By A. John Ukpe<\/p>\n
Some people are outraged that George Floyd had too many criminal records
\nto be buried like a hero. In response, a friend put it thus, \u201cTo
\ndredge up and lavishly serve a man’s criminal past, totally ignoring the
\nredemptive chapters that marked the latter part of his life in the wake
\nof his unjust murder and even as the whole world is hurting from that
\nincident among many other such murders which are symptomatic of
\ncenturies-old racial bias, injustice, and arbitrary brutality is
\ndisrespectful, insensitive and downright maddening.\u201d I concur.<\/p>\n
Leading the pack of those who are upset with Floyd\u2019s martyr status is
\nCandace Owens, the African American conservative apologist, ideologue
\nand commentator. Perhaps, if Owens was\u00a0 there when Jesus Christ was
\ngiven the task of convicting the woman caught in adultery and he rather
\nsaid, \u201cLet him that is without sin cast the first stone,\u201d she would
\nreached for a rock to smash the woman\u2019s head. But the morale of the
\nstory of the woman caught in adultery is that all have sinned and come
\nshort of the glory of God.<\/p>\n
The Bible acknowledges this and advises us not to judge one another.
\nMore so, George Floyd\u2019s pastor, Pastor Patrick Ngwolo, claims that
\nFloyd had a turnaround, counseled kids not to to make the mistakes he
\nmade in life, and did well as a Christian in later life. It is even
\nbelieved that Floyd relocated to Minnesota to reformat and reboot his
\nlife and\u00a0 take care of his inner demons. As a proof for ten years he did
\nnot have any run-in with the law, until the incident which led to his
\ndeath.<\/p>\n
But the skeptics would not want to let go of his sordid past. They would
\nnot lower the placard that he was jailed nine times. Owens should
\nremember that Jesus was NOT crucified between two saints, He was
\ncrucified between two notorious thieves. Jesus himself said that he did
\nnot come for saints, like Owens; he came for sinners, like George Floyd.<\/p>\n
Candace Owens and her supporters forget that the film actor Danny Trejo
\nwas arrested and jailed several times before he turned his life around
\nand made it big in the silver screen. Malcolm X was also an ex-convict.
\nIn Nigeria there is the popular story of a notorious armed robber, Judah
\nAuthor, who converted and is now a pastor. Of course you know about Paul
\nthe Apostle who was a murderer before he had an encounter with Jesus
\nChrist and became a leading Christian apostle. History is littered with
\nmany criminals who turned their lives around. If Floyd did not turn his
\nlife completely around, then he was still in the process. This is why he
\nwas attending church. He may have been laboring to\u00a0 sanitize his life
\nand rid himself of his past demons.<\/p>\n
Those who attend church and those who do not attend church are all
\nsinners.\u00a0 The only difference is that those who do not attend church are
\nrunning after sin, and those who do attend church are trying to run away
\nfrom sin. You may still be on drugs and be attending church and praying
\nthat God would help you to overcome the habit. As humans we only judge
\nthe habits of people, not their inner pains and agonies over their
\ninability to stop those habits.<\/p>\n
To those who wonder how the woman Floyd once robbed would feel about
\nFloyd being so celebrated, I dare to ask them how the brothers and
\nsisters of Stephen felt after Paul who led his murder was canonized?
\nStephen\u2019s brothers and sisters may have remembered that with his last
\nbreath Stephen prayed God to forgive his murderers. It is entirely
\npossible that the woman Floyd robbed would have moved on, asked God to
\nforgive him, and would have shared the global sense of pain at his
\ncallous murder.<\/p>\n
But there is more to Floyd\u2019s death, than his past suggests. God uses
\nthe weak things of this world to change the world. He did not use
\nAlexandar the Great or Ghenzis Khan to change the world, He used a
\ncarpentar\u2019s son, Jesus Christ. If He chooses to use a \u201cserial
\ncriminal\u201d like Floyd to stop racism in the world, so be it. It is the
\ncurative power of the medicine that determines its administration, not
\nhow bitter it is to swallow or how painful it is to take.<\/p>\n
Floyd was buried as a hero, not so much because he was one, but because
\nthe world perhaps saw burying him like that as an atonement for one of
\nthe most callous atrocities and abuse of power ever witnessed since the
\nadvent of democracy. This was a classic case in all respects. A white
\ncop murdered a black man while black and white onlookers jointly
\nprotested vociferously and sought to save his life. In his death, whites
\nand blacks have protested together. These scenes give us comfort that we
\ndo not need to repent anymore for the appalling silence of the good
\npeople – the good people are speaking out; the bad people have been
\nsilenced.<\/p>\n
Slowing killing a man in nine minutes by cutting off his air supply,
\nwhile he pleads for his life, is the most gruesome way to murder a man.
\nThe world saw this as the climax of racism and decided to nip it in the
\nbud. More so, most Americans were outraged to see a man murdered by
\nanother man wearing a badge and who was on oath to protect people like
\nthe man he sadistically murdered.\u00a0 Over what? A mere twenty dollar note
\nalleged to be counterfeit.<\/p>\n
In summary, Floyd was the last straw that broke the applecart and forced
\nthe world to pick up the apples and count the straws.<\/p>\n
*Pastor Anietie John Ukpe is Nigerian-based public affairs commentator
\nand broadcaster.<\/p>\n