Christian ministers call for ‘nuanced analysis’ in ‘national conversation’ on Ferguson

“None of us really knows exactly what happened in the Ferguson shooting. Sadder is that even many Christ followers don’t seem to want to know,” posted Pastor James MacDonald, founding and senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel based in the Chicago area. “What we appear to prefer is lining up without nuanced analysis entirely on one side or the other.”

Image: Ferguson Grand Jury decision in Michael Brown shootingMacDonald gave examples of the views people line up with. “‘All police are driven by racial prejudice and out to get racial minorities’ – oh please! Or ‘all police actions are justifiable and there is no abuse of authority or pent up feelings of righteous anger in our urban centers’ – oh please!”

“If Michael Brown was justifiably shot – do we deny that many die unjustly in these environments just because this is not a good example of police brutality? If Michael Brown was not justifiably shot, do we deny that many officers rightly fear for their lives at thankless jobs in no win environments and have to make life or death decisions in a fraction of a second? …

Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research Division, expressed a similar sentiment in his blog post on Tuesday. “Please do not be one of those people who ignore the hurt. You would not do that in your interpersonal relationships, so don’t do that in our national conversation,” Stetzer wrote. …

Prominent Christian leaders began to quickly issue statements and use social media to voice their concerns on Monday evening, after St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch announced the grand jury’s findings during a press conference.

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