Submitted by MARK J. POWELL
Editor’s note: The following release was sent to The Reporter by Mark J. Powell, a Lutheran pastor who also considering a run for the United States Senate on the Libertarian ticket in opposition to incumbent Senator Todd Young.
Lutheran Pastor Mark J. Powell, who is exploring a bid to run as a Libertarian for the United States Senate against incumbent Todd Young next year, criticized the Hamilton Southeastern school district in its support of Black Lives Matter.
Powell took exception with the school district – which is supported by taxpayers – publicly stating its support for Black Lives Matter. In an email to HSE stakeholders they wrote, “The racial division that we see today is not a new phenomenon; it is centuries-old, embedded in the fabric of our country. Dr. King articulated the impact of racism when he noted, “But tragically and unfortunately, there is another America.” And so today, we affirm the following: Black Lives Matter.”
This HSE email sent from the Administration to the school community adds to racial divisiveness and the “dumbing down” of another generation to the more complex issues at hand for the United States and for the Free World.
Last year, watching George Floyd’s death was traumatic. Anyone with a caring soul knows his life ended brutally. I see Mr. Chauvin received justice for his actions.
The subsequent protests last year did not seem out of the ordinary to me. After a few days into the daily marching, I saw professionally printed signs with the message DEFUND THE POLICE. When I saw those signs at numerous American and at European marches, that struck me as out of the ordinary.
I asked myself, who founded the organization Black Lives Matter? Here is what BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors stated in a 2015 interview: “The first thing, I think, is that we actually do have an ideological frame. Myself (sic) and Alicia (Garza) in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories.”
Why does this matter to all of us?
The call to “Defund the Police” is coming from a Marxist (communist) ideology. The urban violence and racial incitement makes more sense if it was part of a destabilizing strategy. Our CIA has a long history of destabilizing foreign governments like Guatemala, Iran and Chile to name a few – why can’t Chinese intelligence do that to us?
As a Lutheran pastor and a first-generation Euro-American who ran for the 2020 Democratic nomination for Congress and received nearly 10,000 votes, I believe and preach the words of 1 Samuel 16:7: “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Racism has no place in the heart of a believer.
As a hospice chaplain who visited many patients and their family members all over Indianapolis, my advice to Mayor Hogsett: Forget about the meetings and subsequent report cards, fix the potholes in the Black community, provide neighborhood concerts, theater and art productions year-round. Uplift the people in the neighborhood, focus on preschool and elementary STEM academies and provide micro-financing for new Black employee-owned businesses, then you will see a new spirit in Indianapolis.
If the budget is tight, ask Congressman Carson and Senators Young and Braun to go to work. Washington must be a major partner in the solution. Indiana can be an incubator of positive ideas for every community – Black, Latinx, Asian, Native American, Euro-American et al.
We still are the United States of America, now we have to show the world that it is not in name only.
The Donkeys (D) and the Elephants (R) can “hee-haw” each other. I’d rather propose new policies and programs for a Better America.
This guy just seems like a self-aggrandizing jackoff who’s mad about things he doesn’t understand. This is typical of far-right lunatics and this reads like everyone’s drunk uncle who they avoid at thanksgiving.