And Now This...

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.

Do you wish to have no fear of the authority?

Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval;

For it is God's servant for your good.

-Romans 13: 3

I'm not trying to set Paul up as a straw man, but I question whether he really believed what he was saying, or if he was really just trying to somehow address the widespread rumors that the early church was engaged in seditious and perhaps even revolutionary behavior.  Rome certainly does not have a sparkling reputation for being free of those who would abuse their authority, in fact if you read about the Caesars, you might conclude that abuse of a authority was a rather well attested Roman pass time.

Romans were known to quell rebellion by destroying entire cities and crucifying thousands of people and enslaving the rest.  In fact Pax Romana has become synonymous with peace through superior firepower.

But I keep this teaching in my mind as I read about what is taking place in Ferguson Missouri.  I'm not so historically naive as to think that the sort of thing that is happening there didn't happen in Paul's world, I know that it did, and yet he still wrote, with what seems like a straight face: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God."

I kind of doubt that Michael Brown's family and friends, and now the citizens of Ferguson, feel that way.

As per usual, nothing is simple, but from what I can tell, young Mr. Brown did not deserve to get shot.  It is also fairly apparent that this sort of thing happens way too often, specifically to African American boys and men.  It would seem you could make a case, as some have, that it the most illegal activity in America is being a black male.  How else do you explain the incarceration rate?  How else do you explain the fact that stories like Ferguson dance across our conscience ever couple of months?

My experience with police has been generally positive, because I'm white, most of my stories about police involve getting pulled over for breaking a traffic law, or having the cops show up when my friends and I were doing something stupid, and even, one time, in another lifetime, being arrested, very politely I might add, and taken to the State Police barracks until my Dad came to pick me up at 4:00 AM.  It is that last event that really shows me my privilege, I was not brutalized in any way, I was far more afraid of my Dad than I ever was of the State Troopers, and mostly it's something I can look back on 20 plus years later with a little bit of humor.

I actually did something wrong.  Mike Brown did not, and he got shot... a lot of times.

It's really disturbing how often race creeps into our discussions of justice.

I have to think that if Mike was a white kid and this was happening in a predominantly white town, there would be a lot more outrage (there's a fair amount of outrage right now anyway, but I think we would be on def-con four as a nation right now if he was white).

And that's not okay.

It's not okay that a kid from a poor neighborhood, who actually got through high school and was actually headed to college soon, was gunned down by the people who are supposed to protect us.  It really wouldn't be okay if he was a thug and a dropout either, as a matter of fact.

So I think we need to talk about the Police, and their authority.  As I said before, my experience of the police is generally positive, and I'm glad they're protecting and serving.  I have no reservations telling my kids to run to a Police Officer if they ever need help, but it makes me a little sad that I would have to think twice about telling the same thing to my brown nephews.

Authority means that you are in control, or at least that you have the power in a situation where you are the authority.  As a pastor, I have authority in certain situations, and because I have authority the responsibility for not abusing that authority is on my shoulders.  For instance, if someone complains to me about something at the church, even if they're not particularly nice about it,  it is my responsibility to listen to them and not just tell them to shut up and get over it.  Even if I really want to... Even if they're really annoying... Even if they're absolutely wrong.

Police have guns and badges and night sticks and tasers and smoke grenades and radios to call more police, and dogs and SWAT teams and helicopters and in many cases immunity from legal prosecution.  That's a whole lot of authority, and it should mean that they also have the restraint not to shoot an unarmed black man, who was, by most accounts, minding his own business.

Some might object that being a police officer is dangerous and they're always on edge because of that, but, on the list of most dangerous jobs in America, police officer doesn't even make the top ten.  Garbage collectors (#6) and farmers (#9) are more at risk on a daily basis than police.  Another disturbing facet of this debate is what happened in 2012 in Rialto CA: the police started wearing cameras, all the time on duty.  Little Jiminy Cricket sized cameras produced some rather startling changes: 

1. Complaints against the police officers dropped 88%.  Not a small drop, but a major crash.

2. Use of force incidents dropped 59%.

It is possible, as the Rialto Chief of Police speculated to the New York Times, that it was a result of citizens behaving better and interacting more humanely with the officers because they knew they were on film and that the video of their encounter could potentially become evidence against them if things went south.  I suspect though that it was more the shoe on the other foot, that the police officers now had to do things "by the book," instead of by bullying and intimidation tactics.

"Big man with a gun" syndrome is pretty easy to fall into.  Having authority can be quite a rush, and it changes you for sure.

I once did pre-marital counseling with a police officer and his bride to be, and we talked quite a bit about his job and how it affected their relationship.  He was a good man, and he loved her very much, but when he came home from a ten hour shift, where most of the people he talked to lied to him in some way shape or form, he had some trouble with trust.  This is where I'm sympathetic to the po-lice, they do have a hard job, and a necessary job, because there are real bad guys out there.

However, the cowboy mentality is exactly not what you need to be a good police officer, you need the self restraint and the discipline to not let your authority go to your head, and to not react to irrational behavior with more irrational and forceful behavior.

There is a culture of fear that exists between our African American neighbors and the police that protect and serve us.  Many black and brown folks do not trust the police to be on their side.  Unfortunately, many of them have ever reason to hold on to that attitude, Michael Brown of Ferguson Missouri is just the latest name of that list.