To all the dedicated Policemen of Memphis and throughout the United States. First let me say I appreciate the fact that you have chosen to be a Policeman, and have chosen to risk your life to preserve the peace and purity of our country. There is no higher calling than one who will lay down his life for his fellow man. (By the way, Jesus said in John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends). I will with my last breath support the Policemen of our city, and thank them from the bottom of my heart.
With that said, The governing bodies which oversee the Policemen, of our country knew in advance that keeping the peace in some cases will require force, and so they armed our peace officers. A wise decision based on what we see today. Beat downs, armed robberies, rape, killings, auto thefts and a myriad of other crimes against our communities. To go unarmed would be to invite death.
I would be remiss if I omitted the fact that police departments all over this country are staffed with Policemen, white and black, and men and women of all races, creeds and colors. There is no barrier to serve as a peace officer. But there is one qualification that all must meet. They must be willing to put their life at risk, and go into harm's way without ever having any thought of their safety or of pulling their weapon shooting someone, or threatening to do so, but knowing full well that if such is necessary, and their life or another human beings life is at stake, they have the courage and the obligation to do it.
We the Christian people of Memphis, both white and black and all races creeds and colors will continue to meet in the “Church of our choice”, and that is because all of Memphis' churches are open to those who love the Lord. (Some Saturday or Sunday You should visit one of them and see for yourself. ) The reason we can do that of our own choosing is that there are so many churches open to all who wish to worship God. And we have the freedom to do that because so many of our young men and women of all races creeds and colors, have given of their lives, careers, and families, served in the armed services, and some died for us, including the Policemen and peace officers who uphold the civil laws in this great country. All have given and still are willing to give their lives for that and all other freedoms we currently are privileged to enjoy.
The lectures against violence, "black or white" do go on all the time, in churches all over America, (You should visit around a little bit), and they do minister to those who need to hear it. But to single out “white policemen” and “white churches” is in itself branding one as nothing short of racist, crude and insulting, both to the Police force and to our churches.. You need to step up and call it like it is. Policemen, white or black or any other color you choose to mention do not set out in their heart to kill innocent people. Although Accidents do happen and I am certain they do, and police brutality is a relevant discussion, and it most certainly is wrong, There is no reason to blame one race or another for wrongs that are committed. But you must also admit that even news anchors and columnists and news paper publishers make blunders from time to time yet very few of those blunders are life threatening. However tragedy has no home base, it can happen anywhere, that is why so many in the public sector now “go armed”. Yet the dedicated Policeman does not shoot first and ask questions later. Why do they discharge their weapon you might ask? If you do not want to risk getting shot, what is the one thing you should not do. I'll give you one guess.
There are also those churches in America where anti American rhetoric is also promoted, even to the extent that violence is recommended. President Obama formerly went to one of them.
Step up Mr. Waters. Tell It like it really is, violence nets tragedy, and it has no favorite color.
If one does not want to be arrested or otherwise detained by any law enforcement person, it would be wise to know the law and to obey it at all times. I do not mean that one has to go to school to learn the laws of the community one is living in or just passing through. What I mean is this. There are laws against murder, rampant killing of people or animals, stealing , looting, rioting, burning buildings, autos or property belonging to others. and of course rape, beatings, destruction of private property etc. One does not need instruction to know not to commit criminal acts. It is almost instinctive to want to respond to acts of violence with the same response as first delivered. There is no stopping some violent acts, but generally, any sane person knows violent acts will be punished in some way, and any person with common sense knows not to do violence. However even now there are people who would organize and pay others to do violence. So if there is that which one wishes to commit against another or another's property, then one should expect a lawful response to try to stop such acts. And if that lawful response shows up as an armed law enforcement person, the instigator of the act should understand four things. First this law enforcement person is likely to be armed with a weapon designed to kill. Second, the law enforcement person has been trained in hand to hand combat for this purpose. And thirdly, they have the law on their side. Fourth, they will use their weapon and their ability to bring the action to a close or to stop a criminal act. That is what they are hired to do, and their life is on the line every day.
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