True Non-violent leader, Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."   Martin Luther King Jr., 11 Dec 1964

So true.  He was a real leader.  Where are those today?  So what is the agenda of the violent mob then, since it is obviously not real justice and equality?  Even the "peaceful" protestors chant and write despicable things about other human beings.  Dr. King was not in favor of tearing down the family and societal structure of America.  He knew that this kind of revolution is evil and immoral.

What messages are we sending our children?

Where are the leaders willing to stand up and say what needs said? Influencers such as social activist heads, pastors, entertainment icons, prominent political leaders, and especially parents around the kitchen table, all need to speak about what matters for healing.

No nation can long stand with antipathy for civil authority. We need people who lead by both example and speech to model respect. If your goal is peace and reconciliation, then you must change your actions and attitudes, and then do your best to influence those you can to do likewise. To fail to do that is not noble nor is it moral. In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis got it right, “We make men [and women] without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”

No amount of police reform or defunding can work without sustained leadership teaching respect and civil attitudes toward those tasked with upholding our democratically established law instead of fearing the mob. To teach disrespect for authority, especially police or federal ICE agents, just perpetuates the war and cannot bring any reconciliation.

We cannot have disregard for all human life and private property rights. Envy and covetousness of those who have more than you do is not a virtue. Disdain for rule of law, because you decide it violates your subjective morality, is only destructive.

We rightly condemn Arabs who teach their children to hate the Jews. We rightly condemn those who teach that others with a different skin color are inferior. We should also expose those who indoctrinate our children and culture with the idea that it is noble to disrespect and openly resist authority and the rule of law.

We should rebuke those who work to tear down respect for the one nation founded on principles of equality granted not by gov't, but by God, and which fought a costly civil war to right the great evil of slavery. Is it virtuous to decry it, but offer no better examples or practical solutions? Is it just to mislead others with straw man arguments against the founding principles of our country, which has never been perfect, but is set up to allow self-correction and the righting of wrongs? Yet we see this time and again. This is the big sin that needs to be publicly confessed and repented of.

Ask yourself, are you throwing the first stone? Do you condone, implicitly support, or refuse to rebuke the rebellious attitudes, destruction, and violence toward innocent human beings? Do you silently encourage vigilante "rush to judgement" lynch mobs, which ethical people know cannot be tolerated? Most major incidents that have sparked the recent rioting and violence have their roots in criminal activity. The disrespectful attitudes and actions of those perpetrators often result in injury or death to the officers and/or the malefactor. There are very few cases where a respectful interaction with law enforcement ends unjustly. When there is actual wrongdoing, is it better justice to enforce laws or to allow anarchy? Where are the leaders correcting the initial false narratives and never openly questioning or urging calm, thereby failing those who might listen and learn?

Whether you're a Hatfield or a McCoy, can you follow Jesus' example and be the first to not return wrong for wrong? Can we send the right messages to our children and heal our land?