THE ZIMMERMAN TRIAL AND AUTHENTIC RECONCILIATION–Part 1

            The United States has made more progress in authentic racial reconciliation than any other nation.  Has there ever been a black head of state in Europe?  How about prominent business, political leaders, or church officials?  How many whites are in power in South Africa?  How many Asians in Russia, or Okinawans in Japan?  That said, the demonstrations and riots following the Zimmerman trial are articulate evidence of the ongoing chasm between the races in America.  We can say what we like about professional race baiters and exploiters such as Al Sharpton, but they require raw material to work with – and such there remains.  So how do we advance authentic reconciliation today?

            In my book, Living As Ambassadors of Relationships, I describe a three-point process for seeking reconciliation.  Provided both sides are acting in good faith it goes like this.  Let both sides present their view of the issue with all their passion.  This does not include permission for name-calling or putdowns, but stepping lightly around what we believe leads only to a watered down settlement that compromises truth.  The Son Who came to bring reconciliation with His Father rebukes the negotiated settlement and calls on all mankind to find truth in submission to Him as the embodiment of Truth.

            Let both parties listen to and respect the other guy’s view of events as they demand respect for their own.  Jesus listened patiently to Pharisees, tax collectors and Roman invaders before weighing in on controversy Himself – whether taxes, forgiveness of sins, or who gets to live with Him forever and in what capacity. 

The last and most crucial part of the process is to let our Creator and Resurrector God re-frame the discussion so Truth itself is revealed and accepted – not just one or another view of it.

            That means people like me need to listen with respect when people like “they” claim blacks cannot (and will never) get a fair shake in a majority white society and the Trayvon Martin affair is just one more proof.  We need to reflect on the feelings engendered by the multitudes of blacks hunted down like animals for wanting to escape to freedom before 1865 and the American courts – including the Supreme Court – who had no problem defining them as sub-human.  We can add in the multitudes lynched under Jim Crow while Americans from the grass roots to the White House in both parties said, “They want too much too fast.”  Tempted to cry out against what we see as irrational attachment to feelings over facts in the Zimmerman case, we can include incidents like the Rodney King beating and recognize rampant racism wasn’t that long ago and time does not heal all wounds – or even any.

            But it first means we address the facts – the truth I understand – of this case.  The facts are that George Zimmerman followed a young man he believed intent on committing a crime.  As a neighborhood watch volunteer – or concerned citizen – he was doing a good thing, not a criminal thing.  Zimmerman’s history includes a public complaint against Sanford police for covering up the death of a young black man by the son of a white policeman; there is no racism in him.  He was armed, as his concealed-carry permit authorizes him to be.  When he was attacked by someone much bigger than he; assaulted, bloodied, and told he would die this night, he defended his life.  None of this is criminal; it is simply the exercise of the right of every American to walk unmolested and to defend himself when attacked.  Whether Zimmerman acted wisely; whether he disregarded instructions from the police dispatcher, is irrelevant because it is not criminal.  In this case – and we can consider only this case at this time – only Trayvon Martin committed criminal acts – and he paid a terrible price for his behavior.

            The third and most important piece in the authentic reconciliation process – again – is to let One who dies for all re-frame the conversation into what He understands as truth.  He understands truth better than any of us because He is Truth.

How would Jesus re-frame the discussion of the Zimmerman trial?  Let’s remember He said not one jot or tittle of the moral law was abrogated by His death and resurrection.  That includes the part about not bearing false witness against your neighbor.  He also said we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.  That includes times when loving is hard.  It never allows for a Neener-neener response to the other guy’s pain, even if we think it deserved.  I will explore this in Part 2 of this post.