In the wake of the jury’s verdict in the Zimmerman case, it
is difficult to reconcile different feelings and emotions. While I understand the horror and pain that
any parent feels at the untimely, violent and tragic death of their child, I can
also see both sides of the equation having myself been stalked and robbed at
night. Here, I see less about race than
about perceived race. Mr. Zimmerman is
as misunderstood and now targeted by racist blacks just as much as the rabid
white racists have painted Trayvon Martin out to be a thug and druggie. The truth is, of course, somewhere in the
middle.
While avoiding canonizing the tragically dead, and with all
attention to his past and record and how Zimmerman must have felt in that
contextual situation, I have been a bit concerned by the apparent lack of
detail concerning Martin’s past positive accomplishments. It is entirely appropriate to include
commentary about anything illegal in his past during a trial, of course, but is
it standard operating procedure to excise everything which points to the good
that he had done? After the trial, when
a lot more became public, it has come to light that this young man, before his
sudden descent, was more of a model citizen. He scored high marks in mathematics
and the physical sciences, and was taking flight lessons. Some have been quick
to connect the motive to take flight lessons with a supposed desire to
transport drugs. We have no way to know what was in Martin’s heart. Making
suppositions about his thoughts and desires is uncalled for, and an attempt to
try the deceased, who was not the one on trial.
This raises a question less about race than about
values. What happened in this youth’s
life which convinced him that drugs were a better choice than all the good he
had been involved in? What changed so
fundamentally that his behavior began to change too? As much as I realize how painful it is to
realize and receive unpleasant truths about those we love, we have to remember
that we are human and make mistakes, sometimes with long-reaching or even
tragic results. George Zimmerman chose
to carry a gun that night. Trayvon
Martin chose to act suspiciously at a time of night when he should have known
better. So what gives?
My bet is that drugs were playing a large part in the
personality changes and the unwise and rash choices which led to the tragedy
and its aftermath. The exact way that they played a part may never be known.
Whatever the family may feel about the verdict, Mr.
Zimmerman will be paying for the rest of his life with death threats and
notoriety, and remember that the jury saw things we, the public, did not, and
arrived at their verdict. In light of
the legal structure in Florida ,
there was no other verdict they could lawfully return. I have seen emotion-driven trials end with
the judge actually setting aside a jury verdict after publicly scolding the
jury for ignoring the LAW and following their hearts. Legal enforcement is NOT meant or designed to
allow feelings to dictate trials, though it often happens anyway.
In conclusion, the Byzantine Catholic Church only asks why
so much positive in this young man’s life before the sudden aberrations was
carefully and thoughtfully excluded from the public record and commentary until
now. While we of course support the
legal system and hope for its continuing evolution and thus the verdict, there
are still some disquieting questions which remain unanswered.
His Holiness Mar Laurentius I
Patriarch
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