‘All Lives Matter’

The Rt. Rev. Andrew M.L. Dietsche, Bishop of New York, writes to his diocese:

We continue to insist on just, fair, respectful treatment of all people by the police, restraint and forbearance in the use of force, the honoring of people of every race, and fairness and justice in the courts. But this is by no means inconsistent with our respect and gratitude to the police who put themselves in danger for the sake of others. Black lives matter. Blue lives matter. All lives matter in the eyes of our creator and to all of us who profess to love God. In these Advent passage of hope and expectation, New Yorkers find ourselves living through a season in which we are buffeted between anger and grief. What do we do with these feelings? How may we channel them for good? In this week in which we observe the birth of the Prince of Peace, we commend to God the souls of our three fallen brothers — Eric Garner, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos — all taken too soon, all of them much loved. For their sake, and in their name, may God make us brave and strong and faithful to continue our work to build a whole and healed human family. This is the work of Christians. It is what we are for.

Read the rest.

Archive image of police officer Michael Crain’s funeral in Riverside, California, by Greg Matthews, via Flickr

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