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"Love . . . believes all things."
(1 Corinthians 13:4, 7)
We often hear this colloquial phrase, "the benefit of the doubt". The origin of the phrase is unknown, but it carries a powerful implication if we act on it. To give someone the benefit of the doubt means you believe what he or she is saying even though you may have doubts. You choose to believe the best, not the worst, about another human being. Dictionary.cambridge.org has this helpful definition: "To decide that you will believe someone, even though you are not sure that what the person is saying is true, e.g. 'She said she was late because her flight was canceled, and we gave her the benefit of the doubt.'"
I wish retired officer Gregory McMichael and his son Travis would have given Ahmed Aubrey the benefit of the doubt. Had they done that, they would not have murdered him, and this innocent young man would still be alive. The McMichaels suspected Aubrey of burglary and therefore confronted him, and it escalated into a horrific scene, as shown in the video of what happened that fateful day of February 23, 2020, in Glynn County, Georgia. If they were absolutely convinced that Aubrey was the burglar and they had clear evidence, then they should have called the authorities and let them detain and question him. But they had no hard evidence and simply assumed he was guilty. Not giving any benefit of the doubt and driven by racial prejudice, the McMichael's acted foolishly and then violently.
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