Perhaps a little caution is in order here, for “on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things” (Rom 2:1). How many of your posts would someone need to read before finding examples of
us-versus-them language? Spoiler alert: You did it in this post I’m responding to, speaking of “Christians” versus “self-proclaimed Christians” (and I’m assuming you’re in the first group).
But this raises an interesting question: Is
us-versus-them language immoral? You seem to imply that it violates your Christian ethics, as evident by your shock that a Christian apologist spoke positively about that kind of language. If you consider it immoral, then there are other Bible passages you should probably consider soberly, such as Luke 11:23 (“Whoever is not with me is against me”), or 2 Cor 6:14-16 (“What fellowship does light have with darkness”), or 1 John 2:19 (“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us”), and so on. Surely Jesus, Paul, and John were not being immoral by speaking like that.
Does that include how we see and treat
@com7fy8?
Evidence?
Those who have no intention of harming anyone don’t go around committing crimes while armed, which is what Pretti did—or have a history of assaulting federal law enforcement officers while armed, as Pretti did.
Impeding or interfering with federal law enforcement is already a crime; doing it while armed changes the risk profile of the encounter, regardless of intent, even for those not involved (e.g., bystanders). It can transform the charge (into a felony) and the
mens rea analysis.
—sounds just as silly as someone saying Pretti was an innocent nurse and did nothing wrong.
Are people who break the law bad guys? Should they get away with it?
Sorry, what brutality are you talking about? Be specific.
Correct. He did not have to interfere with or impede a federal law enforcement action while armed. He could have kept his distance and used his voice and camera like the others.
Would he still be alive if, instead of letting him go, the federal agents had arrested him for assaulting them and damaging government property? Possibly. Getting arrested and thrown into jail could have woken him up. Or maybe that wouldn’t have changed anything and he would have continued committing crimes while armed anyway.
There is just so much information missing in that summary—like
why they suddenly backed away.
You watched the video, so you know there was a lot of action in those few seconds, the reality of which a still image can’t capture. You are a Customs and Border Protection officer and one of your teammates yelled “gun” multiple times just as the guy you were attempting to detain starts to get up with something dark in his hand. Sure, analyzing a still image closely makes it a lot more obvious—a luxury the CBP officers didn’t have.
Show me the video you watched where the officers were not having to act very quickly in a matter of life and death.
Oh, they were? Well, then that actually is what was going on here.
I am beginning to suspect you think ICE officers shot and killed Pretti. If so, then you’re so badly misinformed that I am left wondering why you are commenting on this story at all.
It’s also telling that you have not mentioned a single word about what the protesters were doing, the dangers they are creating, the crimes they’re committing, the torture they are inflicting on the officers. (“What torture?!” Let me follow you around for four or five straight hours blowing a whistle incessantly the entire time. I can’t even handle 30 seconds of it, listening to these clips during the news, never mind hour after hour after hour without ceasing.)
Christians also need to be sober minded and honest, not irresponsible and misleading, crafting a narrative that tells only one side and paints the other side in crude caricatures.
