Black Lives Matter Statement
by Jefferson David Tant
There is much turmoil and violence taking place in our nation over the racial problems that have become prominent in recent months. The “Black Lives Matter” movement has taken a leading role in discussions, demonstrations, and even violence in many places, including the murder of a woman who said “All lives matter” at one of their demonstrations. And while there are valid points in light of the fact that God created all of one blood, whether yellow, black, white, brown, or purple, we must respect God’s intention for His creation. In reading over the BLM statement on their website, the following paragraphs caught my attention. The BLM words are in italics.
We make our spaces family-friendly and enable parents to fully participate with their children. We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work “double shifts” so that they can mother in private even as they participate in public justice work.We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.
Photo by Jessica Rockowitz on Unsplash
The idea that “We dismantle the patriarchal practice … and we disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure” certainly goes against Biblical teaching as to the family and the place of fathers. The truth is, the “nuclear family” is God-ordained rather than “Western-prescribed.” Much of the high crime rate among the black population must be laid at the feet of the high rate of unwed births among the black population. It is close to 70%. Among the white population, it is 28%. Children growing up without a father to show them how to be a loving father, and a model of manhood for their sons are missing a vital factor during their formative years. So, to “dismantle” the directions God gave for an orderly society will further destroy peace and security in the nation, but will only increase crime and mayhem.
How does a boy learn how to be a man, how to be respected, and how to be a leader if he never sees a model? How does a girl learn what true love is without the tender embrace of a loving father who cares and provides for her? Notice that in the BLM statement, the word “father” or “husband” is not once mentioned.
In my work in Jamaica over the last 30+ years, I have observed the chaos of this philosophy. With an unwed birthrate of around 80%, crime is off the charts. I know of men who have 30 or more children by who knows how many women. Do they support the children? Do they care for them? Usually, NO! If they saw some on the street, they wouldn’t know who they were. This is how they prove their “manhood,” which is by bringing more and more children into the world.
So, mothers struggle to provide for their children and often do not have enough for food, which leads some boys to turn to crime to get money for food and some girls to turn to prostitution. I knew one girl whose mother turned her out at age 13. “You’re old enough to make it on your own.” So, what does a girl that age do to earn money for food? She became a prostitute. For many girls, the only time “love” is mentioned is when a boy tells her “If you love me, you will have sex with me.”
The BLM statement that the nuclear family structure is “Western-prescribed” is far from the truth. The family structure is “God-prescribed.” The company that made my car knows what’s best for it, and I follow the “Owner’s Manual.” Our Creator knows what’s best for us, and if we have common sense, we will also follow the “Owner’s Manual,” the Bible.
Our “Owner’s Manual” says:
- “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior” (I Peter 3:1-2).
- “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered” (I Peter 3:7).
- “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.” (Ephesians 5:28).
- “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
“We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).”
Once again, the BLM manifesto is clearly out of line with God’s decree when they decry “the tight grip of heteronormative thinking.” Despite all the denying and twisting the Scriptures, God’s Word still says “male and female.” “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).
Homosexuality has been around a long time, as seen in the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19). It was practiced in the time of Lot, as seen in Job 36:14: “They die in youth, and their life perishes among the cult prostitutes.” Who are these “cult prostitutes?” The Hebrew word “quadesh” is defined as “a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry:-- sodomite, unclean.” (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary)
Then among the familiar New Testament passages, Paul deals with homosexuality in his letter to the church in Rome. “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error" (Romans 1:26-27).
The Tant family is mixed. It has included a black son-in-law, a mixed grandchild, two adopted mixed grandchildren, and a black adopted grandchild. This, along with 13 white grandchildren. My wife and I have seen what a God-ordained family structure can be.
Thus, while there may be some legitimate concerns the BLM organization may have, I cannot support an organization that is intent on erasing God and the Bible’s influence on our nation and on our personal lives.
