Wouldn't He?

President Lyndon B. Johnson and
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King wouldn't do that.

I keep seeing this as some sort of pseudo-justification for why people should stop protesting. Somehow there is a belief that commerce would not be disrupted if protests were truly peaceful. And that these protests are solely the product of recent events. Those events were the proverbial straw.

Here's something to consider:

1. A boycott of a transportation system by any section of the population would do quite a bit to disrupt commerce. Reference the 1950s and 60s bus boycotts- seriously look it up.
2. Protest by definition is a disruption to some action- at a minimum it comes from words meaning to make a solemn declaration, to assert publicly, from a root word meaning witness.
3. It amazes me that in the sanitized version of history we receive that somehow we've forgotten that the Rev. Dr. King was so hated by his contemporaries for what he was peacefully leading that the opposition shot his face off. I am not condoning violence by pointing this out, I just want to make sure we remember he did not live to a ripe old age and die peacefully.

I truly hope that all the protests will finally lead to much meaningful dialogue. This is not just a black & white issue.

This is a great opportunity for those who profess faith to finally make our day of worship the LEAST segregated time of the week instead of the most. If the Church will deal with what's going on in its own walls- we can and will lead the charge.

And I don't mean grab a talking head who wants to throw out distractions. I'm not missing all those other issues either.

Let's not miss the opportunity to finally break a cycle of fear and hatred plaguing all communities involved because we don't want to call it what it is. We all have skin in this game- let's do something great to ensure that 25 years from now our kids and grandkids aren't having to fight the same battle.

Prayer is a minimum. Listening, talking, dealing with lies and deception and healing will take time but it's so worth it.