Displaying items by tag: USA

One under-reported story in the Los Angeles race riots is the targeting of synagogues, Molotov cocktails thrown at Jewish businesses and looting in the cities Jewish area. Among the vandalised synagogues was the Congregation Beth Israel which was covered with graffiti that read ‘Free Palestine, F— Israel’. The Conference of Jewish affairs says much of the destruction and defacement of Jewish synagogues and stores is deliberate - targeted acts of anti-Semitism. A law professor said, ‘At least one African-American rights movement has been accused of anti-Semitism in the past. We have known for years that a movement affiliated with Black Lives Matter is anti-Jewish. In 2016 they used the word ‘genocide’ to describe Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. It is a tragedy that Black Lives Matter - which has done such good raising awareness of police abuses - has moved from its central mission and declared war against the Jewish people.’

Eight minutes of phone footage captured his last breath, but in Houston they know George Floyd as a mentor to a generation of young men. Before moving to Minneapolis for a job opportunity through a Christian work programme, he spent almost his entire life in the black Third Ward, where he was called ‘Big Floyd’ and regarded as a community leader and elder statesmen. He wanted to break the cycle of violence he saw among young people, and used his influence to bring outside ministries to the area to do discipleship and outreach. The pastor of Resurrection Houston said, ‘George Floyd was a person of peace sent from the Lord, who helped the gospel go forward in that place. He wanted to see young men put their guns down and have Jesus instead of the streets.’

On 1 June Donald Trump declared himself the ‘law and order president’, vowing to use military might to remove people demonstrating against George Floyd’s murder and the persecution of black people. Tear gas, flash grenades, and rubber bullets were used against peaceful protesters. Then Trump visited a church and held up a Bible. The Bishop of Washington said the president ‘raised the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition outside a church in my diocese, without permission, as a backdrop for a message opposing the teachings of Jesus’. Jesuit James Martin tweeted, ‘This is revolting. The Bible is not a prop. A church is not a photo op. Religion is not a political tool. God is not your plaything.’ Rabbi Moline said, ‘Seeing President Trump in front of a Church holding the Bible in response to calls for racial justice - right after using military force to clear peaceful protesters - is the most flagrant misuse of religion that I have ever seen.’

On 1 June 1921, in Tulsa, the US experienced the worst race riots in its history. A prosperous African-American community, dubbed ‘Black Wall Street’, was eradicated by rioting white people. Within hours luxury shops, homes, restaurants and food stores belonging to black families disappeared. An unknown number of people died - many when planes dropped bombs, others when mobs burnt down the remaining neighbourhood. Racism’s root of division that began with killing native Indians and using black slaves is still active 99 years later. Entire groups of people accuse and hate each other over everything from government policy to religion. God never intended this. His purpose is explained in Revelation 7:9: ‘After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.’

A white Minneapolis police officer pinned down George Floyd with his knee, while he yelled, ‘I cannot breathe’. Later he died, causing community outrage and the dismissal of four officers. Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights lawyer, has been retained by the victim’s family. A video of the incident shows Floyd crying out, ‘My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Please, please. I can't breathe,’ while moaning and trying to cough. Floyd was eventually motionless under the officer's knee. People watching can be heard begging police to move off him. Many are drawing comparisons with Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, who in 2014 died after being choked by police, sparking nationwide protests. African Americans are nearly six times more likely to be imprisoned or jailed than white Americans. These racial disparities have given rise to Black Lives Matter.

Professor Francis Collins, the Christian geneticist who famously led the ‘human genome project’, has said he is hopeful about developing a successful vaccine to protect people against Covid-19. He has recently been asked to join the White House coronavirus task force to help the government combat the disease. As the head of the NIH - a government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research - Collins said that he was prepared to ‘say the truth’ to President Trump even if he disagreed with it. This followed the repudiation experience of leading immunologist and government adviser, Dr Tony Fauci. A prominent public figure in the fight against coronavirus, Dr Fauci is a ‘truth-teller who is incapable of doing anything except saying exactly what we do and don't know’. Collins added, ‘If there is one thing more infectious than virus, it is hope.’

The world's worst health crisis in a hundred years is not the best time for the WHO to lose its largest financial supporter. The Trump administration says the WHO ignored early warnings about coronavirus spread, took at face value Chinese efforts to downplay it, and failed to send researchers into Wuhan for vital investigation at an early enough stage. Unless WHO shapes up to better serve ‘American interests,’ it will stop funding them in 30 days. Some are asking ‘Is WHO in need of urgent reform, or is it imperfect but better than any current alternatives?’ Also, WHO refused to provide information directly to Taiwan - which is excluded from WHO membership - out of respect for China's wishes, putting millions of Taiwanese at unnecessary risk. President Xi has pledged up to $2 billion to help the WHO's global pandemic response efforts.

Poverty on the Blackfeet Indian reservation is 37% compared to 15% in Montana state. Dr Mary DesRosier is on the front lines of the opioid epidemic. Her patients struggle with addiction, depression and substance abuse. Liver-related deaths and drug-use-poisoning deaths are among the top five causes of death. But her patients are living examples of their faith; facing unimaginable challenges with faith and humour. ‘It’s been the hardest job I’ve ever done, but the most rewarding,’ she said. ‘I feel like I’m ministered to by them.’ DesRosier believes that God put a love for rituals and sacredness in the hearts of the Blackfeet. ‘Christ is the fulfilment of our traditions. We have a heart for the one true God, Jesus. I can’t do anything without him. He is my springboard, walking with me every day. In difficult situations, his grace just comes in and takes over.’

Interpol has issued a red notice to Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US diplomat, charged with killing Harry Dunn outside a US military base. She is now ‘wanted internationally’, charged with causing death by dangerous driving after her car knocked Harry off his motorbike last year. It is alleged that she was driving on the wrong side of the road. She claimed diplomatic immunity and fled to America. A Home Office extradition request was rejected by the US secretary of state, a move described by Downing Street as a ‘denial of justice’. In an escalation of the British stance, Interpol requested police forces worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest her if she crossed their borders. Pray for Mrs Sacoolas to decide to return to the UK and face the charges.

America’s food supply chain is breaking down due to coronavirus shutdown. Meat processing plants and retailers are closed; consequently farmers and ranchers have nowhere to take their pigs, poultry and cattle and face heart-wrenching decisions about what to do with surplus animals. One Nebraska pig farmer is euthanising 500 to 600 pigs a week. Poultry farmers and cattle ranchers face similar dilemmas. Vegetable and dairy farmers face similar predicaments. Ripe crops and filled milk containers which would have gone to schools, restaurants, hotels, etc. go nowhere. With increasing unemployment, food banks are reporting double the number of families needing food and food shops cannot keep their shelves stocked for lack of supplies. The demand is there and the food is there, but the connection from farm to retail has been interrupted as the debate about reopening continues in each state.