I have been thinking a lot about how we respond to tragedy in this country, especially when law enforcement is involved. What troubles me most is not disagreement over facts, investigations, or even verdicts. What troubles me is the glaring inconsistency in our moral outrage, what I would call selective outrage, especially when law enforcement is involved. We do not seem to grieve unjust death equally anymore. Instead, outrage rises or falls based on identity, politics, and usefulness to a narrative.
That inconsistency should bother Christians deeply.
Featured Snippet Takeaway: Selective outrage over police killings reveals a deeper moral failure in our culture, where truth and justice are often replaced by political loyalty. A biblical view demands equal concern for every unjust death, not outrage that depends on who the victim or officer happens to be.
I want to be clear from the beginning. I am not writing this to defend law enforcement blindly, nor am I writing this to condemn it broadly. Scripture calls us to respect governing authorities, but it also calls us to hold them accountable. Both are true. What I reject is the idea that justice changes depending on whose side someone is on.
Why Selective Outrage Should Concern Christians
As a Christian, I believe truth matters more than tribe. Justice matters more than ideology. Scripture does not allow partiality, even when it is emotionally tempting. God does not measure the value of a human life by politics, race, sexuality, or media usefulness. When we do, we step outside biblical justice and into something far more dangerous.
The problem with selective outrage is not simply that it is unfair. It is that it trains us to stop caring about truth. It teaches us to react first and evaluate later, if at all. It turns tragedy into fuel rather than a moment for sober reflection.
That is not how Christians are called to respond to injustice.
Two Cases, Two Very Different Reactions
Consider two law enforcement killings that could not have produced more different public responses.
In July 2017, Justine Damond, a 40 year old woman living in Minneapolis, called 911 to report what she believed may have been a sexual assault near her home. When police arrived, she approached the squad car while wearing pajamas. She was unarmed. She posed no threat. Without issuing a warning, Officer Mohamed Noor fired a single shot through the open driver’s side window, killing her. Noor was later convicted and served prison time. There was no ambiguity about whether the use of deadly force was justified. It was not, as documented in the criminal charges filed in the Justine Damond shooting.
There were no riots.
No nationwide protests.
No cultural meltdown.
No sustained media outrage.
The legal system handled the case. Accountability followed. Grief was real, but it did not explode into chaos.
In January 2026, Renee Good was shot and killed by a federal ICE agent during an active immigration enforcement encounter in Minneapolis. Video footage of the incident circulated quickly online. The footage shows Good refusing commands from officers and driving her vehicle forward while an agent was positioned directly in front of the vehicle, as seen in surveillance video showing the moments before the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good. Whether that action constituted a deadly threat is still under investigation. No trial has occurred, and no legal determination has yet been made regarding whether the shooting was justified.
Despite the lack of a completed investigation or legal ruling, outrage erupted immediately.
Protests spread nationwide.
Media coverage intensified.
Celebrities and politicians weighed in.
The verdict was assumed before facts were settled.
That contrast should stop us in our tracks.
Truth Comes Before Outrage
One of the most important principles in Scripture is that judgment must be based on truth, not impulse. We are warned explicitly against answering a matter before hearing it fully. That warning exists for a reason.
In cases involving law enforcement, truth often takes time. Video footage must be reviewed carefully. Context matters. Commands matter. Threat assessment matters. Intent matters. None of those can be replaced by emotion or ideological reflex.
In the case of Justine Damond, truth was clear. The killing was unjust. Accountability followed. In the case of Renee Good, truth is still being investigated. Declaring injustice before facts are established is not righteousness. It is impatience disguised as compassion.
As Christians, we should be the loudest voices insisting on facts before fury.
Supporting Law Enforcement and Demanding Accountability
Some people act as if supporting law enforcement means excusing every action they take. That is not biblical. Others act as if demanding accountability means rejecting authority altogether. That is not biblical either.
Scripture calls governing authorities servants of God for the good of society. At the same time, Scripture condemns unjust shedding of innocent blood. Both principles operate together.
I support law enforcement because I believe God values order, protection, and restraint of evil. I also believe law enforcement must be held accountable when power is abused or life is taken unjustly. Those beliefs are not in conflict.
What I cannot support is outrage that appears only when a story fits a political narrative.
The Role of Media Amplification
Media coverage shapes public emotion. What is amplified becomes urgent. What is ignored becomes invisible. When two similar tragedies receive wildly different levels of attention, it shapes how society understands justice.
The killing of Renee Good was treated as a national crisis, dominating headlines, drawing nonstop commentary, and fueling protests across the country. The killing of Justine Damond, despite being a clear case of unjustified lethal force that resulted in a conviction, quietly faded from national attention without sustained outrage or cultural mobilization. I have written before about how this pattern of chaos and selective attention distorts justice in my earlier post We Are Not Going Back to 2020.
That difference sends a message about which lives deserve collective grief. That message is not subtle, and it is not harmless.
Christians should be deeply concerned when media amplification appears driven by ideology rather than consistency. We do not need to speculate about motives to observe patterns. The patterns speak loudly on their own.
Unequal attention leads to unequal outrage. Unequal outrage leads to distorted moral priorities.
Why Identity Based Outrage Is So Dangerous
When outrage depends on identity, justice becomes transactional. A life is mourned not because it was unjustly lost, but because it advances a cause. That approach reduces people to symbols and tragedies to talking points.
This is where selective outrage becomes spiritually corrosive. It trains us to see people not as image bearers of God, but as representatives of a tribe. Scripture leaves no room for that kind of thinking.
Every unjust death should grieve us.
Every abuse of authority should trouble us.
Every accusation should be examined carefully.
Not because it helps our side, but because truth demands it.
The Christian Call to Moral Consistency
Biblical justice is consistent or it is not justice at all. God condemns unequal weights and measures because they corrupt trust and truth. When outrage is selective, we are using unequal moral weights.
Consistency does not mean assuming guilt or innocence automatically. It means applying the same standards to every case.
We should grieve the death of anyone killed unjustly by law enforcement.
We should wait for investigations when facts are unclear.
We should reject chaos and mob judgment.
We should pursue truth, even when it is inconvenient.
That posture does not weaken justice. It strengthens it.
Why This Matters for Society
A society driven by selective outrage cannot sustain justice. When facts no longer matter and emotions dictate guilt, trust collapses. Law enforcement becomes either untouchable or disposable, depending on the narrative of the moment. Neither outcome is healthy.
Christians are called to be salt and light in moments like this. That means slowing things down, not inflaming them. It means telling the truth plainly, not shouting slogans. It means caring about every life, not just the ones that trend.
If we abandon consistency, we abandon credibility. And when Christians lose credibility on justice, we lose our witness.
Choosing Truth Over Tribe
I am not interested in picking sides. I am interested in telling the truth. Truth sometimes affirms authority. Sometimes it confronts it. Sometimes it comforts victims. Sometimes it demands restraint from crowds.
What I know is this. Outrage that depends on politics is not righteousness. Justice that depends on identity is not justice. And truth that waits for facts is not weakness.
It is obedience.
We should be equally offended by unjust killing, regardless of who the victim is or who pulls the trigger. Anything less is moral inconsistency, and Scripture does not allow it.
Arch Kennedy
Bold, Unfiltered, and Unafraid
Watch my full commentary below:
We Are Not Going Back to 2020
I appreciate your commentary and I have learned to trust that you sort through issues with an eye on truth and with a Christ-centered heart and responsibility.
Thanks for taking the time to write and share your thoughts with us.