Some Reflections on the George Floyd Killing

Like many of you, I have seen the videos of George Floyd’s arrest, assault, and death. What they show is damning and disgusting. I then read a blog by the theologian Roger E. Olson, entitled “What Would It Take (To Convince Doubters That America Is Becoming a Police State)?” I think it is worth reading. Here is a short excerpt:

This kind of thing has been going on in America for a very long time. The difference now is that the incidents, which constitute a new kind of lynching, are being video recorded. In many cases the killing police officers are either not charged with any crime or are found “not guilty” by a jury—in spite of clear evidence of guilt.

We are facing a serious time in America, not only with health and economic concerns and pressures from the corona virus, but also from blatant, murderous racism. Understandably, in response, people have been very angry at such an injustice and inhumane treatment of a fellow human being. People of different races are joining together to protest, and they are recognizing something we all know (or presuppose) deep down: human beings should be treated with justice, dignity, and equality.

Yet, what is sad to me in that regard is that we as a society have forsaken the best rational explanation for that knowledge: that humans are intrinsically valuable. How so? That would require that there are essences to us (and these core morals). The best answer I have found (and defended) is because humans are made in God’s image. This is so irrespective of skin color or ethnicity, sex, or class; it is so solely on the basis of being a fellow human.

Yet, this deep recognition that we are worthy of being treated with justice, dignity, and equality cannot be sustained on the many competing views of ethics on tap today, such as relativism, various naturalistic versions, postmodern ones, or critical theory (for more on that, see my blogs under “Social Justice and Christians”), for they do not have a place for, or cannot make sense of, the reality of essences. These views cannot preserve these core morals, which I argue in my book, In Search of Moral Knowledge, and will be doing in my current blog series, “Making Sense of Morality.”

For that reason, Christians should lead the charge against racist actions, and they should speak up for their fellow image bearers whom God loves. Christians have the best moral basis for protecting all human beings from injustices.

However, it seems that many of us live as though emotivism is true, which is the view that moral claims (like, “injustice is wrong!”) really just express feelings (“ugh, injustice!”). When coupled with deep anger, people can act on those feelings violently, especially in a time when the virtue of self-control, and the intrinsic value of humans, seem to be devalued or rejected. So, police, who should protect the lives and property of innocent people, can act out brutally.

Also, while understandably angry at the injustices done to Floyd and others, some protestors have been looting, vandalizing, or burning stores. In response to the injustice done to Floyd and other African-Americans, those people have perpetrated their own injustices against others who were not responsible for those racist acts. For example, burning some stores at an intersection in my city only spreads more violence and injustice, rather than protest and address the violence and injustice done against Floyd and other victims of police brutality. This is not justice; it is taking vengeance. Worse, it is taken against those who did not commit the injustice. But, even worse, taking revenge is off limits; God reserves that only for Himself (Rom 12:19), and He will repay with perfect justice, for He is just.