Stage In The Sky

Recently, Jason Whitlock received a letter from a woman where she criticized him for talking about the problems in the Black Community, but not coming up with solutions. So, I had to get some thoughts down. Because I don’t believe for one second that she’s actually looking for solutions. She’s looking to shame Jason into silence so wickedness can continue. 

What I’m going to say is going to sound shameful by today’s standards. People will think that I’m an awful person or I’m a self-hating Black. But I’ve been holding it in for a long time. So here goes.

I’m not a fan of today’s Black Culture…and by Black Culture, I’m talking about the stereotypes, the mainstream lifestyles, behaviors, and mindsets promoted by today’s black entertainers and cultural leaders.

When I heard the lady’s criticism of Jason Whitlock, I literally stopped everything while getting ready for work to record a video about it. I had to.

To sum it up…I mainly wanted to hit on several points.  

1. Pointing out the Problems IS a Solution. 

One of the biggest problems with today’s Black Culture is that they don’t know what they’re doing is wrong. They don’t know that they’re behavior is wrong. They don’t know that they are living sinful lifestyles and they don’t know what Christ wants or instructed, despite calling themselves Christians. 

The first step to change is “Awareness”. Building schools and holding camps are great. But they don’t solve the crux of today’s problem of morality. Jason Whitlock, Delano Squires, Royce White, TJ Moe, Shameka Michelle…even everyone in this awesome Uncle Tom documentary…you could take it as if they’re just bashing the Black Community, but I’d say that’s an indication of your own vanity and pride.  

These are black people. How can they “bash” the Black Community when THEY ARE part of the Black Community. 

2. “You Have to Provide Balanced View” is Hypocritical Nonsense that’s all about Ego and Self-Centered Narcissism

With the exception of journalists…the notion that you must “present both the good and bad things about a person, group, or cause” to give your audience a “balanced view” is nonsense. I reject this notion.  

“But Rock! You have to be fair and point out what’s wrong with the other party if you’re going to point out what’s wrong with this one.” 

No, I don’t. That’s not the point of constructive criticism or scolding someone for something they did wrong. When you’re trying to correct someone, to help them get better…making sure you give a “balanced view” or pointing out what other people are doing wrong waters down the MAIN ISSUE.  

This is a classic Deflection tactic, to feel less guilty, avoid negative consequences, and put the blame on others. When Men call out Women for being single-mothers, women often deflect by saying things like “what about those deadbeat dads? It takes two to tango” to lessen the guilt or responsibility for having hooked up with those deadbeats.  

It’s the same with Christians who say things like, “he who is without sin cast the first stone” or “we’re all sinners” and “sinning is sinning” to ward off judgment and avoid shame for their immoral behavior. 

“But, Rock! It’s not fair that (insert either gender/race) is constantly being picked on and called out. It makes it seem like they’re the only ones doing bad out here. We’re not.”  

Consider this…let’s say I’m in a boxing gym surrounded by other boxers. Everyone’s trying to get in shape and master the techniques…but the gym coach is constantly picking on me. He’s constantly pointing out my weaknesses and sloppy punches.  

I’m looking around. Everyone’s throwing sloppy punches. Everyone has flaws and weaknesses. But the coach keeps picking on me. He keeps calling me out. It SEEMS like I’m the worse boxer because I’m the only one getting called out.  

I can take this several ways. I can act like a lot of my peers do where I’m upset that the coach is constantly picking on me. I can get mad and say something like, “What about them!? They’re messing up too!”  

OR…or…I can humble myself. Trust in my coach. Focus on what he’s saying and do my best to correct those flaws so I can actually get better…and then, I might be even able to help others in the class. 

Seriously think about that. If the coach is constantly picking on you while neglecting the other fighters, it could be because he doesn’t like you. Sure. Or, it could be because he cares more about you than anyone else in the gym. And if you just set your pride aside and listen…you could end up being the most skilled fighter in the whole class. 

That is…if you really do want to be skilled and get better like you say you do. So the question is, do you want to get better? Or do you want to just fit in with the rest of the gym where everyone else is weak, flawed, and basically set up to get beat up when they’re faced with a real fight.

Now, let’s talk about the hypocrisy of those who argue you must “present a balanced view”… 

Last month, I got some criticism from my first live-stream because I talked a little bit about Jehovah’s Witnesses and some of my JW family members felt like I didn’t present a balanced view about the Organization.

First off, the video wasn’t about JWs, it was about me and my life journey which I can’t get through without talking about my experiences with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Secondly, what if my experience with the JWs wasn’t balanced? What if most of my experiences with them were horrible?

Here’s where I say it’s hypocritical…the ones who claim we should provide a balanced view when it comes to issues…they don’t care about providing a “balanced view” when it’s something they’re complaining about. 

What do I mean?

Well…when’s the last time you heard a Black Lives Matter activist talk about the great things the police are doing? Like the white cops who adopted an 8-year-old black boy after his black father killed his mom, sister, and stabbed him. Do you think BLMs care about providing a balanced view about the police, so as to not portray all cops as racists? No?

When’s the last time you ever heard a Feminist present a balanced view about how great men are and why we need families with fathers there in the household?  

When’s the last time you’ve ever heard a Jehovah’s Witness give an ounce of credit to Catholics for their missionary work for generations to spread the Gospels all around the world? Never? 

My point being, is that you don’t care about your principle of being balanced. All you care about is your movement and your cause. And anything that’s said against your cause, anything that criticizes it in the slightest, you deem it wrong, the enemy, the problem, something to be silenced, something that has no right to exist because the only thing that matters to you is you and your ilk. Not justice and equality for all. And that’s why I detest you.  

“But Rock. You’re trying to tell me…” 
 

YES! I care about ALL PEOPLE! This is what my Lord and Savior commanded us to do. To love our neighbors as ourselves. How can I do that without feeling a type of way when I see us killing each other so senselessly. When I see us willingly rejecting God’s laws, when I see everyone doing what’s good in their own eyes, when I see everyone thinking they know better than God. OVER AND OVER AGAIN! The Bible’s full of chapters talking about these things. Mankind’s greatest folly is when they forget God. It’s when they reject the Lord’s teachings to do whatever they want.  

Bringing me to my last point.

3. People are avoiding the Bible because they don’t want the Problems to be Solved. 

The lady asked Jason Whitlock about Solutions. It’s the Bible. It’s always been the Bible. It’s always been the word of God and Christ’s teachings. I know…Everyone will bring up the same issues…that there’s inconsistencies in the church’s teachings, that even Christians can’t seem to agree on things.

But therein lies the beauty…. you’re going to be judged as individuals. And if people just took responsibility, if they put forth the effort to stop relying on humans, including their pastors and congregations, if they just went directly to the source and read what the Bible said with their own eyes…the world would be far better off.

When it comes to the Black Community and Black Culture, whether the problem is black men, or black women, or whether there’s equal blame to go around, equal responsibility…none of that matters if everyone was going directly to the Scriptures and living their lives according to God’s will. 

Alright, man.

In one of my last videos, I talked about how I use fitness and writing fictional novels to escape. I said, I don’t like this world. There are things I enjoy in life. There are people I love. I am happy to be alive but when you so longingly seek the Kingdom of Heaven, when you know this world is messed up and it isn’t until Christ returns that all wickedness will go away…I can’t help but see my existence as one of endurance and slight suffering. I think having a loving companion in marriage will ease the burden. But if I listen to worldly wisdom…I can’t expect anyone to want to be a part of my world with this attitude. So, I’m not sure what to do. Then I remember what the Apostle Paul said about suffering. 

Romans 5:1-5:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.