Approval of Injustice

Please believe me when I say I am not anti-police. I think law enforcement is good. There are many excellent law enforcement officers who excute their job with fairness, care and compassion. However, as always, there are those few who ruin it for everybody. In this case, those few have served to ruin the reputation of law enforcement.

Here is the story that has prompted this post (again, this story comes from our friend Bob referenced in my first post about police injustices):
A man is being put under arrest by two policemen. They beat the crap out of him - so much so that he is bleeding from his ears. There is a sheriff's helicopter that was also pursuing this man and is hovering above the scene. The officers in the helicopter see what is happening, but they do not want to have to be responsible for what they are seeing. They radio in to the policemen, "You've got this," and leave the scene. The paperwork for the arrest and report is fudged, and the officers get away with the abuse.

I won't even ask you if this is an injustice because I know it is. And this post is not even really about the  police, but this story illustrates my concern. My concern is that we sit around and do nothing about injustice.

Case in point: Our friend Bob had no negative reaction to this story until he was badgered by a car full of girls about it. According to him, the best part of the story was the sheriff's helicopter flying away and turning a blind eye to what was going on. He actually thought the response of the sheriff's helicopter was funny.

Our conversation continued.
Bob: The guy was a scum bag.
Me: Really? What was he being arrested for?
Bob: I don't know.
Me: Unless he had raped a child, that's not okay... and probably not even then.
Bob: He was going to go to jail anyway though.

Great. Let's beat the crap out of everyone who gets arrested or is going to jail, whatever the reason. Furthermore, let's write up false reports about what happened. Better yet, let's turn a blind eye to what's going on. Oh, and one more thing. Let's defend the people who commit these injustices by focusing on how corrupt the criminal is. I mean, when you consider how awfully horrible the criminal is, it really doesn't matter that the police beat the crap out of him, right?

Bob then got defensive.
Bob: Why are you guys getting mad at me? I wasn't there. I didn't do it.
Me: Because you're laughing at it. You're condoning it. It's like in high school when someone is making fun of another person. It doesn't matter if you're actually teasing them or not. If you're just standing there laughing and doing nothing to help them, you're just as guilty.

My friends, if we are aware of injustice, are in a position to do something about it, but do nothing, we are just as guilty. Do I expect our friend Bob to reform the police department himself? Do I expect him to root out corruption by himself? No and no. That's an impossible task to do by himself. But Bob can do something.

For instance, when his police friends tell him stories like that, or when he sees stuff like that happen, he can simply open his mouth and say, "That's not okay." That's not too difficult, right? Well, it is if your heart isn't seeking justice. I'm not making any statements about Bob's heart, but I am saying that our reaction to injustice is an important indicator of the condition of our heart.

And that, my friends, is what I want to leave you with. When you see injustices happening, do not sit idly by. Do not condone it with your actions and words. Furthermore, do not allow your heart to become so calloused that you do not even recognize injustice when you see it. Don't be that highschooler who just laughs with everyone else because he is too afraid to stand up to someone.

*** EDIT ***
To get people talking and aware, I decided to post this on facebook. A friend of mine commented on it. He had this to say:

so cops ruthlessly beat a totally compliant criminal in broad daylight, and then covered it all up. and the person who told this story must have been riding in the chopper to hear what the cops said.
was the criminal was resisting arrest, threatening, or attacking cops? if so, those cops would have every right to use plenty of force. that's what we pay them for.
and it works both ways; the criminals that resist arrest ruin it for the rest, and make it necessary for cops to carry guns tazos and batons. not to mention, cops can't just fudge a report, throw you in jail, and go get bearpaws. reports are only preliminary, so that you can fight them in court. i've done it.

Ouch. A little miffed, but also understanding of his constructive criticism, I responded with this:

Jon, you're right. The person telling the story was not in the helicopter. He was told the story by his friends who are cops. So yes, there are more than likely details missing. I will grant you that.

And I will not argue with you about the reasoning behind officers carrying weapons. I fully support officers using weapons when being attacked and threatened. I also support officers using force if a person is resisting arrest.

Perhaps I should have chosen a different story (with more details) to illustrate my concern. Point taken.

As I said before, my concern is not the police (although their actions in the story, as told to me, do concern me - but, as you so kindly pointed out, I should probably know all of the facts before using this story as a rallying point). My concern is injustices (whatever form they may take) that are ignored.

Here are a few questions I didn't raise in my response to him, but I'd like for any readers out there to help me answer:

1. Can you properly defend yourself against an attacker without beating the crap out of them? Does defending yourself necessitate beating the crap out of someone?
2. The police did not use a taser, nightstick or gun. They used their own bodies to beat this man. Is a police officer allowed to start beating on someone when he is threatened or is he supposed to wait until a move has been made to physically attack him?
3. Why were there two police officers beating this man? I understand it taking two officers to subdue the man. I even understand one of the officers stepping in to defend the other one. However, from the way in which the story was told, neither of these seem to be the case. Bob did not indicate that the police were trying to subdue an irate and violent criminal. The use of physical force by both officers seems a little extreme and very unnecessary.
4. Finally, if the police had done nothing wrong, what would have been the point in them fudging the paper work? I understand that they are preliminary and that the "criminal" has the right to fight them in court. But he shouldn't have to - that's the point. He shouldn't have to waste time and money sitting in court, fighting a falsified report. We may pay policemen to protect us from legitimate crimes and criminals, but we do not pay them to falsify reports. We pay them because we believe them to be trustworthy and honest in the work they do.

Any responses?

Freedom of Opinion, Conscience and Religion

This blog was a project for my Social Justice and Human Rights Advocacy class. I have turned in the link for the class, meaning that I technically do not have to post anything else (I think...). But I've decided, that if I stop posting just because I've already gotten my grade, that defeats the whole purpose of this blog. True? Of course true (thank you, Yente the Matchmaker).

See, the whole point of this blog is to raise awareness and call you readers to some sort of action. Furthermore, human rights violations and issues of social justice have not ceased to exist simply because I've gotten whatever grade Dr. Pittle decided to give me. Therefore, I will continue with this blog - and, I pray, you will continue to pray for these issues and look for ways to take action.

So, last week in Social Justice we talked about freedom of opinion, conscience and religion. What does that mean? Anyone want to take a stab at it? Really, it's not that complicated. Simply put, it's the freedom to have your own opinion, think what you want to think and practice the religion of your choice. According to the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, every single human being on this planet has this right. And I quote:

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Did you know there are people in prison right now because of opinions they have expressed? Let's take, for instance, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She is a citizen of Myanmar/Burma who (as of 2007) has spent 12 of the last 18 years under detention. Her crime? Would you believe that it's simply because she is vocal about her opinion that Myanmar/Burma should be governed by democracy?

You want another example? How about U Win Tin. He's a 77 year old man who, as of 2007, had spent the previous 18 years in jail. To add insult to injury, during this time, he has suffered inhumane treatment. His crime? His stance against Myanmar/Burma's military authorities and his promotion of freedom of expression.

But Myanmar/Burma is not the only country in the world with these kinds of problems. And lest you think that this has never happened on our own soil, let me remind you of America's past. I refer you to the "Alien and Sedition Acts" enacted in 1798; specifically, I am focusing on the "Sedition Act". This law was intended to minimize criticism of the government which, at that time, was under the administration of President John Adams. Under this law, people could be fined or even imprisoned for speaking against the government.

Now, I know that the Sedition Act is no longer in effect. Just turn on late night talk shows, and you will see the government being made fun of on a regular basis. I guess we've come a long way since 1798 - at least legally... or maybe not, because we are still arguing over what is included in our "freedom of speech" and lawsuits over this very thing still abound. The definition and perameters we give to freedom of speech matter.

And finally we get to the main point of this rather long post. I am concerned about the double standard that exists with the freedom of speech, opinion, and all of that. You may read this and think, "Yeah, go Erica! You take on those people who want freedom of speech for everyone but Christians!" I hate to break it to you, but that is not my only concern. The problem is that, as Christians, we are also guilty of trying to limit freedom of speech.

Case in point: I was at a friends' home a couple of months ago and her mom said "Someone just needs to shoot so-and-so." When I asked who so-and-so was, I was told, "Oh, he's a writer in our newspaper who says a lot of mean things about Christians and Christianity." Wonderful. Let's go around shooting the people who disagree and even mock our beliefs. That sounds like a great evangelism technique. Let me know how that works for you.

I say to both sides, if we are going to have free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom opinion, then the same standards need to be applied to everyone.

Another one about the police...

I haven't written on here in a while, but it's not because I haven't been thinking about issues of social justice and human rights. School and work have kept me very busy. But that's not what I'm on here to write about. So, I present to you the issue of the police system in India.

The police system in India is, for lack of a better term (or a conscious choice not to use one), jacked up. The following is a brief rundown of what is happening.

In India (the report I read specifically focuses on police in the Uttar Pradesh Province, but the situation is much the same across India), the police are both the abused and the abusers. One officer said that he had gone 3 weeks without seeing his family and he had gotten 10 hours of sleep in the last 3 days. This was not by choice. The police officers are expected to be on call 24/7. No, you did not read that wrong. They are fully expected to be available to work long hours whenever their superiors feel it necessary.

Results are what matter to the superiors in the Indian police department. They put pressure on the police officers to get confessions and solve cases quickly, even though these things take time. In order to get confessions, the police officers will beat and/or toruture suspects; this is problematic for a number of reasons, but one especially problematic reason is that it can lead to false confessions. The police will also fabricate police records to make it look like a case has been solved. If a police officer doesn't solve a case quickly, he is viewed with suspicion and is in danger of losing his job.

According to the Human Rights Watch published in August 2009 (this is also where I've gotten all of my other information), "At the level of the civil police station, where junior and low-ranking police often reside and deal with suspects or victims, we found that civil police, particularly constables, live and work in abysmal conditions. They are often exhausted and demoralized, always on call, working long hours without shifts and necessary equipment, only to return to government-provided tents or filthy barracks for a few hours’ sleep. Junior-ranking officers often face unrealistic demands from their superiors to solve cases quickly. Even if officially encouraged, their use of professional crime investigation techniques is effectively discouraged by the dearth of time, training and equipment with which they operate. These officers also face frequent intervention in investigations by local political figures, who sometimes act to protect known criminals."

Yes, the police suffer abuses of human rights, but they are also abusers. So far, I've told you that the police fabricate records, beat and torture suspects, and let criminals slide depending on their political connections. These are just the actions that flow out of a messed up system.

Time and space do not permit me to give you every detail about this issue, but I wish I could. Not only would it enable you to be more objective, but you would be much better informed than this blog is able to make you. I wish I had the time and space to explain to you the severe lack in infrastructure and the fact that the police don't have the equipment or funding necessary to do their job well. I wish I could fully explain to you the hopelessness of Indian citizens. They don't even bother reporting crime anymore because they know the police department will deal with the issue in integrity, if they deal with it at all.

I can't give you all of the details, but you can read them for yourself. You can access the Human Rights Watch Report by clicking here. Please do read at least the summary of the situation.

And now, some questions for you. Based on what you've read in this post, what do you think should be done, and who do you think should do it? What do you think the role of the church is in this issue? What part about this situation surprised you? If you took the time to read the report, what in the report did you find interesting? And lastly, are you willing to pray for the police department in India?

Prayer points:
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to fall on India and begin to draw Indians to Jesus.
- Pray that the Lord would bring leaders into the Indian government who truly want to bring reform to the police system.
- Pray that the Lord would bring an end to the corruption in the police system.
- Pray that the Lord would send people who can assist the citizens of India in standing up to the corruption.
- Pray that the Lord would show you what your role is in bringing about change in this situation, even if it is through prayer.

A ticket for honking your horn?

*I know I just made a post, and I guess it might have been smart to consolidate this post and the one before it into one huge post. But the two posts are on separate issues, hence, the two posts.*

I heard a story today that made me shake my head. It was told to me by a person we'll call "Bob" who was there. It goes like this:
Two police cars were side by side in an alley; the two officers in the car were just sitting there, talking to each other. The position of their cars made it impossible for any other car going through the alley to get around them. Another car turns into the alley, and the driver finds that he can not get around the two squad cars. The policemen made no attempt to move their cars, and the driver of other car soon decided to honk his horn at them.

One of the policemen says to the other, "You know what? I'm going to give that guy a ticket". He proceeds to go over to the driver and write him a ticket for illegal use of his horn.

I ask you, is this an abuse of power? I understand that technically, by California state law, this driver did use his horn illegally (click here to find out what constitutes illegal use of a horn). However, also by California state law and based on the details of the story (as told to me by Bob, who was in one of those squad cars), the police were also in the wrong as they technically did not have the right to be blocking any portion of the alley (click here to see the law regarding the restriction of access to an alley).

 The policeman's attitude seemed to be: You're really honking at me?! I'm a policeman. Don't you know I can do whatever I want? If I want to sit here and block the alley while chatting it up with another policeman, I'll do just that. And you know what, for having the audacity to honk your horn at me, I'm going to give you a ticket.

Granted, I clearly wasn't there when this happened, so I can't be sure what the policeman was thinking; however, this is the perception I got as Bob told the story.

Now, also granted, I wouldn't have honked at the policemen, and I can honestly tell you that I probably wouldn't ever honk at a policeman, even if it was a legal action in that particular situation. It's like passing a police car on the highway. The police car may be going under the speed limit (but above the minimum), but no one is going to pass the car because of the fear of getting a ticket. However, legally (as far as I can tell), there is no law against passing this police car (granted you are not speeding yourself). But is this not also an abuse of power - the installation of fear that you can not do something that is within your legal right to do?

What are your thoughts on this story? Abuse of power? Yes? No?

School Pride

I go to Emmanuel Reformed Church in Paramount, CA. In 2005, Emmanuel made a 40 year committment to help rebuild Compton, CA. In order to do this, the Compton Initiative was formed. Every three months, on a Saturday, the Compton Initiative brings volunteers from Emmanuel, other local churches, business men and women, city leaders, etc., to go to multiple sites in Compton for a Compton Clean-Up day. On these days, dilapidated houses get a new coat of paint, new roofs and new porches, middle schools are painted, and Compton is rebuilt one site at a time.

Almost a couple of months ago, Emmanuel Church and the Compton Initiative was contacted by Denise Cramsey, producer of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. She is working on a new show called School Pride, set to premier this fall. Think of it as Extreme Makeover: School Edition. The basic gist is that the producers find schools all over the country in need of renovation (and often without the necessary resources to do so themselves), and then work with local volunteers to do just that. They really want to get the community involved in transforming these schools. They don't want to come in and do everything themselves. Enterprise Middle School, in Compton, CA, was chosen for such a makeover which took place this past week.

I had the opportunity to be one of the volunteers who helped to renovate the school. It was quite the experience. I saw a lot of what happens in the way of filming a show such as this (which actually kind of disappointed me), but I also got to see what happens when a community is given the tools necessary to transform itself.

My experience this past week leaves me with a few questions. Perhaps you all would know the answers to them. If so, please feel free to chime in.

1. Why don't public schools have the money to do necessary renovations?
2. In the L.A. Unified School District, why has the answer to a gap in the state budget been to cut the school year short by 5 days?
3. The superintendent, Ramon Cortines, says, "... this is a temporary 'fix' only needed until the state economy finally improves". However, he also says that there is no end in sight to the state financial crisis. If things don't turn around, what will it mean for students?
4. What does the state financial crisis mean for the salaries of state employees such as senators and the governor?
5. Why is it that there is a gap in the state budget in the first place? Has any of the state's financial issues been caused by unjust uses of state money?

As I said earlier, feel free to chime in if you have any information with which you can answer these questions.

A journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step.

* I feel it necessary to include some sort of disclaimer right from the start. I plan to be honest about my feelings and the situations I am blogging about. Be prepared. With that said, here goes... *

I could sit here and write about how I have always cared about social justice and human rights, but the truth is, I didn't really care until I got to college. Or, perhaps, it is more accurate to say, my lifestyle didn't show that I cared until I got to college.

True, as I watched documentaries about Nazis, I was seething with anger and hoping they were all burning in hell. Yes, as I watched documentaries about slavery and the Modern Civil Rights Movement, I was confused as to how one people could treat another people as "less than" because of their skin color. I've handed out food to the unfortunate soul in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, I've prayed for the sick in Peru, and I've shared the love of Jesus with school children in New Zealand. I in no way doubt the validity of my feelings, the strength of my passion, or the power of my work overseas.

And yet, my lifestyle did not vary much from your average American Christian who does not understand that not every person standing on the exit ramp is a bum who would rather spend money and time getting drunk than looking for a job and providing for his/her family. I was very much that American Christian who thinks the solution is to throw money at the unfortunate poor half a world away. I was that American Christian who couldn't possibly fathom (or lived in blissful ignorance to the fact) that the way I live my life, the stores I shop at, the goods I buy, and the politicians I vote for, could have a staggering impact on the other billions of people who live on this planet.

Helping the needy and feeling indignation at the thought of discrimination are good things. Please hear me when I say that I believe these things are good and have power to change our world. However, when we help out once a year at a homeless shelter and think our work is done, something is wrong. And no matter how much we try to convince ourselves that we care, we do not... at least not as much as we ought to. True care is demonstrated by lifestyle, which brings me to the point of this first post.

How do we demonstrate the love of Christ to our dying and broken world? Is it simply by preaching the gospel? Doesn't James tell us that preaching the gospel with out demonstrations of love is pointless (James 2:14-17)? Understand that I am not saying that the gospel has no power apart from our demonstrations of love. But we can not possibly think that it is okay to simply preach the gospel and ignore the needs of the world. That is not what Christ did nor what He calls us to.

Furthermore, we can not live a lifestyle that screams the love of Christ if we are unaware. How do you demonstrate to your friend that you love him/her if you are clueless as to the issues he/she faces? It's time to become aware... it's time to act.