A Christian Perspective On George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin

There is a website full of evidence files in every part of the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case. It can be found here.

I know that I'm addressing a case that has divided the US since it become public, and which still brings up strong emotions. I'm sure this holds true in the Christian community, too, if you are familiar with it. I'm talking about the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case. We all know the facts in that sad case. One dark, rainy night, a 17-old, teenage, Black teen, was walking in a gated neighborhood. He was carrying ice tea and candy, wore a hoodie, and was in the neighborhood to visit his father. In the course of time, this Neighborhood Watch volunteer drove in that neighborhood, armed with a gun. He took note of that teen. Something about that teen made him look suspicious and the volunteer decided to take action. He called 911. The person who answered that call assured the volunteer that Law Enforcement (LE) would handle it. "Are you following him?" the Dispatcher asked. The volunteer was calling the teen names, and said he was. "We do not need you to do that," the Dispatcher assured the volunteer. Still, the volunteer got out of his vehicle, and pursued the teen. Something tragic happened. The teen ended up dead, killed by a gunshot to his heart. Evidence got forever lost and the case was botched from the beginning to the trial, and the resulting verdict in Seminole County, Florida.

I know that every Christian, like everyone else, has a right to hold your own opinions on this, as on any case or matter. This post is not an effort to get anyone to believe what I believe, which would be futile. First of all, I'm Caucasian, female and I live in St. Louis, MISSOURI. I'm a Christian and a pro-life Democrat. I believe that people have a Second Amendment right to have guns, so they can protect themselves and their families. But I believe, and the evidence shows, that people should be thoroughly screened before getting guns, and that gun owners should not be able to abuse their gun ownership privileges. Guns have been abused over and over, so many times that the victims of gun violence can't be counted. And even perfectly good people are deploring the "race-baiting" of this case and of related cases, and calling any discussing of race relations "race-baiting." The Judge in the George Zimmerman case, would not even allow any race-related evidence in. This, to me, is just one example of many who refuse to admit that racism is still alive and well, and that our broken system does not bring equal justice for all.

I had followed the George Zimmerman case, and I saw that the case was riddled with injustice before it even began. First of all, LE did not even want to arrest Zimmerman, and it took a petition and protests to bring the case to trial. The Prosecutors, whom I believed were incompetent, hurried the case, failed to lay it out clearly, allowed Martin to be put on trial, and did not prepare their witnesses to testify to help their case against Zimmerman. They did little to cross-examine defense witnesses. Zimmerman had far better Representation and witnesses than Trayvon Martin had. The case was full of injustice and showed that the system, which is made up of people, values some lives above others. This trial, like so many others, is less about finding the truth and bringing justice to victims and defendants, and more about who has the most money, supporters and social connections with LE. Trials are more about who has the best lawyers. I was brokenhearted and angry when the verdict was read.

In Scripture, God makes it clear that Judges and anyone involved in dispensing justice, should be about seeking truth and doing impartial justice. Unequal favors are not to be shown anyone, whether it is the rich or the poor. Yes, God allows for those who kill in self-defense, to be able to protect themselves and to have fair trials. They have the right to protect themselves from any revenge a victim's family may want to take. In Scripture, it's clear that we are allowed to defend ourselves when we feel that we are another's, lives are in danger. Yes, this is written into all our laws, which allows anyone to exert "deadly force" against anyone who is seen as a physical threat to self or to others. But the question that remains for many of us and certainly for the family of Trayvon Martin's family, why was this teen put on trial and his killer deemed to be acting in self-defense?

Currently, Zimmermann is having brushes with the law and his actions keep shedding light on who was mostly likely looking for a fight that tragic night that he killed Trayvon. Zimmerman's former wife, Shellie, will not speak about Zimmerman's role in Trayvon's death, but is warning the public that Zimmerman is a "ticking time bomb" and that he "is not the man I married and was not since the night he killed Trayvon." Weeks ago, Zimmerman was accused of assaulting her and her father, but no charges were filed. Most recently, Zimmerman threatened his latest girlfriend with a gun and now awaits trial. To me and to many others, this just confirms that Zimmermann was probably not acting in self-defense that night. Yes, I know that Zimmerman will likely not be held accountable for killing Trayvon Martin in this life, but we Christians know that there is a life to come as well as a day of accounting. We Christians know that God's heart, as expressed in the life of Jesus, leans strongly toward love, nonviolence, prayer and forgiveness, while not disregarding accountability or justice.

What do you think?

The first photo is courtesy of MorgueFile.com. The first photo is by jclk8888.

The first photo can be found here.

The second photo is courtesy of MorgueFile.com.

The second photo is by wallyir.

The second photo can be found here.

There is a website that is full of evidence files in every aspect of the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case. It can be found here.