Josh Benner

Category: society

  • Man dies in police custody while begging for his life

    The footage of George Floyd being held to the ground and struggling to breathe, repeatedly telling the police he can’t breathe, begging for his life, and telling the police that he was about to die, is incredibly disturbing.

    It’s murder.

    There will be those who blame the victim. I’ve heard people try to make excuses in these situations before. “Well he shouldn’t have broken the law” (if he even did). “Well he shouldn’t have resisted.”

    It’s murder.

    Neither of those is something that justified a man losing his life. Neither of those are justifications for the absolute inhumanity of the officer who ignored Floyd begging for his life. Of course you’re going to struggle when you literally have your life escaping from you. There’s no justification for any of this.

    On Monday night, police were called for a forgery in progress on the allegation that Floyd had attempted to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store. A non-violent crime. A couple minutes after Floyd is no longer struggling, no longer conscious, yet the officer still won’t let his knee off of his neck. The officer isn’t in danger (Floyd wasn’t armed). There’s no reason as to why they can’t let him up, let him breathe.

    Several bystanders begged the arresting officer to let the man up. He refused to listen.

    I appreciate law enforcement. I understand that they have a difficult job. I can also acknowledge that I could not do their job. But none of that justifies killing another person. The officer was not in danger. The situation was under control. There is no reason why the arresting officer should have kept his knee in Floyd’s neck. Law enforcement experts say that maneuver is no longer sanctioned in Minnesota.

    The officer should not get special treatment because he’s a police officer. If anyone else did this and it was filmed, they’d be in jail. The offending officer and three others have been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department. The mayor of Minneapolis has spoken out against what happened. There does need to be justice for George Floyd because he lost his life in an unjust manner. And we should always want justice to be served as it is an inherent good.

  • Is online church an adequate replacement for meeting in person? Spoiler alert: It’s not

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    Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com

    Relevant wrote an article last week where they interviewed Judah and Chelsea Smith about online church. In 2018, the Smith’s launched Churchome, as an online form of church which Relevant describes as “a new kind of virtual experience that would offer church to a new generation more comfortable with digital relationships.”

    From the article:

    The announcement was met with no small degree of skepticism at the time but that was then. Now Churchome’s style of Sunday service has become the norm for almost every church in the country.

    -Relevant magazine

    This article misses the obvious. Online services have become the norm for almost every church in the country…for now.

    It’s become the norm, grudgingly. It’s become the norm because of the outbreak. It’s become the norm because many states aren’t allowing churches to meet. It hasn’t become the norm because hundreds of thousands of churches simultaneously decided that online church is better.

    It isn’t.

    It hasn’t become the norm because churches are suddenly jumping on the bandwagon and think it’s better.

    The church meeting together and having fellowship together is better. People using the gifts God has given them to build up and serve their church is better (1 Cor. 12). A pastor who has a relationship with his people is better. A church where there is accountability from people who know each other and know their struggles, their past, their victories, is better. Partaking of communion together as a church is better. Elders tending to the spiritual welfare of people they actually know is better. Having a church that has a presence in a community is better.

    In every way, meeting together for church is superior to meeting online for church. Yes, it’s a blessing that over these last few weeks, churches have had the capability to broadcast online. But there’s no substitute for the real thing.

    Just because more things are done online in our culture, and we’re more technologically connected does not mean that this is the route churches should go.

    For instance, with fellowship, there is no substitute for actual human interaction. Sure, I’ve made friends online. I met my wife on eHarmony! But when you’re celebrating Christmas, if a family member is away and all you have is facetime, it’s not the same as having them with you. If a friend or relative has moved far away, yes, it’s nice you can Skype with them, but it’s still not the same as seeing them.

    Our society relies more on online interactions and our society is also increasingly miserable. Depression, loneliness, anxiety pervade the culture. The idea of online church panders to the culture while giving the culture while giving them something which is an unbiblical facade for church.

    From the Relevant article, Judah Smith says: “we believe that actually people can connect on a level, that frankly could very well be deeper and richer and fuller.” I don’t see much evidence to back that claim up and there’s lot of research that says just the opposite.

    I like social media and the internet as much as the next guy. All I’m saying is that it’s not an effective replacement for authentic relationships, and it’s certainly not a replacement for church.

    Humanity was created for relationship. We’re created for fellowship with God and with other people. Just because more business, commerce, and entertainment has moved to the internet, that does not mean the church should follow suit.

    Christianity is counter-cultural.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

  • With coronavirus, are we making the cure worse than the problem?

    Coronavirus is not the only thing that could cause thousands of deaths this year.

    Alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide could be responsible for 75,000 “deaths of despair” according to new studies.

    There will be suggestions that more funding and resources need to go to stimulus funds and mental health counseling. For some, those can be the thing that makes the difference and helps them maintain their physical and meant health. (more…)

  • Coronavirus concerns cause sweeping cancellations

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    Things are getting real. Tonight, President Trump announced the suspension of incoming flights from Europe and the NBA suspended the season. Earlier today, the NCAA announced that the tournament is going to be played without spectators (although at this point, I would not be shocked if they end up cancelling it). Tom Hanks has it. More and more colleges are extending spring breaks or switching to online formats for courses. 

    This is all going to get worse. Few weeks ago, everything was golden in Italy. Now the country is shut down. I’m not saying that exact thing is going to happen in America. But more and more people are going to get sick, are going to die, and life will be increasingly disrupted.  (more…)

  • Coronavirus, fear, and theology

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    Coronavirus continues to spread, causing fear and uncertainty with global markets. There have been people who have blamed the media for sensationalizing the virus and who point to the hundreds of thousands of people who die from the flu every year. There are people who blame China. People who blame President Trump for how he’s handling coronavirus in America. People stealing surgical masks from hospitals. You’ve had major events such as SXSW cancelled. We’ve seen universities close classrooms and shifted lectures to online formats. We’ve seen totalitarian steps taken within China to try to contain the virus (which some experts believe may have been successful). You have Italy quarantine its whole country.

    It’s a mess. (more…)