{"id":1331,"date":"2013-07-15T18:56:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T18:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/07\/the-zimmermantrial-and-the-verdict-for-the-church.html"},"modified":"2013-07-15T18:56:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-15T18:56:00","slug":"the-zimmermantrial-and-the-verdict-for-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/07\/the-zimmermantrial-and-the-verdict-for-the-church.html","title":{"rendered":"The #ZimmermanTrial and The Verdict for the Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
by Rev. Earle J. Fisher<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
R3 Contributor<\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span><\/a>I sat on my couch with mixed emotions that past Saturday awaiting the jury to come back with their verdict. I was naively optimistic with a pinch of skepticism.\u00a0 I saw the puppeteered look of white (male) privilege on the defendant\u2019s face \u2013 which matches my emotional irony due to his Hispanic and thereby \u201cminority\u201d ethnicity.\u00a0 I felt the air sucking tension in the national atmosphere.\u00a0 And when I heard \u201cNOT GUILTY\u201d I wept.\u00a0 I called my soon to be teenage son just to hear his voice.\u00a0 The call was dropped (rather telling, huh?).\u00a0 He texted me to let me know he was \u201cin the basement [at my sister\u2019s home] and didn\u2019t have service\u201d (even more telling if you can exegetically interpret the metaphoric messages embedded in his text).\u00a0 I replied to him, \u201cOk.\u00a0 [I] just wanted to hear your voice.\u00a0 Been watching the news\u2026 Trayvon Martin\u2019s killer was found not guilty.\u00a0 Always be careful son\u2026dad loves you.\u201d\u00a0 I felt (and periodically feel) pathetic and helpless.\u00a0 Be careful.<\/span>
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That\u2019s what we have been reduced to in our parental ability to protect minority children from random acts of prejudice.\u00a0 To be black and young in America compounds the reality of being unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence and hatred.\u00a0 I cannot count the number of times I\u2019ve been pulled over by the Memphis Police Department (MPD) for \u201cnot wearing my seatbelt\u201d or \u201cgoing a few miles over the speed limit.\u201d\u00a0 Thereafter I am visually accosted and indirectly interrogated by (at least) TWO cops and sometimes TWO cop cars while one is inspecting the back and passenger seat areas of my car \u2013 obviously looking for speeding and seat belt violation materials.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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I\u2019m grieved at the culture we have bequeathed to my only son and his peers.\u00a0 He and his friends (especially his non-white friends) are in the societal (and religious) basement and this verdict reminds us that they are too often disconnected and without the necessary services needed to get in touch with what they need.\u00a0 This is PERSONAL!\u00a0 Make no mistake about it, as a social justice activist and liberationist preacher this verdict pissed me off.\u00a0 <\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span><\/a>The verdict is a sickening reminder of the insensitivity and compassionless culture that fuels our criminal (in)justice system.\u00a0 The sadder reality is that most people, at some level, expected the verdict (or at least knew it was as rather probable).\u00a0 But from my vantage point, the saddest and most depressing element in this are the relatively too-little-too-late responses from so many ministerial leaders who are silent about some of the most pressing matters (especially relative to local matters).\u00a0 I didn\u2019t hear much from minister\u2019s when the Supreme Court struck down a pivotal portion of the Voting Rights Act.\u00a0 What have we to say about the infant mortality rate?\u00a0 Where is our righteous indignation in relationship to the poor stewardship practices of local politicians?\u00a0 We have chosen to remain silent (by and large) when it comes to matters of gender equality and LGBT inclusion, the Tennessee medical lottery, the mismanagement of the school merger and other issues that we can smell the stench of when we open our church doors.\u00a0 <\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

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In all honesty, I must say that I\u2019m not necessarily \u201cmoved\u201d by the Monday morning quarterbacks for social justice who swim to the surface at every sign of social acceptance.\u00a0 We need our ministerial communities to have a revolution of values.\u00a0 It\u2019s repugnant how much blood is on the contemporary Church\u2019s hands.\u00a0 We\u2019ve sat idly by while injustice has been gaining traction and recovering ground lost during the Civil Rights Movement (and other progressive efforts for equality, justice and peace).\u00a0 We\u2019ve perpetuated our own evil as we were singing radically individualistic and hedonistic renditions of \u201cBless ME Indeed\u201d and \u201cEnlarge MY Territory\u201d and \u201cGo Get YOUR Blessing\u201d.\u00a0 By the way, how\u2019s that \u201cwalking into MY season\u201d thing working out for us right now?\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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We must come to the realization that Christian Discipleship is inextricably bound to social justice \u2013 material prosperity is OPTIONAL!\u00a0 Yet we have made what my pastor calls, \u201ccash, camera\u2019s and crowds\u201d the fundamental litmus test for ministerial effectiveness.\u00a0 WE ARE GUILTY!\u00a0 The harsh truth is that this verdict (and the countless number of similar instances akin to it all over the country) are merely reminders that the Church and its constituents are in denial that our work is a constant struggle and not a fly-by-public-tragedy, opportunistic and momentary instance.\u00a0 Social Justice is a MOVEMENT not a moment we use for photo-ops and pamphlet pr
\noductions.\u00a0 I recommend that anyone who\u2019s minister merely suggested that we \u201cfast and pray\u201d in response to this verdict, needs to \u201cpack up and leave\u201d and find a better church and a more engaged minister.\u00a0 <\/b><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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I\u2019m thankful that the grace of God hasn\u2019t rendered its final verdict.\u00a0 But as it stands right now, we\u2019re guilty of negligence, the slaughter of social justice and 2nd<\/sup> degree ignorance.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s time we file an appeal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/span>

<\/b><\/span>Follow Earle on Twitter at @pastor_earle<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rev. Earle J. Fisher R3 Contributor I sat on my couch with mixed emotions that past Saturday awaiting the jury to come back with their verdict. I was naively optimistic with a pinch of skepticism.\u00a0 I saw the puppeteered look of white (male) privilege on the defendant\u2019s face \u2013 which matches my emotional irony […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe #ZimmermanTrial and The Verdict for the Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Rev. Earle J. FisherR3 ContributorI sat on my couch with mixed emotions that past Saturday awaiting the jury to come back with their verdict. 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