NOTICE: The Following is Religious Expression
The Bible and Black Lives Matter; Life and Death
August 25, 2020
Everyone should agree with the statement that black lives (including all sexual orientations and alternations) matter. The value of life and God’s longing for each of us to live in eternity with him is what the Bible is all about. God created man in his image,[i] “he crowned them with glory and honor,”[ii] he is patient with us “not wanting anyone to perish,”[iii] and he “gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”[iv]
Though everyone should agree that black lives matter, anyone who does so without a belief in God as their creator, has no basis for believing that any life matters. Without God, the explanation for life rests in the random interaction of non-living things. Non-living things like rocks, dirt, molecules, light and gravity have no mind, no direction, no intent. They do not do things on purpose. If life was the result of random natural events, then there is no purpose in life. To what can you look to for a universal purpose for life if there is no God? None of our individual or group purposes would have more value than any other. We each would be the judge of what is most important, and no one could reasonably argue that one was better than the other. Fighting for racial justice would have no more value than demanding quiet in the library. If, however, God created life, he did so on purpose and for a purpose.
Without God, the explanation for life rests in the random interaction of non-living things.
This paper is written from the perspective of believing in God as revealed in the Bible. I believe the Bible when it says, with good evidence, that it is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God a may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) I do not understand everything in God’s word, but I do know that he provided his word to us for our good. Where I do not understand it, I trust it.
I am a follower of Jesus. I was saved at the age of 28 after living, and messing up, my life under my own wisdom. I failed in spectacular ways. I failed through actions I knew were wrong, but I allowed myself to rationalize the wrongess away because of selfish desires. Hey, if there is no truth, then I get to make up my own for any reason. Finding God’s truth was liberating. Finding peace and forgiveness through Jesus was comforting. I no longer had to count on myself to know it all, which had been stressful and unsettling. Jesus forgave me once and for always and I prove my need for that every day.
Finally, I know that God is not on my side… or yours. God wants us to be on his side. One of the most fascinating stories of the Bible is when Joshua is preparing to enter and conquer the Promised Land.[v] If God was ever going to be on someone’s side, it would be then. But that is not what is revealed in the Bible. Why? What does God reveal as his side? I believe that God has revealed very clearly that his design includes the nuclear family, sexual purity, and that life is precious and known before conception.
It is with the hope of promoting life, black lives, that I engaged in this work.
God is not on my side… or yours
The Challenge
I was challenged to support my contention that the organization, Black Lives Matter, was promoting anti-Biblical behaviors. I acknowledge that the local chapters of the BLM organization may carry out their work with different focuses which may not mirror the national focuses. I am only addressing my perceptions of what is presented as the beliefs of the national BLM organization and where they are reflected in the local chapters. No matter the differences in beliefs, I have faith that the hope of the people working and supporting these organizations is the health and healing of the black community and our Nation.
As I researched the topic of the Biblical references contrary to the stated beliefs of Black Lives Matter, I was struck by the prevalence of death. Finding the Biblical references showing how what I perceive as the positions of BLM on the nuclear family, marriage, patriarchy, sexual relations reserved for marriage and heterosexuality was easy. Believing that God wants what is best for us and has a reason for his seemingly restrictive guidance,[vi] I have faith that there must be something he must be protecting us from. So, I went a bit further and explored the consequences of behaving in ways I believe BLM encourages. What I found was death. When you take men out of the family – more death. When you encourage homosexuality and transgenderism – more death. When you support abortion – more death. Anti-Biblical behaviors have negative consequences no matter the race of the person, but BLM seems to be prescribing that medicine in the black community with the support of many people who profess to live in accordance with Biblical teaching.
I explored the consequences of behaving in ways encouraged by BLM. What I found was death.
The real question is not whether BLM desires lifestyles supported by the Bible, it is whether the negative consequences of what I believe are BLM’s supported lifestyles, which God desires to protect us from, are merely inconveniences or if they are predictably severely damaging to black society. In the same way the pills we take to cure a headache or control high blood pressure have side effects, the pills BLM seems to be prescribing for solving unwarranted police violence against black people and racial injustice in general, have side effects. Though we believe racial peace and equality are worthy goals, just as reducing high blood pressure is a worthy goal, we would not take a pill whose side effects made our condition worse. You do not want the cure to be more painful than the problem you are trying to fix. The impression I get from people who strongly desire solutions to racism is that the side effects of BLM’s prescriptions are merely minor inconveniences without major Biblical contradictions.
The real question is whether the negative consequences of what I believe are BLM’s supported lifestyles are merely inconveniences or if they are predictably severely damaging to black society.
If we agree that black lives matter, then we should be engaged in a search for the ideas and methods that best promote black lives. We should encourage and protect the presentation of diverse beliefs and thoughts even when they are repulsive and offensive to our own beliefs. Through the active engagement of conscientious people and organizations, I believe we can improve the condition of the black community and heal our Nation. I, like many, have served our Country and have been willing to sacrifice myself for the rights of the American people. I thoroughly disagree with the Black Lives Matter organization, but I will defend their right to express their views in every legal manner. It should scare every one of us when someone’s opinion is deemed too dangerous or offensive to be accepted as part of the public discourse.
I believe that the Bible teaches truths that are contrary to the organization Black Lives Matter. I believe that Christians who support the organization are supporting a truth, black lives matter, while inadvertently promoting teaching that kills black people by the thousands every year. In the next sections I will contrast what I perceive as BLM beliefs with Biblical references and information about the consequences of living in line with BLM teaching.
Prescription #1: The Nuclear Family Structure (Dad, Mom, Kids)
It seems unimaginable to me that a young girl would dream about raising her children without her husband. Though single-parenthood is the unfortunate condition of most black mothers today, why would anyone promote an absent-husband home for the next generation of black girls. It is easy to think about the kids without a father, which I will cover shortly, but what about the added pain and stress experienced by the mother because she does not have a man to help her and care for her? The Nuclear Family is God’s design for committing to and supporting each other, raising, and teaching kids. There are no commands or teaching contrary to the Nuclear family in Scripture. We read stories of men with multiple wives, prostitution, adultery, and sexual promiscuity, but never as prescriptions for a way to live life. Most often these counter-family examples come with dire warnings.
Scripture Says:
“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Mark 10:6-9) “The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:22-24)
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” (Hebrews 13:4)
Ephesians 5:22-23 “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” … 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. … 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. … “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4
Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. (1 Timothy 3:12) “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:2)
BLM Says:
“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement”[vii] “We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. Our network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements.” They say, “Black liberation movements in this country have created room, space, and leadership mostly for Black heterosexual, cisgender men — leaving women, queer and transgender people, and others either out of the movement or in the background to move the work forward with little or no recognition.”[viii]
“Black liberation movements in this country have created room, space, and leadership mostly for Black heterosexual, cisgender men”
Consequences:
Black men are not even mentioned as part of the lives that BLM affirms except as unnamed inclusions within their categories. Men are mostly absent from BLM’s prescription for the black community. There is no doubt they want them to benefit from their efforts, but it does not seem as leaders or as a major part of their plan. It is not surprising then that the man-lead nuclear family is not part of BLM’s prescription for healing the black community. The consequences of perpetuating and legitimizing the absence of black men leading their families is more death.
When families are not together, children are much more likely become delinquent and engage in risky, violent behavior and criminal activity. BLM is rightly pointing out the problem but discourages the family structure that can mitigate the problem. “There is a widespread belief that race is a major explanatory cause of crime. This belief is anchored in the large disparity in crime rates between whites and blacks. However, a closer look at the data shows that the real variable is not race but family structure and all that it implies in commitment and love between adults.” “Even in high-crime inner-city neighborhoods, well over 90 percent of children from safe, stable homes do not become delinquents. By contrast only 10 percent of children from unsafe, unstable homes in these neighborhoods avoid crime.”[ix]
The CDC reports that 73% of births to non-Hispanic blacks are to single mothers.[x] Seventy-three percent of black children are born into a situation that spawns dangerous and often criminal behavior. The FBI data reveals that blacks are responsible for 27% of crime in the US, including 53% of all murders and 54% of robberies.[xi] 2,600 Blacks were murdered by other blacks in 2018.[xii] The conditions that foster these horrible statistics aren’t caused by race. The lack of family structure is a root cause of delinquency and risky behavior.
Furthermore, the central issue of the current racial strife revolves around unwarranted police violence against blacks. A study published in the National Academy of Sciences this year “found that violent crime rates and the racial demographics of a given location are better indicators for determining a police killing victim’s race.[xiii]”[xiv] It seems to follow that where there is less crime there are less interactions with police, and fewer opportunities for interactions with violent or deadly outcomes. I don’t mean to be controversial or dismissive of the number of unarmed black people killed by police, however the largest number I could find for 2019 was 25.[xv] Without quibbling over the circumstances of each incident, 25 is a much smaller number than 2,600. Twenty-five is .9% of 2,600. 2,600 is 104 times greater than 25. Anyone who has had the most basic first aid training knows that when you come upon an injured person, you attempt to identify the most serious injury, not the most obvious injury, to treat first.
Are we caring for the black community when we leave black women to fend for themselves and their children hurting and longing for their dads? We were all kids. We do not need to go to a statistic or study to know how much we loved getting, or longed for, a hug from our dad and mom. It is a heart-deep, constant satisfaction or pain depending on the situation. We needed the love, adoration, care, teaching and correction from both of our parents. It is a need, not a want. It produces security and peace or insecurity and fear. None of that has anything to do with race or income. There is not a child in the world that wants to grow up to be a criminal. Why would we, in love, encourage a situation as I believe BLM does, that we know produces more death?
We do not need to go to a statistic or study to know how much we loved getting, or longed for, a hug from our dad and mom. It is a heart-deep, constant satisfaction or pain depending on the situation.
Can we instead work to support black men that stay in the home and make it easier for black men to come back into the home?
References to poverty rates in mom-led homes.
Overall poverty rate in 2018 was 11.8%. Poverty rates for female-householder families was 26.8% in 2018[xvi]
Additional Reference: Married Fathers: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty[xvii]
Prescription #2: Homosexuality and Transgenderism
The issues of homosexuality and transgenderism are complex and typically painful to engage in. No one should look callously on people struggling with these desires. Though we should treat people with love and compassion, it is not theologically accurate to present this lifestyle as acceptable to God. In the same way it is not acceptable to God for heterosexuals to be engaged in sexual sin. God created two genders, male and female. God’s design for sexual relations is between a man and a woman within the bounds of marriage. It is critical to emphasize that I am not condemning people who are living outside of Biblical teaching. At the same time, the purpose of this paper is to identify Biblical teaching as it relates to the expressed purposes of BLM. I dearly hope that the lives of LGBTQ people are put at peace. I believe that there is peace and contentment through accepting the Biblical standard of sexuality and gender.
Scripture Says:
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:16-19)
“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:26-28)
“Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor 6:9-10)
“Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” (Leviticus 18:22 ~ Leviticus 20:13)
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5)
BLM Says:
“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).”[xviii] “We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum.”
Consequences:
BLM’s focus on the black queer and trans folks is clear, and though we can agree to value the lives of the list of categories they include, it is non-Biblical and I believe dangerous to affirm behaviors and beliefs that are not in line with God’s plan and genetics. I believe that encouraging someone, especially youth, to explore their sexuality to the point of making permanent physically changes, is taking advantage of vulnerable people and causing deep mental damage. Encouraging people to accept that sexual relations with whatever gender you desire is damaging.
A July 2020 survey from the Trevor Project[xix] said, “46% of youth report they wanted psychological or emotional counseling from a mental health professional but were unable to receive it in the past twelve months and that Transgender and nonbinary youth who reported having their pronouns respected by all or most of the people in their lives attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected”[xx] There seems to be a significant mental toll on LGBTQ youth. Though some of this stress can be attributed to outside factors such as people not affirming their claimed identity, the need for mental health counselling is so pervasive that it points to a deeper internal disorder.
The Center for Suicide Prevention reports that “22%-43% of transgender people have attempted suicide in their lifetime.”[xxi] These high rates compare to a study published in the journal Pediatrics, showing 8% of all teens had attempted suicide.[xxii] Another study reveals that 25% of pre-teen suicides may be LGBTQ youth. And “compared to heterosexual young men, lesbians and bisexual females were more than 200% as likely to have prior suicide attempts, and transgender males were almost 400% as likely to have such a history.”[xxiii] Over 1,000 LGBTQ youths kill themselves every year.[xxiv]
On August 6, 202, The American Journal of Psychiatry published a correction of an earlier study which had incorrectly concluded that surgery and hormone therapy had helped the mental state of transgender people. The correction states, “the results demonstrated no advantage of surgery in relation to subsequent mood or anxiety disorder-related health care visits or prescriptions or hospitalizations following suicide attempts in that comparison.”[xxv] “Compared with the general population, the researchers explain that those with sexual identity conflicts suffer from:[xxvi]
- Six times the rate of mental health visits for mood or anxiety disorders.
- More than three times the rate of prescriptions for depression or anxiety.
- More than six times the rate of hospitalization after a suicide attempt.”[xxvii]
There is “no advantage of surgery in relation to subsequent mood or anxiety disorder-related health care visits or prescriptions or hospitalizations following suicide attempts in that comparison.”
Are we caring for the black community by encouraging the practice of normalizing non-Biblical sexuality and “freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking,” when it leads to many of these people taking their own lives every year and several times as many suffering ongoing mental damage? I believe this BLM prescription leads to more death.
Prescription #3: Reproductive Rights
Now that I have made it through the light, non-emotional issues I come to abortion. I do not believe that the same little girl hoping for a husband and children ever looks forward to the time she aborts a child. I believe that it is an environment of promiscuity and teaching contrary to the Bible that leads to this unfortunate decision. In that moment, when the child dies, is she comforted by the thought that “it’s not a life,” or does she know in her heart that she has lost something precious? It hurts my heart to think about that young lady and the emotional scars with which she has to live.
Does abortion take a life? Even the well-known Evolutionary Biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins views life as “ineffably” (too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words) complex with what he says in an appearance of design. Your full DNA is present at the point of conception. The complexity and design of life are present at the instant of conception. Life does not become human at some point during pregnancy, it is fully human right away. What else would it be? Abortion ends a human life and I believe there are negative consequences, beyond the loss of life, for the people involved in the decision. God designed life and he expresses his knowledge of each of us from before the creation of the world.
Or does she know in her heart that she has lost something precious?
Scripture Says:
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;” (Psalm 139:13-14)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Ephesians 1:3-4)
“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5)
“If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” (Exodus 21:22-25) Though the Old Testament consequences were superseded by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, this verse identifies an unborn baby as a life without reference to how long the woman has been pregnant.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;” (Psalm 139:13-14)
BLM Says:
“We deserve and thus we demand reproductive justice”[xxviii]
Consequences:
In 2017, 295,000 black babies were aborted.[xxix] That is over 800 black babies killed every single day. About six black babies will be murdered in the time it takes you to read this paper. And black women have higher rates of abortion even when controlling for income, according to a 2008 report by the Guttmacher Institute.[xxx] Is there any justification for killing an unborn child? No matter the rationalization, the reality is that the successful push for ‘reproductive justice’ has resulted in the deaths of millions of black babies and emotional scaring of nearly as many black women. Are we caring for the black community by encouraging reproductive justice – the right to abort your child – which results in hundreds of thousands more black deaths every year? That is death.
Can we instead give young black girls the message that they are precious and valuable? Can we teach them that their bodies and virtue are dear and should be protected? What message are we giving young girls if we accept or even encourage them to give their bodies over to the will of a young man? Is it possible that these babies are conceived in and then killed in love?
Can we care for these women by encouraging them to bring their babies into the world? Can we provide options for them that will bless them with peace of mind and bless another family with a child that they cannot have naturally such as adoption? Can we connect them with a church or organization which can care for them and guide them in their options? Can we teach them, and the men, to behave in a truly caring way towards each other to avoid an unwanted pregnancy?
Can we instead give young black girls the message that they are precious and valuable?
Life and Death
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
I believe BLM, as revealed through their website, is against the nuclear family structure, promotes homosexuality and transgenderism, and fights for reproductive justice; prescriptions which lead to many more black deaths. God, as revealed through Scripture, is for the nuclear family structure, where people identify their gender according to his creation of them and where sexual relations are reserved for a married couple who bring every conceived child into the world. The Bible has always been an ideal, but I believe it is safe to say that even the attempt to promote and to live in accordance its teaching would greatly reduce the number of unnecessary black deaths and would be truly loving and caring to black women in particular. The truth is that even if you do not accept the Bible as authoritative or Jesus as your savior, the principles expressed in its pages produce life not death.
The non-Biblical side effects of living according to what I perceive as BLM priorities are not mere inconveniences; they are predictably devastating to the black community. Hundreds of thousands of black lives are lost every year that would otherwise be saved if Biblical guidance was heeded.
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
The Bible is criticized as restrictive to freedom. Could it be that those restrictions are for our own good? Paul says, “I have the right to do anything,” …—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.” (1 Corinthians 23) When we are acting under our own freedom, we behave in ways that shackle us with regrets, guilt, stress, anxiety, and negative consequences. That’s not true freedom. When we accept that God knows better, we put ourselves into submission to guidance that we do not fully understand in order to have the greater freedom of peace, contentment and freedom from guilt.
- What are the consequences of staying in the home and raising children with your wife?
- What are the consequences of not having pre-marital sex?
- What are the consequences of not committing a crime?
- What are the consequences of not having an abortion?
- What are the consequences of obeying your parents?
- What are the consequences of controlling your response to your sexual desires?
No matter your circumstances or behavior in the past there is hope – right now – in Jesus Christ. The Bible reveals God’s plan for the reconciliation of the world to himself through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is a plan that includes you. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24) Jesus has already paid the penalty for your sins. There are earthly consequences to our behaviors, but there is eternal life freely available to those who accept Jesus Christ as their savior.
Have the greater freedom of peace, contentment and freedom from guilt.
I believe there is a Biblical basis for accepting the truth of the statement, black lives matter, while there is an equally strong Biblical basis against what I see as the teachings of the organization Black Lives Matter. If we encourage and support the prescriptions of BLM there will be much more black death and black female stress than if we promote and encourage the teachings of the Bible. I believe it is loving to encourage true life-protecting and life-enhancing policies rather than those which demonstrably and predictably produce more death.
I believe it is loving to encourage true life-protecting and life-enhancing policies rather than Those which demonstrably produce more death.
If you have read this far, please know my heart. I pray that I have written this paper in a tone that allows you to consider learning more about the peace[xxxi] found in Jesus and the truth found in the Bible. God is a loving father with arms to hug you and with guidance you can count on. He will never leave you.[xxxii]
Brace E. Barber is a 1987 graduate of West Point and veteran 11 years of military service. Brace is a Christian Apologetics Speaker focusing on teaching parents and Churches how to immediately stop the loss of Christian kids from the Faith. Brace is the author of Ranger School, No Excuse Leadership, and The Art of War Organized for Decision Making and TESTED, A New Strategy for Keeping Kids in the Faith.
[i] Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
[ii] Psalm 8:4-6 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:
[iii] 2 Peter 3:9 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
[iv] John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
[v] Joshua 5:13-14 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”
[vi] Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
[vii] https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/
[viii] https://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/
[ix] The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: The Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/report/the-real-root-causes-violent-crime-the-breakdown-marriage-family-and
[x] National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 61, No. 1, August 28, 2012 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_01.pdf
[xi] FBI 2017 Crime Statistics. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/tables/table-43
[xii] FBI 2018 Murder Statistics. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-6.xls
[xiii] Risk of being killed by police use-of-force in the
U.S. by age, race/ethnicity, and sex https://rangerschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/police_mort_open.pdf
[xiv] What New Research Says About Race and Police Shootings https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-06/race-and-police-shootings-what-new-research-says
[xv] Fact check: Police killed more unarmed Black men in 2019 than conservative activist claimed https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/23/fact-check-how-many-unarmed-black-men-did-police-kill-2019/5322455002/
[xvi] U.S. Poverty Rate Drops to 11.8% in 2018 https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/09/poverty-rate-for-people-in-female-householder-families-lowest-on-record.html
[xvii] Married Fathers: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty https://www.heritage.org/welfare/report/married-fathers-americas-greatest-weapon-against-child-poverty
[xviii] https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/
[xix] “The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.” https://www.thetrevorproject.org/about/
[xx] The Trevor Project’s Second Annual National Survey Reveals Urgent Need for Mental Health Care and Support Systems for LGBTQ Youth https://www.thetrevorproject.org/trvr_press/the-trevor-projects-second-annual-national-survey-reveals-urgent-need-for-me”ntal-health-care-and-support-systems-for-lgbtq-youth/
[xxi] Transgender people and suicide https://www.suicideinfo.ca/resource/transgender-people-suicide/
[xxii] Trends of Suicidal Behaviors Among High School Students in the United States: 1991–2017 https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/144/5/e20191187
[xxiii] One in four pre-teen suicides may be LGBTQ youth https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/one-four-pre-teen-suicides-may-be-lgbtq-youth-n974481
[xxiv] Three gay teens kill themselves every day https://seldo.com/posts/three_gay_teens_kill_themselves_every_day
[xxv] Correction to Bränström and Pachankis https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.1778correction
[xxvi] Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19010080
[xxvii] Psychiatry Journal Corrects Conclusion of Study: Says ‘Transgender’ Surgeries Do Not Improve Mental Health https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/psychiatry-journal-corrects-conclusion-of-study-says-transgender-surgeries-do-not-improve-mental-health/
[xxviii] Did you know Black Lives Matter supports abortion, homosexuality, anti-family agenda? https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/did-you-know-black-lives-matter-supports-abortion-homosexuality-anti-family-agenda
[xxix] Abortions in the United States by Race http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/usa_abortion_by_race.html
[xxx] Abortion’s Racial Gap https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/abortions-racial-gap/380251/
Characteristics of U.S. Abortion Patients, 2008 https://www.guttmacher.org/report/characteristics-us-abortion-patients-2008
[xxxi] Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
[xxxii] Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”