The Bible NETWork ~ Impacting the World for Christ one post at a time!

Simple. Just imagine a white president taking a special interest in a case of a white person killed by a black shooter and lamenting about how "If I had a son, he'd look like..."

The howls of "racism" would be deafening.

I don't think the President was saying this victim deserved MORE attention than any other person (certainly the same amount of attention, though). I just think he was sharing his personal reaction to this tragedy. I am not surprised that he reacted this way, and it was the least he could do for this young man's parents to share that.

What he didn't do, as an attorney and as the President and the person the Attorney General reports to, was to say ANYTHING that was more than his own personal response as a father. He remains neutral on all of the other points he could be weighing in on. He has fullfilled his professional responsibility by remaining mum on those other points. But he needs to say what he can, to console the parents. I am not even aware that he called the parents to speak with them. He is maintaining an appropriate amount of professional distance, IMO.

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Well, Martin (why do all the news reports always call this 17 year old by his first name, as if he were the cherubic little boy he is in the most widely circulated photo... guess I just answered my own question) certainly has received MORE attention than mot anyone else in America (probably even more than Tim Tebow!) these days.

It's disingenuous for Obama to share only his personal reaction to anything. Every word out of a president's mouth has political implications, and Obama is not so naïve as to be unaware of that. His remarks are unmistakably racial in nature. How else does Martin look like Obama? Same haircut? Do they share a prominent dimple?

"An appropriate amount of professional distance" would not include the racial element. Once again, if the racial identities were reversed in this situation, a white president commenting on how the boy "looks like me" would be excoriated as racist. He could have consoled the parents by saying the same thing he would have said had Martin been white, latino, asian or native american.

You are entitled to your opinion. But I think it would have been very strange had he not said anything.

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Where did I propose he shouldn't have said ANYTHING?

I said: He could have consoled the parents by saying the same thing he would have said had Martin been white, latino, asian or native american.

Does that sound like I'm suggesting he shouldn't have said ANYTHING?

And, yes, each of us is entitled to our own opinion. But I notice you haven't responded to any of my observations about the racial element in this. Do you agree that a white president lamenting the shooting of a white kid by a black man would have been received much differently than Obama making a special point that his race is the same as Martin's?

I think the President has the right to say whatever he wants. He is the President, and has the privilege of deciding what would be most appropriate to say. I like him and don't really want to criticize what he said. I am just being honest with you.

But I really do think what I said previously, which is that this Stand Your Ground issue is not a racial one. I'll see if I can copy/paste it...

Here it is:



That said, I really do feel that the President should say whatever he thinks is best.

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

As for the Stand Your Ground law, you may well be right it's not a racial issue. I'm not familiar with its origins or any of the argument that preceded its enactment.

But as for the Martin/Zimmerman case, it's soaked in race. Race is what it's all about. Had the shooter been black and the dead kid white, it would have barely made the local papers. The reason it's been sensationalized into the story du jour in America is entirely because of the respective skin colors of the two primary figures. The picture of the evil racist white man lynching the innocent little black kid fits so perfectly into many people's worldviews — fanned by race pimps like Jackson and Sharpton — that it couldn't be otherwise (regardless, of course, of the facts).

You can feel however you want about Obama. I don't like him. (I didn't like Bush, either; I hold the left wing and the right wing both in contempt.) But he doesn't have the 'privilege' of saying whatever he wants. Every word he utters is imbued with meaning from all sorts of listeners. He has to be careful not to make inflammatory comments.

A couple of points that haven't made the news very much: a rash of breaking and entering and gated communites.

There had been a rash of breaking and entering crimes in this neighborhood in recent months. Now B&E is not, generally, a violent crime. But it can turn violent if the perpetrator is caught in the act. And it leaves the victim feeling violated because it occurs in the home.

I don't put burglars in the same category as muggers or worse. But I do hold them responsible for the climate of fear that their actions create. They not responsible for this event. But they are responsible for the climate of fear that made this event possible.

I have always had reservations about gated communities. The idea of creating a little island of idyllic serenity in an increasingly dangerous world has always struck me as a little too parochial. I understand why affluent people do this. But I don't like it. I think it's destructive of the larger community. We need more sense of community in the larger community. We need more sense that decent people who live in bad neighborhoods need more protection, not just a chance to move up and out.

Technically, young Martin had a right to be walking where he was. But the gated community mentality lends itself to him being challenged by Zimmerman. Gated communities, and the climate of fear they help foster are partly responsible. Not as responsible as Zimmerman. But not innocent bystanders either.

What would Jesus have us do? I don't have the answer, but it's surely something very different than what happened here.

_________________
Not all those who wander are lost.

I don't like Obama much. But I don't consider his remarks in this case inflammatory. Saying that, if he had a son, that son would like young Martin is not beyond the pale.

It's reminding us that young Martin looks like "us". Zimmerman also looks like "us". Somebody needs to say that. This isn't a case of "us" versus "them". It's a case of "us" versus "us".

Or as Pogo Possum once said, "we have met the enemy and they is us".

_________________
Not all those who wander are lost.

My neighborhood has been sporadically hit with car break-ins and burglaries. One round was by two black juveniles who were eventually caught. The next one was a middle-aged white man, likely a drug addict (he had a lengthy petty crime rap sheet.

Some advocated becoming a gated community, but the cost and logistics rule it out. We will probably look into a neighborhood watch, but I have reservations about one neighbor that is a "proud gun-owner" and permit holder. He has an aggressive streak (I once had to remind him that I could have the cops remove him from my property during a heated discussion). Otherwise he's a great guy and active in church.

The good that might come from the Martin death is that we all may rethink some attitudes about how to handle community issues. I am sure Mr. Zimmerman regrets the way this encounter turned out, no matter which way fault lies.

_________________
"I hold that in this country there must be complete severance of Church and State;
Ronald Reagan

I asked for your opinion.

Good point.

I volunteered as a "Watch Captain" at our last HOA meeting....but about the only intruders I see on my morning walk with the dogs are cottontails and coyotes. : )

btw, gated communities are not that much safer (from the limited information I could find on the subject)...though it's amazing how much stock residents put in a gate.

And I gave it.

But let me be clear. The president was throwing in a little "race-baiting" gig with that comment and fanning the flames of racial divisiveness. It was unnecessary and, as pointed out by Obadiah, he would've been excoriated by all had he been a white conservative and said the same thing. I would bet that both Assured and wing2000 would feel quite different as well if he'd been a "right-winger". Bottom line it was wrong to say and, I think, it was a planned and thought-out comment. As pointed out by Davis' well-written article: Quote taken from Mark Davis March 28th article Re: Trayvon Martin

If you wish to ignore the good points made by the Davis article I posted I'd say that's about par.

We have a neighborhood watch. It's called we all know our neighbors and watch-out for them. I have several guns (couple of shotguns, a 9mm, couple of 22 rifles, etc.). My neighbor once came over in the afternoon and met our "bug-man" with a shotgun in arms asking why he was poking around my house. The exterminator gave him the explaination and his wife called me. Our exterminator told me later, "Boy, you sure have some good neighbors!" I simply smiled and said yes I do.

Just a few weeks before a neighbor confronted a man trying to get into a window. He was quite beligerent with the man until another walked up with a handgun visable. He started for the his car when another neighbor drove in and blocked his escape. He was held for the local sheriff and behold, he was a meth addict with quite a haul in his trunk. I live in the country. We're not gated but we're plenty secure.

I'd say I was pretty satisfied with Bush until his last couple years in office. I obviously lean right but am disgusted with the current leadership on the right. No one really takes firm stands and it's all wishy-washy. I guess that's all the nature of politics.

_________________
Blessings,
Randy
Forum Code of Conduct
The Bible NETWork Doctrinal Statement
The Net Bible Online

That's the local issue, and I would prefer to stay out of it. Just as everyone else is, I'm at a distinct disadvantage, and there really is no way for those of us in the "peanut gallery" to know. That's what has to be investigated, no doubt.

What I feel the rest of the country should be vigorously discussing, though, is whether Stand Your Ground has been properly vetted. I have a big problem with the fact that the constituents of these lawmakers who voted for it, all over the country and in Florida, had no say and that it was all the NRA's doing. We cannot pay too much attention to this law (rather than the specifics of the Martin situation), because it has implications that will reach far beyond the present situation in Florida.

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Well said, Strider33. His remarks struck me that way, too. I was just too much of a "chicken" to try to say it.

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!