I Stand with the Protestors

I’m a pastor and a public speaker, and so you’d think I’d have a lot to say about what’s going on in our country right now. But the truth is, I feel utterly inadequate. I have not experienced life as a black person in America. and my first instinct right now is not to talk, but to listen. But I also realize that as someone who possesses something of a communication platform (however small it may be), and as someone in a position of cultural and spiritual leadership (again, however so small it may be), that some might be looking to me and wondering what I have to say about it.

For now, all I have are simple truths:

Hatred is evil.

Racism is evil.

Murder is evil.

The idea that you can justly judge an individual based upon their membership of a group is a falsity–it’s a lie from hell.

The desire to use one’s power to control others exists within every human heart; it can often be quiet and hidden, but it is always there–in every one of us.

The selfish desire to have our own way and to have others comply with our desires has an inclination to burn hot with anger, hatred and vengeance when it is thwarted.

Everyone has love of self within them somewhere, and therefore it is especially important to hold those to whom we grant authority or power to high standards; when someone who has power over others uses that power to hurt someone, it harms their victim, it harms their own soul, and it harms the entire fabric of civilized society.

When confronting injustice, disorder, and evil in our community, our goal should be to fight against injustice, not people; the ultimate goal of a just struggle for justice is a community of mutual love, not a division into winners and losers.

I stand with the protesters; looting and destruction undermine their just cause, and I have been deeply moved by the countless videos I have seen of protesters shutting down provocateurs.

And above all else, the image of George Floyd being slowly, cruelly and criminally put to death by law enforcement officers sickens me.

I pray that we are able to learn from his death and the death of many others who have gone before him so that such evil does not continue unchecked in the world.

 – Rev. Mac Frazier