As I was thinking about the way some respond to #BlackLivesMatter with #AllLivesMatter, it struck me that people could have responded to the prophets in the Bible in the same way. Sure, poor lives matter, Micah and Amos. All lives matter. Stop focusing on just one group, when God cares about everyone.
The prophets would not have disputed that God cares about everyone, or even that all lives matter. But I imagine they would have said that different people have different needs. The poor need justice. The rich need to repent of their abuse of the poor and the way they use their power and privilege, and work for justice and equality, before it is too late. And if sometimes “God cares about everyone” can be a means for elevating the marginalized, sometimes that same language can be used in an attempt to maintain a status quo characterized by injustice.
What do you think? Does bringing the language of today back into a Biblical setting help make the point?
The engraving to which I added the speech bubbles, in case you don’t recognize it, is by Gustave Doré.
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