The Hard Truth – Don’t complain! Preacher says God wants murders.txt

21st November 2011   ·   0 Comments

By J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Columnist

Like many other cities, New Orleans has seen a rise in violent crime. Of course the ultimate violent crime is murder, the crime from which there is no chance of recovery.

But should we activists really keep working to stop the murders, especially considering that we might be working against de Lawd?

If the Creator is really putting out “hits” on all of the murder victims then who are we to keep interfering, with our programs, outreaches, mediations and educational endeavors? Maybe we should be doing what most good church folk do…not a damned thing.

I have always believed that you can tell what a person wants to do by what they actually get done. I may say that I want to lose weight, but watch me. I will miss a workout, but won’t miss a meal. You can tell what I am really committed to by mere observation.

Jesus said, “Where your treasure (time/money/effort) is there will your heart be also.” Look at what most churches actually do (and do well) with our treasure, what we accomplish with our resources: the buildings, the anniversaries, the conventions. Then look at the needs/conditions of our communities. There is enough human, intellectual, fiscal and spiritual “treasure” in our collective congregations to resolve every problem we have in less than a decade. It’s there. It is absolutely, undeniably, irrefutably THERE! But where is our heart?

If you listen to most Black preachers at funerals, the response, or lack thereof of the church community actually makes sense, in a twisted way.

I hate going to wakes and funerals. (Plan to skip my own.) It must have something to do with my allergy to bull…er…corn. Unfor­tunately, whenever I’m working a case that involves a fatality, I am obligated to lend moral/emotional support to the family by attending the services. It’s the right thing to do and I want to be there for them.

Most times I have to resist the urge to, shall we say, “share my most recent meal’ with those around me when the preacher opens his mouth and declares that the murder is the will of God. (One time the crap-o-meter broke! Had to get a new one.) Somehow this is supposed to comfort the family. I can’t begin to tell you of the heinous crimes that I have personally heard preachers claim to be “the will of God.”

Let me get this straight: The family should feel better knowing that God wanted (that’s what “will” means) their son, daughter, sister, brother, mother, father, auntie, uncle, cousin or friend to get their brains blown out?

Really? So you serve a god that puts contracts out on those you love?

Again, I ask, REALLY?

Okay, so if each murder is actually the will of your god, then why arrest, prosecute or imprison the killers? Shouldn’t they be rewarded for carrying out a divine mission? Why ask the police, sheriffs, politicians, etc to put an end to all of this heavenly-sanctioned violent activity?

In fact, why stop there? Why not encourage folks to do their own version of “trial-by-fire” and put themselves at risk to see if “God” wants them robbed, molested, maimed or murdered?

What the Creator allows and what the Creator causes are two different things. Part of the notion of “free will” is that you can do things, large or small, that may be the opposite of the will of the Creator. Otherwise you would be totally controlled and could neither commit murder nor lie when asked about your spouse’s weight.

Parents deal with this concept every day. You have to let your child do some things that you don’t like or know better than so that they can grow and learn for themselves. If you are responsible you put limits how far you will let them go so they won’t do harm that can’t be repaired or undone.

The difference is that there is nothing that God cannot repair or undo…even a horrible, violent death.

So, yes, I believe that God has a will, a plan and a destiny for each person and group of people. I also believe that we have the ability to violate all of the above, because that “will,” more than anything else, makes us in the image and likeness of God. That will gives each of us the ability to make this world as ugly or as beautiful as we choose.

In his parable of the talents, Jesus warned that one day we will all give an account for what we do with what we have. Remember that ‘judgment begins at the House of God.”

I would respectfully submit to the churches of the Black community that we 1) clean up the faulty theology that makes God author and licenser of murder. It’s the same theology that was used to make us accept being enslaved and abused, and 2) come “off the bench” and level a portion of our resources that is worthy of the situation we face.

As I have said repeatedly, we have everything we need to turn this around. The only thing we lack is an excuse…

…And that’s the Hard Truth!

This article was originally published in the November 21, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper