of conspiracy theories, I want to circle back to some of the criticism of the DNS article before focusing on few preliminary suggestions on how Christians can begin to think through healthy online habits.” - Andrew MacDonald
