You might have seen a yard sign in your neighborhood with colorful font and capitalized words with a black background. At the top in white, it reads WE BELIEVE. The words below are six phrases you will recognize if you are familiar with the marches and protests often featured in the news.
These phrases aren’t in and of themselves contentious. They are general statements designed to be a quick thesis representing a larger cause - perfect for parade signs and chants. They are simple, use general terms, and true. I came across the sign on a bike ride and posted it to a social network claiming:
“This sign says more about what the person doesn’t believe than what they do.”
I realized that these statements aren’t basic creeds of the owner of the yard. Each of the statements comes with a greater background, steeped in meaning, as they are part of movements best identified by these trite sentences.
Almost everything is sent into the public sphere with bias. It’s important to recognize that bias so we know how to understand what we come across. In this case, the sign was created by Jameesa and Bryan Oakley, a black wife and white husband living in Portland, Oregon. Recognizing the myriad variables that contribute to the fullness of a person and the presence of exceptions in the American population, I don’t want to assume more than I can know about the Oakleys from my vantage point on the opposite side of the country. Based on their “Who We Are” page, I know they did not cast their votes for Donald Trump in 2016. For purposes of this article, based on their race, living in Portland, and creating a sign listing this conglomeration of movements, we can statistically assume the Oakleys would consider themselves liberal. Again, this is simply recognizing the bias of a source.
I’d rather have a relationship with the family that posts this sign than have their yard sign fully represent everything I should know about them before meeting them. Since meaningful relationships are impossible with every single family, even in one neighborhood, and the dynamics of personal conversation plays out differently than this online article, I’d like to share my thoughts on each of the statements and the meaning of its presence on the sign.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
In recent months, I’ve learned that this statement is not a deemphasis on blue lives or all lives but an emphasis against the current and historic violence and prejudice black people experience for the color of their skin. People are still grasping this emphasis, just as I’ve had to learn it. Therefore, it’s conceivable to me that this emphasis has developed over time as I have heard it explained only recently but knew the phrase “black lives matter” earlier.
Once “black lives matter” is understood as an emphasis on the current oppression of blacks, I believe the phrase is self-evident and should be obvious to everyone.
However, its presence on this sign also brings to mind the Black Lives Matter organization. The organization is about more than racism against black people. Its website includes its intention for “disruption of the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement”, multiple mentions of support for people who identify as trans or queer, and fighting ageism. While BLM’s focus may be on the blacks experiencing mistreatment in these areas, these areas are not limited to black people.
NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL
This statement is, again, itself obvious. I believe that in very general terms, people believe the same thing. The difference lies in the specifics of what and how to get there. This is the case for immigration.
Because of America’s history as a melting pot, and its role on the international stage, we must allow immigrants to move here. It’s a matter of doing it sensibly through means that are attainable and make for mutual growth. I know that these words are extremely general and so only skirt (if not miss) the contention in immigration debates.
The point stands that, of course no human is illegal. That’s not an adjective that can coherently be placed on the noun of “human”. Its context amid the other beliefs on the yard sign point to the owner’s general stance on DREAMer policy and immigration reform.
LOVE IS LOVE
This point is a direct signal to the marriage equality movement and by extension LGBTQ+ rights. To say “love is love” is to say “the sky is the sky.” However, the movement’s use of the first “love” is speaking on the non-traditional forms of romantic and sexual relationships.
There, there’s no room for acceptance, affirmation, and love for those who believe homosexuality is sinful.
Read that again. Homosexuality, the living out of romantic and sexual relations with people of the same gender, rather than the confusion of it as the defining identity of the person. A fully biblical worldview instructs that sexual practices outside of a marriage covenant are also sinful. In God’s eyes, divorce, affairs, and homosexuality are equally damning and the people committing them are equally able to accept God’s forgiveness and His salvation.
Those who identify with some non-traditional sexual persuasion or along a newly founded gender spectrum and their allies must be able to live with the double standard of accepting and affirming everyone’s lifestyle and beliefs while rejecting the equally and rightly developed beliefs of people that disagree with them about gender and sexuality.
The placement of “love is love” on the yard sign typifies the rest of the sign. It’s to say, “love everyone but believe these movements and statements.”
Women's Rights Are Human Rights
Here’s another heavy prompt that deserves more time and space. Women are human so they deserve the same rights as men. Women are designed to complement men. Women do things men can’t do, by and large. Men do things women can’t do, by and large.
Recognize the cultural norms and conceptions of gender stereotypes. In 2020, feminism is protesting a 1950s conception of womanhood, something few circles still strictly subscribe to.
A major issue within this movement is abortion. I believe any discussion between a pro-lifer or pro-choicer comes down to their immovable presuppositions about the humanity of the baby/fetus inside the mother/host. If the humanity of the baby is acknowledged, it’s murderous to consider that a mother’s choice will outweigh the right to life of her child.
To reiterate, this statement is correct. Its presence on the yard sign simplifies and skips all the topics that the umbrella of women’s rights cover.
SCIENCE IS REAL
Of course. The purpose of science is to discover what’s real and how things work in the world. I’ve long believed the Christian church can do more for environmental protection than it historically has been represented as doing.
When it comes to climate change, something the SiR movement raises awareness of, let’s patiently discuss facts and data with one another, looking to experts and peer-reviewed and responsible research to show the trajectory of the earth’s processes. Don’t become an overnight expert in something that takes years of study. The world is too large and its history too long to think we have a solid grasp on what we read to be able to represent it well in conversation. Let the experts advise the governmental authorities. In America, learn the experts’ data so you can inform your government representative on how to vote.
Let’s also not cherry-pick science. Reality doesn’t care about preferences or convenience. Since science is real, don’t skew the research or ignore hard data to conclude that fetuses aren’t human and men can be women. The SiR statement on the sign is laden with layers that the statement itself doesn’t cover.
WATER IS LIFE
I have to admit that this the movement I am least familiar with. More basic than other things on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, water is the most necessary thing for living organisms. All people should have access to a continuous source of safe water. Unlike the rest of the sign, I can only assume that WiL is on here to raise awareness for the international need.
To me, WiL sticks out as an unrelated topic from the rest of the sign. Certainly, clean access to water is something not everyone in the United States has, though they should. On the WiL website, they state that 1 billion people lack access to safe water. Since the US population is over 300 million, unsafe water is an international concern.
The other movements on the sign have a more domestic focus. We would all do well to put our troubles in a greater focus. “There’s always someone worse off than us.” Not discounting harmful and real experiences of oppressed minorities we should remember that we live in under a government that does not all the time seek our physical destruction or disenfranchise its citizens economically or spiritually, like oppressive governments in North Korea, Cuba, or Venezuela.
Injustice Anywhere Is a Threat to Justice Everywhere
Nobody can give 100% of their time, interest, and resources to every worthy cause. We all have skill sets we develop throughout our life and certain passions that make us more or less inclined to careers and hobbies. Let’s be consistent and honest in our arguments. Don’t let others’ first impressions of you be based on fragments that omit context and other strains of the conversation. We will never see exact and complete victory over societal ills or bad legislation in this life. Don’t expect perfection, encourage, and experience personal growth. Work for what you can affect and even more so, make friendships with everyone.
These statements are too generalized to be able to accurately represent the family that posts this sign in their yard. It reminds me of the “Beware of Dog” signs. It tells me to enter at my own risk, that opposing thoughts aren’t welcome or up for discussion. Of course, they have that right on their property. But it tells me more what the people living there are against and that friendship with them is contingent on believing the same thing.