Blasphemous Lies Racists Tell

Sometimes the Devil's most heinous lies are so heinous because they have just enough truth in them to be believable. 

For example, 

All Lives Matter

Of course they do! Nobody is denying that! All lives have infinite worth. But that is far too often used to deflect from the issue at hand, that black lives are still undervalued and shot down (literally and figuratively) at a much higher rate than other lives. We are commanded to speak up for the people in need (for example, Proverbs 31:8-9, Proverbs 12:21, Psalm 82:2-4 and Psalm 12:5, among others) and to deflect from that is to a abdicate our sacred duty and blaspheme the name of God. Yes, I said BLASPHEME. Jesus told a parable (Luke 15:4-7 and Matthew 18:10-14) about a shepherd with a flock of 100 losing one sheep, and temporarily leaving the flock to find the one lost sheep. Not because the other sheep didn't matter, but because the life of that lost sheep did. To abandon that one sheep because "all sheep matter" would have been a death sentence for the lost sheep. Jesus reached out to Samaritans. He reached out to beggars. He reached out to tax collectors. He reached out to the downtrodden. Their lives mattered to Him. Now far too many of His professed "followers" are acting like Pharisees and saying that it is wrong to reach out to a specific group that He died for because "all lives matter."

Or how about this? 

Blue Lives Matter

Once again, nobody is denying that the lives of police are valuable. But once again, this is used to deflect. I believe most police are good at their job, but we have seen so many examples of bad cops causing major harm, and a disproportionate number of arrests, attacks, beatings, tear gas, rubber bullets, shootings, etc. have been done by the police against blacks, who have often turned out to be innocent. In some ways, "Blue Lives Matter" as a response to "Black Lives Matter" is worse than the other example because so much of the violence against blacks is perpetrated by the police. It is implying that the lives of the attackers are more valuable than those of the victims. 

Yes, all lives matter. Yes, blue lives matter. But don't you dare commit BLASPHEMY against the God you claim to serve because you are too racist to realize the harmful implication you are communicating to our fellow valued and needed humans that black lives don't matter. 

Nobody is saying that only black lives matter, or that they matter more than the lives of cops. That seems to be what so many hear, but that is another lie from the pit. Black Lives Matter is about speaking up for those who have been hurt, killed, put down, and so much more, because of the color of their skin. It has nothing to do with favoring anybody. Blacks deserve equality. 

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr.

It seems that these days, people on nearly all sides of the political and social spectrum look to Martin Luther King Jr. with respect. As most people know, he was instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement and his advocacy of non-violent resistance for the betterment of society. Thanks in large part to him, Rosa Parks and others, minorities now have a greater voice, and his dream of racial equality has made large strides. In some ways, the dream has a long way to go, but it has made great progress since the 1950s and 60s.

One thing I just learned that I find interesting is that he was born Michael King, Jr. However, when he and his family visited Germany, they were impressed with the legacy of Martin Luther, and the senior Michael King changed both his own and his son's names to Martin Luther King. Best known for his "I Have a Dream" speech, the younger Martin Luther King became an ordained Baptist minister, and he became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to achieve racial equality. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, by James Earl Ray while staying at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. That motel is now the National Civil Rights Museum, in his honor. Rev. King was only 39 years old. Mr. Ray spent the rest of his life in prison (after being arrested at London's Heathrow Airport).

Sources: Wikipedia articles for Martin Luther King, Jr. and his assassination

After his death, his widow Coretta Scott King took up the banner and continued the fight for racial equality, as well as joining the Women's Movement. His four children also picked up the banner and continued the fight. His niece Alveda King has done much for the fight for racial equality, focusing particularly on defending the youngest and most defenseless, those who have not yet been born. She also has a Twitter account, which I highly recommend following.

I thought it would be good to include some quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (thus the title of this post)...

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

"Our lives begin and end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

"And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. I'm so happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man." [He said this the day before he reached the promised land, shot to heaven by an assassin's bullet.]

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Truly a wise man.

(The picture is of Martin and Coretta King in 1964. I got it from the Wikipedia article on Coretta Scott King, and according to Wikipedia, it is in the public domain.)