In A Christian Nation, Police are Ministers of God who Murder Black Men

An evangelical preacher stood on his pulpit, reading from the Holy Bible, and told his congregation that the police are God’s ministers. This preacher also advocates for America becoming a totally Christian nation, which would mean whatever the police do, would be God’s divine law.

“And listen to this, any punishment enacted by society on an evildoer should be looked on as a punishment from whom? From God. That's why we can say the police and those who carry out that are instruments of God, ministers of God…we are to submit to government because rulers are empowered by God to inflict the severest punishment. Very, very severe, look at verse 4: "If you do what is evil, (be what?) be afraid." You should be afraid. Why? Because it, speaking of civil government, or he, the individual policeman, the one who is responsible for the enforcement, the sheriff, whoever he be, does not bear the sword for nothing. I'm going to ask you a question, what were swords used for? Spanking people? I don't think so. Rapping them in the knuckles? No. They were used for what? Killing them. Here again the Scripture gives civil authority the sword of execution. He doesn't carry that sword for nothing; he carries it to use it. He's a minister of God. Civil government is an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. You practice evil; God says they have every right to bring about your death under those most severe crimes. Well, thus government is honored, civil authority is lifted up, the police are called ministers of God. They have a tremendous, tremendous duty and a tremendous privilege. You have a sword. The sword is not for spanking people, it’s a death weapon. Your sword is a revolver. You don’t have that sword for nothing. You are given by God the ultimate threat, the ultimate weapon that occasionally must be used to restrain evil. And God supports that.”

This pastor is teaching this to thousands of people. This ideology is taught in Christian colleges and seminaries throughout the country and preached in churches, and millions of church members believe this teaching. That police officers have the right to kill someone and that killing is supported by God.

In biblical context, the preacher is attempting to teach the congregation that they should submit to government because the government structure is an ordainment of God. That government is put there for good and evil doers to reward them accordingly. In the biblical context this is true; there has to be a government structure in place for societies to operate. 

But in the context of this preacher’s explanation of American government, people are to submit to the police because they are the ministers of God yet ignore the injustice behind police abuse and killings. However, people find it difficult to submit to a government that passes unjust laws and practice corrupt policies, or to trust ministers of a government that condones killing innocent people. 

To be frank, what this preacher is conveying to his members (the majority of them being white) is that God justifies the police killing of Black men when there are riots or even if they decide to run from, and not submit, to the police. Him, and many other white evangelical preachers, have a personal distain for what they consider social disobedience. In American terms, Black criminals.

This is the angle they take on government authority and policing regardless of whether the victims of police brutality and killings are innocent or not. They would rather believe that God’s will is for police to murder Black men than believe that the police are murderers of innocent people, or that there is serious corruption in police forces across the nation. This makes them feel better and pacifies their white congregants.

Aside from the passages in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 that he is reading from, which encourages submission to the government, the Bible also speaks of evil governments, abuse of power, murder and oppression of the poor, needy and innocent people. The German government under Hitler is an example of an evil government. During the time of Paul’s writings in Romans, the Roman government was evil also.

Isaiah 10:1, 2 reads: “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!”

Decrees are laws written for a nation by the king. Israel had gone astray from God’s will and corrupted themselves. America also, has resorted to laws that resort to oppression of the people and are enforced by a police force that are not kind nor merciful but have become cruel and murderous.

“How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.” Isaiah 1:21-23.

The police are out of control in the United States and the world has taken notice. Police killings of Black men that we know of have risen over the past 20 years. Most of those killings were video recorded but no one knows how many more have been done that no one knows about. The attitude toward Black men by police officials, the justice system and the public has become totally indifferent.

Like the public lynchings of the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth, police killings of Black men have become a public spectacle. In contrary to what the preacher is teaching, these are not killings warranted by the bad behavior of Black men, but by white police officers with hate in their hearts on a murderous crusade to defend a delusional sense of white honor.

“In 2020, George Floyd’s murder by a white police officer focused the world’s attention on anti-Black lynching. Like never before, we saw huge global protests in solidarity with Black Americans. Governments, corporations, celebrities and cultural figures all spoke out against anti-Black violent and unlawful deadly policing." SOURCE

Police in the US city of Columbus, Ohio have come under heavy criticism after the release of body-worn camera footage showing an officer fatally shooting a Black man in his bed during an attempt to serve an arrest warrant.

Donovan Lewis, 20, was unarmed when he was shot in the early hours of Tuesday by Ricky Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the Columbus Division of Police, the Columbus Dispatch reported, citing a news conference by city police. SOURCE

A new UN group has been set up to conduct an independent probe into the recent police shooting of Jayland Walker. The UN group is expected to make recommendations to state and federal governments. Its investigation has already begun. SOURCE

Walker was unarmed when police fatally shot him on June 27 after a traffic stop turned into a pursuit. He was running away when eight officers opened fire on him, body camera footage released by the city showed. Officials said they attempted to pull Walker over for a traffic and equipment violations with his car. He allegedly refused to stop, which set off a chase that ended in his death. SOURCE

In April 2021, international scrutiny culminated in a report produced by leading international human rights lawyers, which I covered here for the Editorial Board. Some police killings of Black people, it said, met the legal criteria for “crimes against humanity.” The report pointed to a long history of violations of international law committed against Black people. It points to the failure of the United States government to fulfill its international human rights obligations.

Page 109 reads:

Commissioners’ concluded from the evidence of witnesses and attorneys that instead of requiring law enforcement officials to take precautions that protect life, US law and police practices allow law enforcement officials to arbitrarily endanger the lives of Black people. The Commissioners found a clear pattern of state-sanctioned criminalization of Black people through the targeted policing of Black communities permitted by US law.

Anyone on the left or right, claiming to believe in democracy and the rule of law, should understand that what has become the norm with US policing at home is increasingly considered to be a grotesque abuse of state power by millions around the world. 

The US is forfeiting the right to speak about the rule of law, democracy and human rights as long as Black people remain as second-class citizens in a so-called first-class democracy. Millions are no longer buying the “bad apple” argument. People are demanding action from their elected officials. For Americans to understand that the global perception of the country is shaped by the words of institutions like the United Nations.

The opening lines, the Preamble, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the founding charter of the UN published in 1948, couldn’t be more appropriate for this tragedy. It directs us all to recognize 'the inherent dignity and 'the equal and inalienable rights' of 'all members of the human family' as 'the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.' SOURCE

Despite the uproar from around the world as they can plainly see the evil happening to Black men in America at the hands and guns of police forces, preachers such as the above would just as well justify these assassinations using the word of God. They have closed their eyes to justice and God’s law in an attempt to hide from the shame of racism and hate practiced by law enforcement, preached by America Christian leaders, and believed in by millions of so-called people of God.

"Patrick Lyoya shot to death by Grand Rapids Police." SOURCE