Mourning with Those Who Mourn
Shayna Beeksma
This article (published online on June 16, 2020) was originally published in the September 2016 edition of the Christian Legal Journal.
As Christians, we are called by God “to mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). In grieving the loss of these lives, we affirm that their lives mattered. I have observed, however, that while we routinely (and rightly) mourn the loss of the lives of law enforcement in the line of duty, the same cannot always be said for civilian lives lost at the hands of law enforcement, especially when the media does not publicize it.
We can too easily dismiss the loss of these lives by framing the dead as “dangerous persons” and by too readily giving the police the benefit of the doubt. Many may need to re-train their minds and routine thinking to ensure that we also validate the civilian lives that have been lost, especially those of marginalized groups who can perhaps more easily be overlooked.
Those who are dismissive of the loss of civilian lives at the hands of police, but who readily mourn the deaths of police, are hypocritical. The reverse is equally true. As Christians, the sanctity of life is paramount; that is, the sanctity of all human life. Treating individuals who have been killed by police officers as being “less than” police officers who have been killed does not reflect Christ-like character. All lives have equal value before God. We are all made in His image. We all need to hold each other accountable in this regard.
This is not to say that we should then be endorsing the #AllLivesMatter or #BlueLivesMatter movements. I have seen many well-meaning individuals reference “All Lives Matter” or “Blue Lives Matter” in response to the recent spate of killings of both civilians by police and police by civilians. Unfortunately, however, this comes across as (and may in some cases in fact be) dismissive of the cause that the Black Lives Matter movement is working to bring to the public’s attention. Yes, as Christians, we know that in God’s eyes, all lives matter. However, in our fallen state, we have a tendency to treat some lives as less important, and it shows in our society.
Regarding police officers specifically, we as Christians have high regard for the work that they do. However, with that high regard should come a hard critique of where improvement is necessary. Some police departments, such as the one in Dallas, have been exemplary in reducing the use of excessive force and in building relationships of trust with their surrounding communities. Many more are not featured in the media.
Others have significant problems with this issue and are in need of reform. Some police forces, including in Canada, for instance, employ “use of force” techniques that date back to the early 1990s and that are not inclusive of modern developments in de-escalation training and in reducing the excessive use of force. There is nothing hateful against police in discussing changes that need to be made in order for policing to be safer for not just civilians but also for the officers themselves. As Christians, we ought to champion societal reform when it is needed to protect the most marginalized.
As Christians, we are also called to stand up for justice. Jesus stated that the most important matters of the law are justice, mercy and faithfulness (Matthew 23:23). Acting justly in our everyday lives includes addressing injustice when it is endorsed by those around us, whether by family members, friends, colleagues, or even those in church leadership.
Injustice includes racial stereotypes and the dismissiveness of racial equality advocacy as being mere “political correctness” or “race baiting”. Contrary to the thinking of some, racial issues are not important only to “progressives/liberals.” As Martin Luther King Jr. so famously stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
We are not in a colour-blind society, no matter how some may attempt to paint it as such. Issues affecting racialized persons, especially when those persons are the most socio-economically disadvantaged among us, should be all of our issues. So long as there is negatively differential treatment of racialized persons in the legal profession, in policing, in the funding of schools and programs in disenfranchised communities, etc. then racial issues continue to be relevant. These issues need not divide us. As Christians, we are the descendants of the Church in the book of Acts that was ethnically and socio-economically diverse. Yet they came together with a common purpose (living out Jesus’ teachings and spreading the Gospel) and flourished amid horrific acts of persecution. They shared their belongings to ensure that those in need were provided for and valued. They worked to overcome prejudices and to be united as the body of Christ.
As Christian lawyers, we should support efforts to address injustice in our society and not simply withdraw to our own comfort zones, stating only that we “will pray.” While prayer is powerful, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). In our families, among our friends and colleagues, in our work, we ought to challenge racist assumptions, statements and policies. We ought to educate ourselves on the many forms that they take in our modern-day society.
We ought not to be dismissive of folks stating their experiences where race was likely a negative factor. We ought to empathize, have humility, and seek to show the love of Christ to all around us; especially those whose everyday experiences and reality in our society are significantly or even vastly different from ours.
As Christian lawyers, especially those who practise criminal law, we should do our part to remedy racial disparities in the rates of convictions and the degrees of sentencing meted out to racialized individuals. We should encourage initiatives that address the root causes of crime in racialized communities, such as unemployment, under-funded schools, fatherless families, and inadequate support for single mothers. Regarding fatherless families in particular, we should also support initiatives that address the root causes of this issue, such as the over-incarceration of racialized men and unemployment. As Christians, our conduct and thinking ought to differ from the mainstream. We ought to be salt and light in this world. Let us regularly check ourselves to ensure that we are doing so, in thought and in deed.
In order to promote reconciliation and restoration of broken relationships between individuals and communities, we must seek to understand before passing judgment. For many, the reasons for the cries of the protestors are not readily understandable.
If that is your experience, I would encourage you to seek earnestly to learn about the experiences of racialized persons in your community, in your church, among CLF’s membership, and among the protestors. I would encourage you to read a range of articles about the issues of the excessive use of force by police, the laws that they have to enforce (many of which, in the criminal sphere, disproportionately impact radicalized individuals), and the negative impact of this on the communities in which they serve. Read articles by police officers who have attempted to make changes and who have been successful in doing do, as well as articles by those who have not been successful as old attitudes can be notoriously difficult to change.
Read articles and books on the root causes of crime in racialized communities and how many of our laws are making the problem worse by over-criminalizing certain offences and over-sentencing those convicted.
When we educate ourselves on the issues, then we can start to empathize with the cries of the protestors because we have a sense of what their lived experiences are and how foreign that it is to our lived experiences and our children’s lived experiences.
We can then listen more meaningfully to them and understand where they are coming from. From there, we are in a better position to promote reconciliation and restoration of broken relationships between individuals, communities and the police because we start with hearing them, not passing judgment. We should then use the voices that we have in our residential, church, and professional communities to speak up for the plight of the protestors, the very real issues that they are protesting, and for change.
Closing thoughts
As Christians we believe that every life is created by God in His image. When a life is taken, we mourn that loss. While we have an obligation to honour and respect those in authority, including police officers, supporting police officers and decrying killings at their hands are not mutually exclusive. We can still have high regard for law enforcement while holding them to high standards. Police officers take an oath to serve and protect their communities. They are trained, or should be trained, in effective methods of de-escalation and in restricting the use of lethal force unless they have a legitimate reason to fear for their safety. When certain officers “fear for their safety”, it may be the result of underlying prejudicial assumptions about the civilian with whom they are interacting, which may lead to the use of lethal force when it was objectively unwarranted because, for instance, the civilian was unarmed. Further, there is a need for more training of officers in how to handle civilians with mental health issues without resorting to lethal or excessive force.
I know a (white) Christian man who recently joined a police force here in Canada and who is a beacon of hope to me in the reconciliation of racialized communities and the police. He has sought to understand the root causes of crime in racialized communities, the very real issues among some members of the police forces in Canada in the use of excessive and lethal force, the resulting deaths of innocent civilians at the hands of police, and the disturbing fact that the officers involved almost always escape a conviction and a fair jail sentence. In turn, he has made it a personal mission to influence his colleagues for the better. He is determined to improve police practices where such change is necessary and to be a source of “salt and light” in his field. He may be met with hostility from senior officers around him for doing so, but he is determined to be the change that is necessary and to inspire others around him to do so as well. He sees that change needs to happen and he seeks to be an instrument of such change. We should all endeavour to do so as well in our own spheres of influence.
This article originally appeared in the Christian Legal Journal:
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Shayna Beeksma, "Mourning with Those Who Mourn" 2016 25:3 Christian Legal Journal 16.
Shayna A. Beeksma is an award-winning lawyer and the founder of Beeksma Law. She received her J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2011 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2012. Shayna summered and articled at the Toronto office of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (now known as “Gowling WLG”). She then practised with a boutique commercial and estate litigation firm in Burlington, and then subsequently continued her practice at a prominent mid-sized Hamilton firm before opening Beeksma Law in 2018.
Shayna has regularly appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and having argued cases before the Divisional Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.
Shayna specializes in estates law (comprised of estate litigation, estate administration and estate planning), while also incorporating corporate and real estate law into her practice.
Shayna has been a member of CLF’s Board of Directors since 2014.