Thanks to David Becker for shining a light on Pulpit & Pen, which has been called "The Rolex of Polemics Blogs." It is THE foremost polemics ministry on the Internet, and produces daily reporting on the Modern Day Downgrade, the dumbing down of Christian doctrine and the perversion of Orthodox Christianity. Anyone in their estimation making any connection at all to Black Lives Matter is wrong and dumb, including the head of the Southern Baptist Convention, among others. You can subscribe - pay money for - their offerings, at BTWN, which is an acronym for Bible Thumping Wingnut Network (really). It is the Protestant-fundamentalist-religion-equivalent of One America News, favored now by Trump, who channeled it in accusing the 75 year old white protester hospitalized in Buffalo for falling hard on purpose to crack his skull open for publicity against the cops. Same news-stream as pulpit and pen.
Begin with the event in question. The first statement is that Missouri Synod Lutherans are visibly marching in protest for justice. And according to the article, they shouldn't be. Who's ever done that in the Missouri Synod's history? Richard John Neuhaus in his LCMS days marched in the South with the then national black leaders protesting injustice. And spoke of it often. And encouraged action for social justice in his living room gatherings in Brooklyn regularly, even religiously, as a Lutheran clergyman.
So who's marching now? There's an interesting photo montage of Missouri Lutherans at the event last Sunday. Should they be reported to their ecclesiastical supervisor? Can a white Missouri Synod Lutheran hold a Black Lives Matter sign at a march? What violation has taken place?
Second, the march was peaceful, prayerful even, and ended at the shrine to Mother Cabrini, the Roman Catholic saint patroness of immigrants. People of other religious backgrounds were in attendance, as would be expected at a march such as this, and as has been covered across the globe by the thousands in recent days. Some attendees were black, many were not. Again, this is being reported across the globe, with the majority of marchers in many even most cases being white. There's an actual movement, a durable movement including prayer and scripture across the globe speaking against racial violence and for the establishment of equitable justice, with not only the permission but the endorsement of religious leaders. As Pastor Warren Lattimore, President of the Missouri Synod Black Clergy Caucus, indicated, the connection to the events of the 60s which gave rise to social change are direct.
A result of these marches, I believe, will be the institution of stronger and vibrant versions of community policing across the board. The example now quoted of the initiative in Camden New Jersey is illustrative. Community policing is the direction being taken by the NYPD, the nation's largest municipal force. Also, greater emphasis will be placed on putting funds in place for better social service and youth programs, more relational and interactive community involvement, which in the end is what drops the crime rate, and has paved the way for the drop in crime rate in New York City over the past number of years. Even with some bad police behavior as witnessed during the protests, the overall direction toward community policing is working - and I can say that from the perspective of a leader in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the city.
My encouragement, and I'm sure Scott's, would be for members including clergy of our little forum to join a march, to participate and listen and learn, to accompany those who are bruised and torn, and to work for racial justice and yes, systemic racial justice in your corner of the world.
Dave Benke
