Thursday, March 29, 2012

Perspective on Trayvon Martin Shooting

With so much buzz in the news regarding the shooting death of a 17-year-old black man, Trayvon Martin, by a middle-aged Hispanic man, George Zimmerman in Florida, I felt the desire to offer another perspective.  This incident has gone from being a local case to be investigated by police, to being a a national event that will probably be the target of a Federal investigation.  My good friend Frankie was delivering a study at my church last Wednesday and used this passage:
"These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren." --Proverbs 6:16-19 NKJV
When I read it, my mind instantly went to the Trayvon Martin case.

Many believe that Zimmerman shed innocent blood when he fatally shot Martin while on a neighborhood watch patrol; however, an eyewitness and police say that Trayvon attacked Zimmerman first.  Perhaps Martin exhibited a proud look when confronted by Zimmerman as to why he was in his gated community after dark.  Some feel that false witnesses have come forward or that police are falsifying evidence in favor of Zimmerman.  The New Black Panthers have devised wicked plans by putting a "capture" bounty on Zimmerman's head and threatened vigilante justice.  Upon this whole story breaking, race-mongers such as Jesse Jackson Jr. and Al Sharpton have sown discord among Americans to use this young man's death to promote a larger cause. 

No one really know what happened.  Lots of people claim to know, and are making assumptions based upon their own prejudices, based upon incomplete information, or based upon the spin put upon this story by race-mongers.  Only God really knows what happened.  If we could somehow speak to both Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, neither one of them could give us a 100% accurate and unbiased account of what transpired that night.  Perhaps both men saw a threat where none existed.

The point is that there's plenty about this whole situation that God hates.  Let's all back off and allow the people whose business this is (not us) to sort it out.  It's not the media's job to shape the narrative.  It's not the NAACP's job to make Trayvon a poster boy for White Hate victims.  It's not even President Obama's job to clutter this situation with his statements.  If Trayvon's family believes the police are not doing their job, let them use due process to pursue justice.