Well, stupid blocks on WordPress are not its only problem. This blog was scheduled on their calendar to go out on September 5 at 8am. No idea how WordPress screwed this up, but it is getting so frustrating, I may move my blog to another host.
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I am not getting lazy (although some think I have been that way for a long time! 😉 ).
But I am just finding some folks saying some things better than I can, and some have better grounds for saying it. Such is the case with New York’s need for police. Welcome to a guest blog by BeautyBeyondBones, a courageous young woman who lives in NYC and is a Christ-follower.
Her story can be reiterated in a number of cities that have called for defunding police, maintaining the ignorant BLM line that they are the poor victims, all the while setting fires in their own cities and destroying what they are incapable of making. Such sad schmucks deserve our pity, not hatred. (See 2 Timothy 3:13 and Deuteronomy 11:16)
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New York Needs The Police
by beautybeyondbones, September 3, 2020
NYC is not safe anymore.
And it’s because the city desperately needs police presence.
I don’t have to tell you about society’s current tidal wave of hatred and detest towards our men and women in blue. Battle cries to “defund the police;” publicly canceling anyone who even considers that “blue lives matter.” There is a [sw]elling uprising against law and order, and while – sure, it may seem “woke” and a noble bandwagon to jump on, the fact of the matter is, there are serious consequences to alienating those who are there to protect and defend. And that is being seen in full scale in Manhattan, no matter how much the mainstream media may try to downplay it.
(And Mom and dad, I apologize ahead of time for the worry this post may ignite. Please know that I am being safe, taking precautions, and frankly . . . not doing anything stupid to get into a dangerous situation.)
My friends and I got back from Maine on Monday night at midnight. And the city was lights out. Dead. For a city that used to literally never sleep — where you could go out at any time, on any day, and see swaths of people milling around — it is alarming that Manhattan is so quiet. And why? Because half of New York has left, and those that have stayed behind are scared to go out past 10.
Outdoor restaurants close at 10 pm. Historically 24-hour CVS’s, bodegas, and diners — now all close at 10. Parks – which have never been gated up . . . now, locked with a chain and padlock at 10.
Why? Because it is no longer safe to be out after dark.
Perhaps you may be thinking I’m overreacting. Sure . . . just a typical overdramatic millennial who’s extra skiddish because she’s a young woman who lives alone. Please. I have never once felt scared in NYC. Ever. Until now.
It was such a shock to go from “Mayberry,” Maine back to Gotham. The night my friends and I got home, I got a text from one of my friends — that morning, there was an arrest made in her building. A homeless man had been living in her stairwell for MONTHS, and had been stealing packages. This was in a super nice building on the Upper West Side — arguably one of the nicest, most affluent neighborhoods in Manhattan.
A man. Living in her stairwell.
Which is particularly alarming and crazy, because she had been getting her packages delivered to my doorman building for quite some time now, because all of her packages were going missing.
Crime is up. You may recall the incident I had just a few months ago: where a BLM radical YouTuber accosted me outside my building, and forced me to get on my knees and hail BLM while he livestreamed it. I was one of a string of young women he “vlogged” that day.
Graffiti tags are absolutely everywhere. The population of homeless people has soared, and so has their boldness. My friend was curtly confronted by a homeless man who pressured her into VENMOing HIM money, when she explained she didn’t have any cash.
My “neighborhood watch” Citizen App on my phone pings incessantly throughout the day and night, notifying me of crime in my current vicinity. Unsettling reminders for sure.
These are not just isolated incidents. Homicides. Robberies. Burglaries. All have skyrocketed recently. And why? Because cops are afraid to do their jobs anymore.
Why put your life on the line, when — if you act to defend yourself, it could be filmed and end up on national news where you’ll be labeled a racist, and prosecuted?
They’ve had enough. And so they’re walking off the job. In startlingly large numbers.
The NYPD has recently cited “ongoing challenges,” including an “increase in retirements” and “deep budget cuts.”
That is terrifying information. Terrifying.
In case you missed it, back in June, one billion dollars was cut from the NYC police budget. And the impact of that are now beginning to be felt.
What is going to happen to our country if law and order is not the backbone of society? Truly? What will our world become?
Now here’s the tough part. Because yes – we need to support our men and women of the badge – but it is also true that there are “bad apples” that are drawn to the allure of the police force, and the power and -sadly, weaponry- that goes along with it. But to completely throw the entire baby out with the bathwater, just because of a problematic bunch . . . it is wholeheartedly unwise.
Are the horrific and heartbreaking incidents of unjust police brutality that have happened in recent months absolutely unwarranted, unjust, and deserving prosecution? One hundred percent yes.
But those handful of terrible, terrible incidents do not color the vast majority of blue men and women who truly have dedicated their lives and their livelihoods to protecting and serving the community, and keeping people safe.
It is a job that I cannot imagine waking up and doing every day.
And it is a job that, yes, probably should have more training and vetting, and support, and accountability, than it currently does.
But we need to support law and order in this country. Without it, we are creating a scenario ripe for malice, and foul play, and all sorts of corruption. A scenario that we are beginning to see play out in Manhattan.
Yes – we need to stand up for the innocent lives lost to unjust police force. We need to demand justice for Brionna Taylor, for George Floyd, and for those heartbreaking examples of lives lost at the hands of cops.
But we need the police.
If that means supply more adequate training – so be it. If that means more checks and balances within the system – full steam ahead. If that means a stricter vetting process to become a man or woman in blue – let it be done.
But we need the police. And we need to support the police.
Lord, may the civil unrest that is plaguing this country come to a peaceful end. May our brothers and sisters see one another as just that: one family — one human race, all with dignity and inherent value. May we come to respect one another and earnestly desire to work together to come up with creative and effective solutions to make each and every person in this country feel safe, and supported. And may any tinges of racism be expunged from the hearts of those harboring such darkness, and be replaced with Your love — a love that sees the dignity and value of each and every human life – from conception to natural death. Amen.
“This is what the Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.” Ez 37:5
The Spirit's Call 