Decisions We Make

Ryan Grim writing for Huffington Post posits 6 decisions that could have saved Trayvon Martins life. Here is what he writes:

1. Zimmerman could have decided not to follow Martin. 
For starters, George Zimmerman is not a law enforcement official trained in spotting suspicious or criminal behavior. Zimmerman told a 911 operator that Martin seemed suspicious and appeared to be "on drugs or something. It's raining and he’s just walking around, looking about." It was not 3 a.m. when Zimmerman spotted Martin. Rather, it was early evening, a time when people typically "walk around, looking about." Had Zimmerman simply gone about his business, we never would have heard about either of them.

2. Zimmerman could have listened to the 911 operator and not followed Martin.
Talking to an operator, Zimmerman complained, "These assholes, they always get away." He later narrated, "Shit, he's running.”

"Are you following him?" the operator asked.

Zimmerman confirmed he was. "Ok, we don't need you to do that," the operator told him. If Zimmerman had simply let Martin run away, he'd be alive today. Martin, it later emerged, found Zimmerman as deeply suspicious as Zimmerman found him. Only one of those judgments turned out to be correct.

3. If Zimmerman had not been secretly armed, he probably wouldn't have followed Martin. 
Zimmerman knew that he had an advantage in any possible confrontation with a neighbor: He was concealing a weapon. If a fight started, and Zimmerman began losing, he could pull out the gun and shoot his opponent. The state of Florida allows Zimmerman to patrol his neighborhood armed, which emboldened him.

4. If Zimmerman's weapon had not been hidden, Martin probably would have dealt with him differently.
When a man follows another, tensions rise. One way or another, those tensions led to a physical confrontation. But if Florida law barred concealed carry, Martin would have been able to see that Zimmerman was armed. Zimmerman defenders suspect Martin threw the first punch. But even if that's true, would he have done so if he knew Zimmerman was carrying a loaded weapon?

5. Zimmerman could have been barred from carrying a weapon.
Zimmerman had a long history of violence, including a restraining order for domestic violence, felony charges of resisting arrest, and assaulting an officer (the charge was pled down to a misdemeanor and then closed; Zimmerman's dad was a magistrate at the time). He was bounced from a job as a bouncer for being too aggressive with patrons, the New York Daily News reported. And a family member accused him of a pattern of sexual molestation. He wasn't convicted of any felony charges, which could have barred him from a gun license, but in some societies, people would determine that such a history makes someone less than an ideal candidate for the right to carry around a hidden loaded weapon.

6. Zimmerman could have not shot and killed Martin.
Regardless of who threw the first punch, a series of aggressive decisions by Zimmerman led toward the fight that broke out. Zimmerman therefore bears some responsibility for the altercation. If one starts a fight and loses, the result is generally a bloody nose, a fat lip, a black eye, a concussion or even a broken bone. That's the price one pays for getting into a fight, and it tends to be a deterrent to starting a fight. Zimmerman could have chosen to take his lumps and rethink the decisions he had made that landed him where he was. Instead, he pulled out his gun, squeezed the trigger and killed Trayvon Martin.

Of course, there's a seventh decision that could have been made that night --Trayvon Martin could have chosen to not defend himself.

Whatever the verdict and how we feel about it, these are important questions. They are also questions of faith and how we related to our fellow human beings.

If we expect children to live up to our expectations they often do and if we expect them to live down to our expectations that is likely to happen as well. Zimmerman obviously had definite ideas about his neighbors that contributed to this senseless death.

People of faith also listen to others to help them in their decision-making. In this case again Zimmerman chose not to listen to the wise counsel of others who were more experienced than he in such situations.

Then there is the question of whether one should arm themselves. The standard reason people give is for self-protection. Yet, most of us are ill trained to handle weapons, which in turn can be used against us making ourselves more vulnerable to attack than if we were not armed. Also, you have to be willing to live with the consequences of discharging that weapon and possibly taking another’s life. That is a heavy burden for people of conscience to bear.

Gun packers by the very act of carrying and displaying a weapon project an aggressive persona, making others nervous. Most killings are spur of the moment, occasions of passion when one loses control and if they have a weapon, when their reasoning is impaired they are more likely to use it. Zimmerman’s background certainly shows this type of personality and it is questionable that he should be able to be armed.

I have lived in high-risk environments and we wisely, in my opinion chose not to carry weapons, they just increase danger rather than prevented it.

Scripture tells us that those who live by the sword are likely to die by the sword. Today we could just insert the word handguns (much less other artillery) with the same message. If we are called to be peacemakers in this world and take our faith seriously there appears to be far better choices than choosing the “right to carry.”

Again, it has been my experience when approaching someone who may appear frightening to you, smile and see how that changes the situation. We can arm ourselves with far better things than weapons of death.