On Tuesday of this week, attorneys for Karmelo Anthony filed an appeal in a Texas courtroom, requesting a new trial. Mr. Anthony’s lawyers made their legal argument citing the fact that several of Mr. Anthony’s rights were violated in the duration of the trial. For one, the jury was not comprised of his peers. None of the jury members were Black. Second, they argued Judge Roach did not conduct himself with judicial impartiality. Third, the defendant was not allowed to testify on his own behalf. As such, Karmelo Anthony’s trial deserves a fresh set of eyes.
I must admit: I did not follow much of this case. Social media was up in the air about the specifics of this blatant miscarriage of justice, but I willingly did not follow it. For me- as a Black father leading a majority Black congregation with Black sons- I chose not to get into the fray. No matter what I would have said, it would not have landed well. I know that. I had so much I wanted to say, but really what was there to say? Was I surprised that this happened in America? No, not at all. Was I heartbroken this event occurred after George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, and Eric Garner? Absolutely. But in the end what could I have said? What word could I offer that would soothe anyone hearing about this situation? A 19 year old Black kid was sentenced to nearly four decades years in prison for fatally stabbing a fellow White student. What was there truly to say? By the time I was able to find words, social media had done its due diligence. The internet streets already brought up the trial of Caysen Allison– another 19 year old who fatally stabbed a fellow student. Bloggers and commentators already placed these two trials side-by-side, exposing the discrepancies of the verdict. Here, Caysen was White and the other student was Hispanic. Allison was charged with negligent homicide and received a prison term of 10 years. Anthony– the Black student stabbing the white student, however? 35 years, first-degree murder.
Please understand, this post is not about the details of this case. I am not here to litigate who was right and who was wrong. No matter how you slice this, it is an unfortunate situation for everyone. The Metcalf family lost a son. The Anthony family also lost a son. There are no winners in this situation– only losers. So why even mention this trial? I mentioned this ordeal because it was the request for a new trial that struck a chord inside of me.
Think through this with me. The verdict was reached last month. Twelve jurors unanimously returned a verdict of guilty. Case closed. Yet one month later, Mr. Anthony’s lawyers are requesting the trial to be reviewed. Retried. Revisited, even after the verdict was determined. That depth of courage is notable. It is almost as if they were saying, “We’re not going to accept the decision you handed us. We request this matter to be reexamined.” That request ignited something for me. It led me to think about areas in my own life where I have taken what was simply handed to me without questioning it, without demanding the matter to be reviewed– places in my own life where I have taken other peoples’ words instead of doing the difficult work of approaching things from differing perspectives. Too often I have simply accepted the conclusion without ever doing the hard work of sitting with the difficult questions. I’ve taken the easy way out too many times.
The reality of the matter is that we all bring our own biases into conversations of race, religion, and reality. We all find ourselves guilty of filtering things through our own lived experiences. Rarely do we see things as they are; we see things as we are. Most times we fail to recognize or acknowledge the experiences that we allow to color our perspectives. We see things as we are taught to see things and never stop to question those perceptions. We take without questioning, never realizing that some of those perceptions are doing us more harm than good. Many of us find the advice written by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13– “[to] put away childish things”- a bridge too far.
As I see it, a healthy spirituality is not related to anything outside of us. It is not based on how many religious services we attend nor the number of spiritual experiences we have. A healthy spirituality is anchored in our willingness to see God as the one who calls us beyond–beyond our religious dogmas, beyond our traditions, beyond our own preconceived explanations. At some point- for the sake of our own spiritual wellbeing- we must pursue a fresh set of eyes, a renewed spiritual perspective.
This is unsettling for most in religious spaces because religion is marketed for its claims of certainty. Religion is not the space we turn to for ambiguity and nuance. Religion, as a system, provides comfort during the changing moments of life by being the one thing its adherents can depend on. No matter what happens around me, I can be certain of God. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
I, for one, no longer believe this is the chief goal of our religious spaces. The limited conversations and understanding that we have of God should not turn us into rigid, dogmatic believers. Faith should provide us with a more wholesome, inclusive view of the world. Faith should not make your world smaller, more limited, or more exclusive. My faith commitment does not look like being tied to a legalistic tradition, detached from the larger humanity. True faith looks like walking a path of exploration, awe, and wonder, seeing God in the faces of everyone that I meet.
God remains at work in the world around us. We cannot appreciate those works, however, if we are trapped by our own biases and blinding indoctrinations. Life rarely offers us neatly packaged answers. Life is messy. Life is chaotic. Life is full of brokenness. Yet, life also gives us places of joy, places of light, and places of compassion. There is yet beauty at work in this world. All that it takes is that we rid ourselves of those stale, outdated eyes and see things from fresh perspective–with new eyes.
Take time to ask. Learn to appreciate. Commit to wholeness. Refuse to accept things as they are. Demand more from yourself and your spiritual framework. Give yourself the permission to question your answers. Allow yourself to walk away from things that no longer serve the abundant life you deserve… because who knows? You may have missed something the first time around…
Graced & grateful,
jsb