Gun Violence: A Good Friday Reflection

Gun Violence? Some might think this a strange way to reflect on Good Friday. My theology of the cross is not exactly the old school "blood atonement" theology. I find that over simplified at best and problematic at its worst. It's not surprising then that as I mark these observances, I find myself reflecting more on the story and what it says about our human experience and human condition than about my Christology per se.

This year it has been the violence of the story that has stuck with me.  As I look at our sacred story I have to wonder, are we any better?  Do we react out of fear and doubt?  Have we become any less violent?

In a way, this post has been brewing for some time.  The observance of Good Friday has just given me the ability to voice it.  For a little over a month the issue of Gun Violence has been haunting me. Both the very public Trayvon Martin case and the more personal death of a neighbor have left me grasping for clarity.  Please understand, this is not a post to try and answer the old question of gun control and constitutional rights.  It is simply my unfinished, but best attempt, to make sense of what I've seen.  

It seems safe to say that most have heard about the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager shot by a self-appointed neighborhood watchman.  The attacker, George Zimmerman, called 911 because the teen "looked suspicious."  He claims he shot in self-defense. While I know I am an outsider and do not know the full story, a few things are clear.  He was unarmed.  There are no marks on his attacker.  The 911 call indicates that his attacker pursued him, despite the dispatcher's advice. After following and hunting him down, He shot him.  Yet despite this, he has not been arrested.  I echo what many have already said- that the boy was racially profiled and attacked. The truth is we've created a culture where a black teen in a hoodie is automatically suspicious. If he had been white would the shooter have found him "suspicious?"  I suspect not.  Furthermore, if the victim had been white would the shooter still be free? We can't be certain. Finally, if the victim had been white would there be such a hateful smear campaign to paint him as a gang banger? This hateful response shows it isn't JUST George Zimmerman or the police Department who act out of racist sentiment.  Rather than admit that we've created a culture that profiles, we've sought to justify the killing by blaming the victim. 

When I look at this case, I see that we have not change much from the crowds who cried out for crucifixion.  They were afraid, they were reactive and impulsive, and they quickly turned to violence.  Even the closest disciples abandoned Jesus out of their own fear.  We are still a people controlled by our fear; in this case our fear of those who are "other." We are a people that, despite our talk of equality, still fears a black man in a hoodie, still sees him as inherently dangerous.  I say we, because yes, WE are part of the problem.  Zimmerman may have pulled the trigger, but our culture, or system has created that fear in him and in others.  Like the crowd on Good Friday, we react from our unfounded fears and resort to violence.  For Zimmerman, the reaction was a gun shot.   But when are we too reactionary?  When have I profiled those around me? We may not pull the trigger, but do we contribute to a system that leads the Zimmermans of the world to do so? When does our fear lead us to betrayal?  Could it be the way we've turn on the victim?  It seems so. Of course it's not just this case, we've seen a number of hate crimes from racism, homophobia, or just xenophobia.  As we journey into Good Friday, and hear the familiar story, I suspect that if we were honest with ourselves we might find our faces among the crowd.

The difference between the crowd in Jesus' time and us today though, is that we have become much more efficient and powerful.  We have guns that can take a life in an instant.  Indeed, we now even have guns that can take multiple lives, entire crowds of people, in an instant. This in particular is what has haunted me this past month. I debated posting about this, because I don't want to feed the sensationalism.  But I decided to do so because people should know the personal effects you don't see in the media.  We see just enough to be desensitized but not enough to see the full and tragic reality.  I suspect if we did, we'd be changed by it. I have been.

It was just over a month ago that Shelby and I woke up to hear her neighbor (soon to be mine) outside rather agitated around 4 a.m.  He was mentally ill and this would happen sometimes, but this time he seemed more upset.  The police came; we heard some commotion then a pause for awhile.  I don't remember what they did to reengage him, but soon things escalated.  The police were yelling, and then we heard two gun shots.  That was it.  I laid there in disbelief for a few seconds until the police banged on the door, yelling for us to get out now.  They didn't know if they had hit him- he had scrambled inside the door, where he died. The news said he had a gun. It was a BB gun.  Did the police follow protocol? At first I thought so, but now I have serious doubts from what I've learned after the fact. Without too much detail, it seems they shouldn't have been approaching him without SWAT there among other things.  If they did follow protocol, then the protocol needs to change. It should allow for measures to reach a person in mental crisis. This shouldn't have happened the way it did.  The situation escalated in a way that it shouldn't have.  The case is still under investigation, but as I listened to the interaction that night I couldn't help but think, "why are they provoking him? They're overreacting." 

We have the power to kill in a moment.  Deep down I believe that we are getting better but so often we are still the crowd calling for crucifixion, we've just become more dangerous.  You wouldn't see that from the media.  You wouldn't see the aftermath.  You wouldn’t hear about how helpless one feels to listen to violence unfold, wondering if there is anything you can do to stop it.  You wouldn't see that this was a person.  That he was a neighbor, that he planted Shelby's tea olive tree, that he was an animal lover who just rescued 5 kittens, that he was loved by his mother and sister... and in an instant he was gone.  We have become terribly powerful.

We haven't changed that much, we still call out, "Crucify him!"  Before you accuse me of blasphemy, I am not comparing these men to Jesus or making them out to be a Christ figure.  Rather, it is just the opposite.  I am comparing Jesus to them.  Jesus, who Christians believe was God incarnate among us, took on the worst violence we can to do each other.  Our Christ suffered at our hands and still suffers with those suffering and dying today.  If there is some comfort for me, it is in believing that our victims are not alone, that God is with them still, even in their darkest hours, even as God's own created children are the ones with the hammer and nails or the gun.  Easter is coming; Christ will conquer not only his death but every death.  But for now, I will walk into the shadows of Good Friday.  I will see myself in the crowd and repent.  I will grieve not only the death of my Lord but of all my brothers and sisters. It won't be pleasant, but I hope that you can join me.

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,

et lux perpetua luceat eis.