I keep wrestling with the following Q\u2019s:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who do you believe and why do you believe them?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jussie Smollett\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Justin Fairfax\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [Pick a person\u2026 any person\u2026]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Do I believe in someone because<\/em> they are a man? \u2026 because<\/em> they are a woman? \u2026 because <\/em>they are black? \u2026 because<\/em> they are white? \u2026 because<\/em> they are gay? \u2026 because<\/em> they are straight? \u2026 because<\/em> they are conservative? \u2026 because<\/em> they are liberal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do I believe them because I have a shared experience?<\/em> \u2026 the expressed emotions are the same as mine?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there an aspect of their story or their situation or their personhood that resonates deeply within me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there an aspect to which I am partial?<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Jussie Smollett\u2019s story was initially shared \u2014 a man whose self-publicized account was that he was assaulted by two men of unidentified color who wore MAGA hats and shouted racial and homophobic slurs \u2014 did we decide what we believe about the story because we identify <\/em>with a specific ethnicity, sexuality, or hatred of \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hats?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Did we decide what we believe about the story because we do <\/em>not<\/em><\/strong> identify <\/em>with a specific ethnicity, sexuality, or hatred of those hats?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What about the nation\u2019s supreme summer saga\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 Christine Blasey Ford\u2026 Brett Kavanaugh\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n What<\/em><\/strong> decided <\/em>what <\/em><\/strong>you believe?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Or the better question \u2014 and no doubt the harder question\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was it something <\/em>other <\/em><\/strong>than evidence?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (I just have a gut feel\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In every circumstance or scenario, the potential for partiality exists; it often provokes deep emotion within us \u2014 emotion understandably tied to gender, ethnicity, or that shared experience. But when evidence becomes secondary to emotion \u2014 and the truth then becomes secondary to our judgment \u2014 we have a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our increasingly, rash, reactive culture seems to have flippantly dismissed the prudence in due process and the wisdom in the presumption of innocence; too many now say too often that such is unnecessary. Even the intelligent lambast what they have failed to take the time to completely comprehend. They lambast based on emotion<\/em> \u2014 not evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember the boys of Covington Catholic? \u2026 the teens who were panned by the Washington Post and multiple other news outlets, pundits, and celebrities a month ago? A third party investigation recently cleared the young men of any<\/strong> wrongdoing, saying they found no proof of \u201cracist or offensive statements by students.\u201d Those news outlets, pundits and celebrities \u2014 and even many of us \u2014 allowed our emotion to dictate our perception of truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s be clear, friends: perception does not equal truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truth will always be most important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR I keep wrestling with the following Q\u2019s: Who do you believe and why do you believe them? Jussie Smollett\u2026 Justin Fairfax\u2026 [Pick a person\u2026 any person\u2026] Do I believe in someone because they are a man? \u2026 because they are a woman? \u2026 because they are black? \u2026 because they are white? \u2026 because they … <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"