June 25, 2015
Column #1,765
Charleston’s Christian Forgiveness
By Mike McManus
The Civil War began in Charleston when rebels fired upon Fort Sumter to
preserve slavery. This past week Charleston has made better history by
demonstrating a Christian forgiveness between blacks and whites that is
nationally unprecedented.
The killing of a single black man in Ferguson and the arrest and subsequent
death of Freddie Gray, a black 25-year-old in Baltimore led to riots, arson and
looting. But the murder of 9 African-Americans in a church Bible study by Dylann
Roof, a white supremacist whose goal was to start a “race war” – had a totally
different outcome.
Thousands of blacks and whites came to the streets around Emmanuel A.M.E.
Church, one of the oldest black churches in America where the Charleston 9 were
killed. Night after night the racially mixed crowd joined in mourning together –
expressing contrition, holding hands and singing Christian hymns.
The suspect was caught quickly and was confronted by relatives of the dead
parishioners via a video feed. Alma Simmons, who lost her grandfather, told him,
“Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate,
everyone’s plea for your soul is proof that they lived in love, and their
legacies will live in love.”
Nadine Collier, whose mother was murdered, told Roof: “I will never be able to
hold her again. But I forgive you and have mercy on your soul.” Compassion and
forgiveness dominated the statements of all relatives. However, Roof listened
impassively, staring ahead.
Many who watched these events on the evening news were stunned, if not
incredulous. “I do not forgive Dylann Root,” wrote Roxanne Gay, an
African-American in The New York Times. “I do not foresee ever forgiving his
crimes…I am particularly unwilling to forgive those who show no remorse, who
don’t demonstrate any interest in reconciliation.”
The nation has witnessed a series of white-black confrontations over the past
year that have sparked racial tensions. One was in North Charleston, only a few
miles away from “Mother Emmanuel Church,” as it is affectionately known. A white
police officer stopped a car for a minor traffic infraction, prompting the black
driver to run from the car. The policeman shot him in the back. Fortunately, the
incident was captured on video, showing the cop putting handcuffs on his victim,
rather than doing anything to help him recover.
That incident inspired S.C. State Senator Clementa Pickney to introduce and push
for a law that mandated police officers to carry videocams to record every
arrest. The law was passed and signed one week before the Charleston 9 event.
One of the victims was Clementa Pickney, who was also pastor of Mother Emmanuel,
and led the Bible study.
On Monday S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley called for the Confederate flag to be removed
from the grounds of the State Capitol. That inspired Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley
to order the immediate removal of a Confederate flag from Capitol grounds. Two
workers quickly and quietly removed it Wednesday. It will not be so easy in
South Carolina, where two-thirds of the Legislature must vote to banish it.
Only a week earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas is free to reject a
specialized license plate featuring the Confederate flag. Mississippi Gov. Roger
Wicker announced that the state flag, which incorporates the Confederate banner,
“should be put in a museum and replaced by one that is more unifying to all
Mississippians.”
On Tuesday Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said he will phase out a
state-sponsored license plate featuring an image of the flag. “The battle
flag…has been the subject of considerable controversy,” he said. “Even its
display on state-issued license tags is, in my view, unnecessarily divisive and
hurtful to many of our people.”
Similarly, Wal-Mart announced Monday that it would remove any merchandise
featuring the Confederate flag from its website and stores. Sears, Kmart and
Internet giants eBay and Amazon quickly followed suit. A flag manufacturer
announced it would halt its production.
Tuesday night the board of the Citadel – the South Carolina military college
whose cadets were among the first to fire on Union troops in the Civil War –
voted to remove the flag from the school’s Summerall Chapel.
Russell Moore, president of Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission, said, “The symbol was used to enslave the little brothers and
sisters of Jesus, to bomb little girls in church buildings, to terrorize
preachers of the Gospel and their families with burning crosses on front lawns
by night…The cross and the Confederate flag cannot co-exist without one setting
the other on fire.”
All of this was sparked by the mourning of black and white South Carolinians.
|
|
Since 1981...
2000+ Columns |
|
LATEST ARTICLE |
|
March 2, 2021: Column 2064: Stop
Executions for Murder |
|
Recent Columns |
|
RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE |
|
Observing Lent |
|
Celebrating Marriage Week |
|
A Case for Pro-Life
|
|
End
The Death Penalty? |
|
Christian Choices Matter |
|
2020 Was A Terrible Year |
|
Suicides Rates Are Rising |
|
The Biblical Sexual Standard |
|
How to Cut the Divorce Rate in Half |
|
Divorce Rate Is Falling |
|
How To Save Marriages |
|
55 Years of Marriage |
|
How To Cut America's Divorce Rate |
|
Suicide Rate Rising |
|
Overcoming Porn Addiction |
|
The Devastation of Pornography |
|
Marriages Are Falling - But Improving |
|
Divorce Rates Are Falling |
|
Cohabitation: the Enemy of Marriage
|
|
How To Reduce Suicide |
|
How To Stop Drug Addiction |
|
Cut Federal Funds for Planned Parenthood |
|
The Horror of Soaring Suicides |
|
Make
Adoption More Appealing |
|
The Addictive Nature of Pornography |
|
Abortion Becoming Illegal |
|
Protecting Girls from Suicide |
|
The Worst Valentine:
Cohabitation |
|
Pornography: A Public Health Hazard |
|
Sextortion Kills Teens |
|
Cohabitation: A Risky Business |
|
Recent Searches |
|
gun control,
euthanasia,
cohabitation,
sexting,
sextortion,
alcoholism,
prayer,
guns,
same sex marriage,
abortion,
depression,
islam,
divorce,
polygamy,
religious liberty,
health care,
pornography,
teen sex,
abortion and infanticide,
Roe+v+Wade,
supreme court,
marriage,
movies,
violence,
celibacy,
living+together,
cohabitation,
ethics+and+religion,
pornography,
adultery,
divorce,
saving+marriages |
|