A Call for Americans to Refocus

When I left for DC on July 3, my emotions ran high. Excitement was what I felt first and foremost as I anticipated spending some much needed time with my daughter, her husband, and our second grandbaby. And if the plan panned out, I would also behold a host of historical sites, monuments, and documents I’ve been longing to behold since I was … oooohhhh …. ten.

That’s 33 years of wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’ for a grand ol’ tour.

And yet, I also felt a sense of dread. As if maybe the experience wouldn’t be everything I dreamed of in the midst of incessant culture wars, including the uproar of legalized gay marriage a week prior to my departure, thanks to the majority of SCOTUS who apparently view themselves as the Supreme Christ, rather than Supreme Court.

Ugh.

I honestly wondered if people would be biting and scratching each other in front of the White House, or if blacks and whites would be yelling at one another in front of the Capitol building. Would there be angry protestors ripping, tearing, or burning the Confederate flag? Would they be burning my American flag and flying their rainbow flags, mocking my merciful God? What sort of vitriol would be coursing through the streets?

The hate and anger I saw on my iPhone screen thousands of miles away was what I anticipated seeing first hand.

But you know what? People were kind. Blacks talked to whites and whites talked to blacks as if skin color didn’t matter. When a black fella entered the same elevator as us, and my grandbaby stared at him like he was from Jupiter, I chuckled and said, “Don’t take it personally. He literally stares at everyone he comes across.” The man joined in my laughter and proceeded to tell us a few things about his own family.

Nobody was protesting anything. From what I saw, American and non-Americans were genuinely interested in viewing our nation’s rich history and godly foundation, whether they agreed with the truths it was built on or not. I can’t say strangers chummed around with strangers like they were long lost bosom buddies, but cordiality was definitely a thing.

What is my point with all this mushy gushy rhetoric about people getting along? Just this: Perhaps the media is blowing things wildly out of proportion. Or at the very least, we are suckers – willingly provoked to unhealthy personal levels and therefore, national levels.

There’s no doubt that Dylan Roof was a racist and killed innocent blacks.

There’s no doubt that SCOTUS abused their authority by legalizing gay marriage. People are mad. The writer is mad and prepared to kabong you on the head with a bell ringer. See?

But the basic fact is, Americans are still, for the most part, respectful of one another. Large masses of Americans are living peaceably with one another. Bitterness is present, but not prevalent. Racism is deep in the hearts of a few. Racism is not deep in the heart of what we do as a whole. And what we do speaks louder than what the media reports about a few.

Dylan Roof had his picture taken with the Confederate flag out of a desire to start a modern day civil war. He then acted on that desire by purchasing a gun that he, by law, shouldn’t have been able to get his hands on (but did, because the FBI failed), and killing nine black people. The media then exploded with articles about racism and we exploded with commentaries about how, after all these years, racism is still a problem and will always be a problem. We got riled up (as well we should have, for a time). But we have remained riled up, and if we don’t get ourselves under control, Roof’s desires have a chance of surviving.

Wouldn’t Roof relish in THAT headline whilst popping big white kernels of popcorn in his mouth from prison?

We need to take a deep breath. Think. Look around. Are the masses mimicking Roof? And are we placing Roof’s gigantic sins on the majority? Are we going to chill out and look at the facts, or are we going to give Roof what he wanted?

Social media is a great thing. Social media is also out of hand. Social media, I believe, is getting into our heads and ruling our hearts. We don’t want to ignore isolated cases of hate and racism and governments acting in God’s place. But neither do we want to assume the entire country is following looney criminals or a corrupt government’s leading.

When we hear of these reports, we need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We need to keep our head on straight and not let the few who are acting out of turn in turn dictate distasteful, backbiting behavior. We need to treat others like they were made in the Imago Dei. We need to forgive. Love God first. Our neighbor second. Ourselves third. And refuse to let the media make us miserable. God is in control. Not FOX News, NBC, SCOTUS, or President Obama.

We need to keep the main thing the main thing.

What’s the main thing?

Micah 6:8 –

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. That means justice doesn’t take place by being in a continual huff over a few bigots who get the majority of media attention.

If you really want to fight for justice and equal rights, fight Planned Parenthood. Think they are a helpful organization that helps young, pregnant women?

Think again.

They place a large portion of their clinics in neighborhoods that are predominantly black – on purpose. Their “strategic” locations are chosen due to the fact that they consider blacks to be a big part of an “undesirable” group.

Here are a few quotes from Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood:

We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.

Too bad, Margaret. Word is out.

Notice she didn’t deny her desire to exterminate Negros – just that she didn’t want to word to go out about her desire to exterminate Negros.

Special, huh?

And when speaking of other “undesirables”, such as the poor, disabled, etc., she said this: They are human weeds, reckless breeders, spawning human beings who never should have been born.

Do I even need to remind us that Hitler thought the same thing about Jews?

What strikes me about Sanger is that she at least admits they are human beings. Our current society can’t even call them what they are: BABIES. Human, living babies. To ease our consciences, we rename them fetuses. Tissue. Lumps of cells.

Since when do lumps of tissue have livers, brains, and hearts?

Only when it’s lucrative, apparently.

To put this post into perspective, let me as a question: Why are we in an uproar for weeks on end over Confederate flags and gay rights, when millions of babies (of which a large portion are black) are being slaughtered in a modern day holocaust that, in number, far exceeds the Jewish holocaust? I believe, in part, it’s because the media is distracting us from the bigger issue. Or, I should say the biggest issue.

I agree with the words of Joseph Parker (an African American pastor):

Spend significant time, energy and effort on confronting Planned Parenthood, and those who support them. Addressing issues such as the Confederate flag and statues of civil war “heroes” have a place. But I believe that much more concern, effort and energy needs to be focused on standing against this living, breathing vigorously racist organization called Planned Parenthood. We say the KKK is an enemy and rightly so. Yet Planned Parenthood kills more Black babies in two weeks, than all of the black people in the KKK has killed in one hundred and fifty years. Many of us in the black community need to wake up and look at who our most dangerous enemies are. It’s not mainly the White Hood. It’s Planned Parenthood.

In light of those words, and in light of Micah 6:8, by all means, go forth and fight for justice. But do it where it’s most needed – in defense of those who should be cherished members of society: our children.

America needs to re-focus. We need to stop seeing the distractions that Washington and their media friends put out, and we need to start seeing the blood being spilled in roughly 300,000 Planned Parenthood clinics every day. Yeah, it’s disgusting. So let’s be disgusted! And then let’s allow our disgust to spurn us on to the good work of lovingly, humbly, prayerfully, and legislatively seeking justice everywhere … but primarily in the bloodiest of “hoods.”

It’s not mainly the White Hood. It’s Planned Parenthood.