In May 1992, Rodney King was stopped by Los Angeles police officers and beaten. Well before cellphones, a bystander happened to film the event. When the four police officers were acquitted, within hours widespread violence broke out across the city.

Over six days of rioting resulted in over $1 billion of destruction, 63 deaths, 2,383 injuries, and 12,000 arrests. The California National Guard and U.S. military troops were called in to stop the violence. Appalled by the violence, at a press conference King said to the city, “People, I just want to say, can we all get along?” Apparently not!

In May 2020, George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis. A lot has been said about the whole incident, including the coroner declaring Floyd was a “dead man walking” due to the many illegal drugs in his system. The arrest and death of Floyd touched off violence that began within hours and lasted several months in cities across the nation.

The riots in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM) spread to over 2,000 cities in the U.S. Millions took part in the protests and at least 19 people died. There was billions in property damage, mostly to minority-owned businesses and in minority neighborhoods. Thousands were arrested; most were never charged. The media covered the riots extensively, often referring to them as “mostly peaceful” as buildings burned in the background.

Now we have thousands of students on college campuses protesting the war in Gaza. The media, for the most part, forgets that Hamas started the war by invading Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. Many of those hostages have died in captivity.

It seems hatred against our fellow man is our “default” position to supposed injustices. Every one of these incidents can be debated, but I want to look at the bigger picture.

Why does hate have to be our first response when we perceive offenses? Rodney King’s plea did little to stop the rioting, looting, and killing in LA. BLM sympathizers seemed to justify the burning, looting, and killing as well. There’s another man — a Man of Peace — we can look at who shows us there’s a better way to handle conflict.

There are so many examples of how Jesus responded to hate and anger. If someone slaps you, turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39); love your enemies (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27); and treat others the way you want to be treated (the Golden Rule, Matthew 7:12).

But to many people, their default position is to hate, curse, and destroy those they disagree with. We can thank our public education system for dumbing down our children, teaching them to feel rather than think. We can also thank the education system for removing the Bible from schools for the sake of “separation of church and state.” The handbook for life has been thrown out, and we get to choose what we believe. Chaos results!

As Christians, we need to provide our children with life lessons and examples of how to live in a fallen world. We are not doing a very good job. But don’t give up! There appears to be something happening in our country. The younger generation is looking for something real. They are not settling for the world’s “pig food.” Many prodigals are coming home to their Heavenly Father’s house. God is moving on college campuses in spite of all the crazy stuff taking place in the world.

It’s all spelled out in II Chronicles 7:14 how we can see this nation change. Let’s get to work … on our knees.

Something to pray about!
Semper Fidelis