Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman and God's Plan
I follow most news events fairly closely. I watch local news either at 6 or 11 PM. Like, many of you I have been following the case of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Trayvon Martin in an altercation in Florida.
Zimmerman is a neighborhood watch volunteer which I understood to be people who keep an eye out on their neighborhood, to make sure no bad guys are lurking around. One night, Zimmerman saw Martin walking in the darkened neighborhood. Trayvon Martin is a fairly large African American young man. He was wearing a hoodie.
Zimmerman called 911, because he was suspicious of Martin. The 911 operator told Zimmerman to stay in his vehicle. Instead Zimmerman got out of his car and followed Martin into a darkened area. What follows is unclear, known only to Zimmerman and Martin. But, what we do know is Zimmerman shot and killed Martin.
He was taken in for questioning and then released. The expected outcry led to Zimmerman eventually being arrested. Zimmerman got into further trouble when it was discovered he and his wife tried to hide some of their finances from the court in order to get a smaller bail bond.
A recent interview took place this week, where Zimmerman and his lawyer sat down with a reporter for Fox news. Zimmerman apologized to the Martin family, but expected no regrets for any of his actions that fateful night.
And then he said something strange. He said that what happened was a part of "God's plan". Think about that for a moment. Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed young man. For the life of me, I can find no way on earth that this killing could be part of God's plan.
We really see no precedent or justification for the violent death of other human beings in scripture or anywhere in Christian theology. Instead, we find throughout scripture admonitions to make peace, to love others, to serve the needy.
I am staggered at Zimmerman's statement. Can killing ever be part of God's plan? Even in war, I'm sure soldiers who are men and women of faith struggle when they are commanded to take up arms against enemies.
I suspect in the weeks of anguish following that fateful night, Zimmerman has concocted this belief in order to assuage a guilty and tortured conscience.
Instead of resorting to such an outlandish belief, Zimmerman should simply ask God to forgive him for his violent act.
That would be part of God's plan.
Zimmerman is a neighborhood watch volunteer which I understood to be people who keep an eye out on their neighborhood, to make sure no bad guys are lurking around. One night, Zimmerman saw Martin walking in the darkened neighborhood. Trayvon Martin is a fairly large African American young man. He was wearing a hoodie.
Zimmerman called 911, because he was suspicious of Martin. The 911 operator told Zimmerman to stay in his vehicle. Instead Zimmerman got out of his car and followed Martin into a darkened area. What follows is unclear, known only to Zimmerman and Martin. But, what we do know is Zimmerman shot and killed Martin.
He was taken in for questioning and then released. The expected outcry led to Zimmerman eventually being arrested. Zimmerman got into further trouble when it was discovered he and his wife tried to hide some of their finances from the court in order to get a smaller bail bond.
A recent interview took place this week, where Zimmerman and his lawyer sat down with a reporter for Fox news. Zimmerman apologized to the Martin family, but expected no regrets for any of his actions that fateful night.
And then he said something strange. He said that what happened was a part of "God's plan". Think about that for a moment. Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed young man. For the life of me, I can find no way on earth that this killing could be part of God's plan.
We really see no precedent or justification for the violent death of other human beings in scripture or anywhere in Christian theology. Instead, we find throughout scripture admonitions to make peace, to love others, to serve the needy.
I am staggered at Zimmerman's statement. Can killing ever be part of God's plan? Even in war, I'm sure soldiers who are men and women of faith struggle when they are commanded to take up arms against enemies.
I suspect in the weeks of anguish following that fateful night, Zimmerman has concocted this belief in order to assuage a guilty and tortured conscience.
Instead of resorting to such an outlandish belief, Zimmerman should simply ask God to forgive him for his violent act.
That would be part of God's plan.
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