Political Violence is Never the Answer

Political Violence is Never the Answer
by
July 25, 2024

Greetings from my summer sabbatical. Everything is going well. I have been recharging, reading, writing, planning ahead, and spending some quality time in Sewanee with my family. Montgomery, now 14, and Wade (8) both celebrated birthdays at the Outer Banks earlier this month. I have also been enjoying the Sunday messages focusing on the important question “What Our World Needs Now.” I look forward to being back with all of you very soon! Homecoming Sunday and fall kickoff is just around the corner!

A lot is happening in the world. History is unfolding before our very eyes. On Sunday, President Biden made the decision to withdraw from the presidential race. Just over a week ago, we witnessed an assassination attempt on former President Trump who is running for a third time. An innocent life was lost. But in my opinion, Trump was not the only person to dodge a bullet when he turned his head to the right just in the nick of time during a campaign rally. American society did as well. How a 20-year-old assassin was able to climb on a rooftop and get that close to a former president remains to be seen and certain questions still need to be answered, but violence is no way to resolve political differences. The most impactful change agents throughout history were all incredibly thoughtful, deliberate, and nonviolent – King, Gandhi, Jesus, and many others. They all realized that violence only makes matters worse. It doesn’t solve or fix anything.

I shudder to think about the kind of chaos and anger that would have ensued had that shooter been successful in Butler, PA. Unfortunately, America has a long history of political violence and assassinations. Every single time, it only furthered division and made matters much worse. I was not around in the 1960s, but having read the history books and talked to many who were alive, that was a very chaotic and difficult time to be alive. JFK was shot in Dallas in 1963 while riding in a parade. That sent the nation into a tailspin. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in my hometown of Memphis in 1968 while speaking on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel. His message and his legacy lived on and ultimately led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Bobby Kennedy was shot a few months later campaigning in California only adding to the heartbreak his family was already enduring. Somebody tried to take out President Ronald Reagan in 1981 when he was outside of the Washington Hilton. Violence is never the answer. It only furthers the divide and deepens the anger.

In a powerful speech given the day after King’s assassination, Bobby Kennedy spoke these words months before his own assassination in Los Angeles: “We seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire weapons and ammunition they desire…some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleaning of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.” Perhaps it’s time for another wake-up call in American culture. Violence will always be the coward’s way out but will only lead to more violence and anger. Also, you can’t just speak out against violence when it comes from the other party or when it is politically convenient. It must be consistently condemned and denounced. In America, we seek to resolve our differences peacefully.

For many in our world, violence is a daily reality. Think about children in Gaza, Ukraine, and many inner-city neighborhoods across this country. So many in our world long to feel safe but simply do not have that opportunity. Rhetoric always matters. Words can either build up and unite, or threaten and tear down. Therefore, choose wisely when to speak, how to speak, and pay close attention to what you say. Our thoughts lead to words, words lead to action, and action always defines character.

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