Saturday, November 20, 2021

Alternative Culture: Kyle Rittenhouse, truth and lies

 

Kyle Rittenhouse preparing to testfy

Recently, Kyle Rittenhouse declared "not guilty" of all charges, after shooting three men in self-defence at Kenosha, Wisconsin, 25 Aug 2020. Two of the men died, and the third man was severely injured.

I have been following the case, and I have to admit that it was one of the clearest case of self-defence I had ever seen.

Rittenhouse had went to Kenosha (where Black Life Matters protestors) to defend property and render first-aid. He even treated the protestors (whom he disagreed with politically). After being chased by three men (one of whom reached for Rittenhouse's rifle, another hit Rittenhouse with a skateboard and another drew his gun at Rittenhouse), Rittenhouse opened fire while retreating. Rittenhouse surrendered himself to the police straight after that.

Despite that, I am disgusted by the behaviour of the prosecution and the media coverage of the trial. For instance, 

A) NBC tried to make it a racial issue, although the men Rittenhouse shot were of the same skin colour as him.

B) The Guardian (which I used to have immense respect for) tried to make it sound like Rittenhouse went to Kenosha looking for trouble. This ignores the fact that Rittenhouse worked in Kenosha, his father lives in Kenosha and that he was asked to protect properties by small business owners.

C) Ana Kasparian of the Young Turks even conceded that she did not watch the video of the incident, even though it was available since last year

D) The state prosecutors brought tempered evidence and questioned rights during the trial.

I am left wondering why such obvious lies and falsehoods are being peddled. 

Theological review

Although not quoted in the context of this trial, I am beginning to see how trading truth for lies is in action (Romans 1:25).

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen - Romans 1:25 

I continue to pray that we as a community will not be misled by ideologues and always seek truth.