This Man!

ChiefBrown.jog

I am staying away from the politics of all this…black lives matter, police lives matter, all lives matter….. ALL the catch phrases have their supporters and detractors. However – I MUST post this. I SO admire this man for not letting tragedy ruin his life. At the end of the day, we are all responsible for the way we think and organize our lives. EVERYONE suffers tragedy in life.  We can’t escape it whether we are rich or poor, black or white – no matter what.  Our only comfort is that we have a choice how to respond to the terrible things that life throws at us.  How many likes or dislikes we get on Facebook, Twitter etc. doesn’t make a twit of difference.  WE have the choice to let circumstances make or break us.  In the midst of all the terrible shootings that have happened, I can still see many shining lights.  Two of them that come to the top of my mind are the congregation of the church in Charleston South Carolina brutally attacked by Dylann Roof and now this man – Chief Brown.

From Heroes in Blue:

His son died after being shot 12 times by police officers (after his son had previously killed an officer) and his brother was murdered by drug dealers. Rather than burn down the block he has risen to run one of the largest police departments in the nation in his efforts to stop police brutality. 

He is Chief David Brown, head of the Dallas Police Department. This week he saw five of his officers murdered during a peaceful rally in Dallas. He is one of many ‪#‎HeroesInBlue‬ actively working to make our communities a better, safer place.

Thank you for your service, Chief Brown. Keep up the great work.

Is it PC to be PC?

Having a bad day here. Tired to death of people using  the phrase “politically correct” as if it was somehow a dirty phrase. I admit that I HATE the term, and not just because I am accused of it all the time. I hate it because using it as a pejorative is a way of reframing compassion and kindness into a negative.  People need to understand that freedom of expression can be maintained without hurting others of different faiths/cultures or political/social viewpoints.  What has happened to compassion for our fellow humans? Have we completely lost our ability to feel someone else’s pain?  I advocate that we start using a new phrase.  We should test our words, not through the lens of “political correctness”, but rather through the filter of “Compassionate Kindness”. 

Confederate Flag Controversy – More Thoughts

It is obvious from this blog and my Facebook timeline that I am on the liberal end of the political spectrum. However, I DO read and carefully consider the writings of thoughtful conservatives, such as Charles Krauthammer. There is much I disagree with in his editorial today….but I was very moved by this passage:

“… there’s a deeper reason for this rush to banish Confederate symbols, to move them from the public square to the museum. The trigger was not just the massacre itself, but even more tellingly the breathtaking display of nobility and spiritual generosity by the victims’ relatives. Within 48 hours of the murder of their loved ones, they spoke of redemption and reconciliation and even forgiveness of the killer himself. It was an astonishingly moving expression of Christian charity. 

Such grace demands a response. In a fascinating dynamic, it created a feeling of moral obligation to reciprocate in some way. The flag was not material to the crime itself, but its connection to the underlying race history behind the crime suggested that its removal from the statehouse grounds — whatever the endlessly debated merits of the case — could serve as a reciprocal gesture of reconciliation.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…/d1194310-1b6f-11e5-93b7-5ed…

And Liberty And Justice For All

A victory for government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”!  Below are the most beautiful words I have ever read about marriage. Bravo Justice Kennedy!

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed. It is so ordered.”

Justice Anthony Kennedy

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