By Danna Shirley
“Those who
cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
(George Santayana
1863-1952)
Those that fail to
learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Rephrased by
Winston Churchill in 1948
So now they are
tearing down statues, rewriting our history, and shamefully teaching a false
version to our children. The truth is there were black slave traders also buying
and selling their own African countrymen. Blacks also raped and killed
then and still do today. A friend’s grandson (19, black) was shot in the back
and killed by another black boy for dating his ex-girlfriend. Blacks are
aborting their own future. Life is not sacred, either before birth or after, so
why not shoot someone in the back.
Even in the Chop
Zone of Seattle with them wanting to defund the police, there were no
peaceful protests; there were more murders. Satan wants to kill, steal,
and destroy and he's got a lot of people doing his bidding. It's a sin
problem, a heart problem, not a black/white problem.
People are people
and the human race is sinful...that's why we needed Jesus to go to the cross
for us. Only God can bring peace to individuals and turn hearts around. I
have black friends. I go to church with blacks. I have black neighbors on both
sides of me. We talk, we smile, we greet each other. We are human and act like
human beings, not riotous, destructive, or violent. There are lovely black
people and lovely white people; yes, some are ugly and hateful—black and
white!
Yes, the killing
of George Floyd was wrong and those men should be and will be punished. Even
George's brother said to respond peacefully. A protest about George turned into
a bought and paid for riot by those who always want to stir up hate and
violence. A pallet of bricks was even delivered to the middle of the street so
the rioters could cause more destruction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFYnbLtySus and they even destroyed
black businesses.
We
don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. We get rid of bad
police, bad doctors, bad ministers, and bad politicians. The truth
will set us free...not rewriting it! Our founding fathers lived
almost 250 years ago in a different time and a different culture. How will our
descendants look on us in our time and our culture and want to rewrite our
history...not learn from it?
We live and learn
and move on to bigger and better times and understandings. Hopefully we will
leave behind racism and bigotry and prejudice ON BOTH SIDES and grow and
mature into loving people. I think we've come a long way since Martin
Luther King’s efforts in the 60s but there's always more work to be done. We
have to begin now and teach it well to our children. It is an individual
virtue each person must learn for himself; you can't riot it out of
people. Violence begets violence.
Jesus said, “. . . in Me you may have peace.
In this
world you will have tribulation.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John
16:33)
Yes, Jesus is our
only hope. What can we do to help overcome these “tribulations”? It can
only happen through one person at a time loving the next person, and the next,
and the next.
“Create in me a
pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me
from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the
joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
Then I will teach
transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You.”
(Psalm 51:10-13)
It's always our
choice where we want to focus our emotions, our thoughts, our words, our deeds.
We live in the greatest nation in the world...even with all our faults.
Where else would we want to go?
We don't have to
rest on “what will be, will be.” We need to pray for revival...in our hearts,
in our communities, in our country, and in this world. Amen
