Violence of 2016
Exploring the whys and what-nows of the BLM and mass shootings
Jackie: Watching Good Girls Revolt. It makes me wonder which stories and people The Future will make shows/movies about that come from the BLM movement or the rise of Trump.
Jeremy: Exactly. There’s almost always groups getting shut out.
Matthew: Speaking of terrible things let's discuss the Orlando night club shooting.
Jackie: I remember seeing all the texts and phone calls from people in the nightclub to their loved ones.
Matthew: It was heartbreaking but I am glad for the response of our elders at our church to that shooting.
Jackie: Please tell me it was love and grace?
Matthew: Yes and prayed for the victims’ families.
Matthew: And there were so many shooting this year from Ohio State to the 4th of July week shootings of Philando Castille and Alton Sterling. Even in Sacramento, Joseph Mann, a black man who suffered from mental health issues was shot by police. They even tried to run him over with a squad car.
Jackie: The Mann shooting really tears me up.
Jeremy: Remember Trump’s tweet after the shooting, where he was all like “I told you this would happen. I can prevent it in the future” and we’re all like “man, can you imagine if this guy were president when a tragedy like this happens?”
Jackie: =/
Matthew: And that is now only 17 days away from being a reality.
[more on president-elect Donald Trump tomorrow.]
Matthew: I follow BLM Sacramento on FB and there are some events I want to attend this month. I want to get more involved in that. That Nehemiah sermon felt like Pastor Mark was telling us, “Now is the time.” And personally, I’ve felt this call for a while now. I don’t know if the AND campaign will expand out here since it is mostly in Atlanta and I want to do something now.
Jeremy: I had a great conversation with the Anglican priest at the church we’ve been visiting. It’s a church plant that’s about 12 years old. He’s spent that time building up the core body, but said he thinks they’re ready to start doing more in the community. It’s hard to balance those two things, especially with young churches.
Matthew: Definitely. Our church is unique in that sense because it was heavily involved in the community because it was in a coffee shop and owned the coffee shop with all the profits going towards fighting sex trafficking. Our church has since moved out of the coffee shop and to a new building in a neighboring town.
Jeremy: One of the things that impresses me about the church is they seem more focused on loving our neighbor.
Matthew: Wait… Are you saying that their theology affects how they treat their neighbor in tangible ways?
Jeremy: weird, huh?
Matthew: Rather quaint I would say
Jackie: And that Nehemiah series was *FIRE EMOJI* . I hope it was a foreshadowing of Origin 2017.
Matthew: Agreed, Jackie.
Matthew: Overt racism came back in vogue. Not that racism went away but people feel more emboldened to be overt about it. Ugh.
Jackie: The least helpful thing for me this year has been supporting Black Lives Matter while people yelled Cop Lives Matter or All Lives Matter.
Matthew: Walking back home from a BLM protest, some guy in a pickup truck screamed, “Fuck you!” at my wife and I.
Jackie: Infuriating
Matthew: My response has been: All lives do matter that is why I am saying black lives matter because too often they haven’t mattered.
Jeremy: I’m still processing it all. I think the racism thing and the gun thing are sort of connected. Both are about a perceived safety. Both seek to maintain a way of life without really considering your neighbor.
Matthew: Ding ding ding
Jeremy: I think what we’ve seen is individualism running it’s course. Individualism +power. People feeling threatened and taking measures to protect themselves and only themselves
Matthew: Exactly as a culture we are concerned about me getting mine.
Jackie: Eff the world!
Jeremy: Lots of people are under economic stress, but only certain groups have the power to do anything about it. So they use the power to protect themselves and screw everyone else. What I’m trying to say is that I think I’m becoming a Marxist
Matthew: I thought it was interesting that Andy Crouch talks about a gated community that had another gated community within it on the latest Pass the Mic episode. And how even those who are even richer than the rich still want to protect their own over and above being a loving neighbor
Jeremy: That’s a good image for the white church. Few groups have more power and protection than the white American church.
Matthew: Right. And those two things don’t lead to humility or vulnerability. Or a willingness to listen or to love.
Jeremy: I love that formulation by Crouch.
Matthew: And what was it that Paul said? If I don’t have love but do all the spiritual things I’m just physically noisy Ruckus. *basically. And the ruckus was definitely brought in 2016
Jeremyyep, that’s pretty much it. It’s like the church is finding ways to not love people.
This is a good article: How nostalgia for white Christian America drove so many Americans to vote for Trump
