Our Weekly Gun Massacres Mark a Devastating Cultural Failure
My Latest Article
The failure of the government to limit guns is deeply discrediting U.S. democracy. But we must acknowledge broader cultural failures too. Where are the moral forces that once trained people in love of neighbor, the sacred worth of others and self-restraint? Read on below.
News and Events
Have you heard about The Grove, a recent documentary, "about one church, in a small Appalachian town, that dared to believe, that love is love," a film about church inclusivity by Justin Baker? I was glad to help out with an interview, as well as Brian McLaren and Stan Mitchell. Just learn about the story of this church.
There's a trailer here, and you can stream it here.
Book Notes
My new book called Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies is set to be released in just over four months. It is currently available for pre-order.
I am now scheduling interviews and podcasts related to this book. To all my media and podcaster friends, now is the time! To schedule an interview, please contact me or preferably our publicist Jason Pearson at Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (jpearson@eerdmans.com)
I kind of like what historian Kristin Kobes DuMez says about my new book:
“Unflinching in his analysis, David Gushee traces the sobering history of Christianity’s all too frequent complicity in authoritarian rule. Yet Gushee also shows how Christians have within their faith the tools to restore democracy at this critical juncture. Reminding readers that democracy must be fought for, Gushee equips the American church for this battle. Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies is an immensely important book for our present moment.”
And this is from historian Randall Balmer:
“The bonds between Christianity and democracy are frayed as never before, not only in the United States but around the globe. In Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies, one of our best Christian ethicists takes on this crucial topic and charts a way forward—one that does not entail obeisance to a ‘Christian strongman.’ This is a very good and important book.”
And then this from theologian-ethicist Ruben Rosario Rodríguez:
“The most persistent myth in US history is the notion that we are a Christian nation. Without denigrating the contributions of the Christian religion to the development of American society, David Gushee critiques idolatrous forms of authoritarian reactionary Christianity that actively undermine democratic institutions, which in his analysis reflects a global trend toward populist antidemocratic politics. In place of religious totalitarianism Gushee offers a Christian defense of democracy, applicable mutatis mutandis in other political and religious contexts, that aims to restore the American idea once eloquently described by Alexis de Toqueville as a ‘beacon on a hill.’”
Here is the publisher's summary of the content:
"Gushee calls us to preserve democratic norms of civil rights, rule of law, and shared governance, even as many Christians grow reactionary and antidemocratic. Broadly surveying global politics and modern history, he analyzes the ways Christians have supported authoritarianism today and in the past, aiming to understand why and how this happens—and how to prevent it. Ultimately, he develops a better model of Christian political engagement, looking to traditions of congregational democracy , dissident Black Christian politics, and covenantal theology as a guide.
Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies advocates for sane, ethical, and compassionate politics in a world where many Christians are instigating discord and vying for power. Any concerned Christian will leave its pages with eyes clear to the dangers of our current form of political engagement and with insight into what democracy is truly meant to be."
Here we go!
Other Book Notes
Finally, I’ve mentioned my former student, colleague, and friend Isaac Sharp recently, but wanted to pass along this fun interview with him on his book The Other Evangelicals: A Story of Liberal, Black, Progressive, Feminist, and Gay Christians—and the Movement That Pushed Them Out
Thank you for traveling together as we follow Jesus and seek a loving, ethical way to live in our world today.
DPG
Our Weekly Gun Massacres Mark a Devastating Cultural Failure
Our weekly gun massacres in the United States are shocking in the extreme. They set us apart from other nations in the worst possible sense.
I have not yet been in or near one of these massacres. The closest I have gotten is that the recent shooting in an Atlanta medical office building took place in a building I have visited with my aged mother-in-law. That sent a chill down my spine.
But at this point, it appears to be only a matter of time for me, and for all of us, before our immunity will end. No person is immune. No public place is immune.
It’s like how if you play the old game Battleship long enough, eventually those red pegs stop landing in the water and start hitting your ships.
When will it be my turn? Or my loved ones’ turn?
I don’t think any of us should underestimate the collective trauma we are all enduring. We can either pay reasonably close attention to what is happening, or we can attempt to stop up our ears and close our eyes.
Neither choice is a good option.
If we pay reasonably close attention, we learn names and a handful of details — like, for example, the detail of children with their faces shot off at an outlet mall in Texas, or a 6-year-old left orphaned as the rest of his family is murdered, or a 9-year-old shot in a Nashville Christian school because she tried to do the right thing by pulling the fire alarm when a murderer stalked the hallways of her school.
“You can only stuff your fears down in the basement for so long before they wrench the door open and find their way into your unconscious or conscious mind.”
If we stop up our ears and close our eyes, we can perhaps evade such details for a while. But it’s like any other form of reality denial — in the end, you can only stuff your fears down in the basement for so long before they wrench the door open and find their way into your unconscious or conscious mind.
The ubiquity of these killings is negatively affecting the quality of life in this country in ways we can hardly quantify. One of them that seems already visible is that more and more people are arming up to protect themselves and then accidentally or impulsively using their guns in routine situations like kids ringing the wrong doorbell or a dispute between neighbors.
I will give you one homely example of a quality-of-life hit from my life. My wife, daughter and I were watching “Glee” the other night. In season two, they staged a flash mob scene at a crowded mall. The actors danced and sang joyfully, and the extras seemed to be having just as much fun.
Hundreds of young people having a blast being young around 2010 — what fun! What could possibly go wrong? Then I thought something I certainly did not think when we watched this show a decade ago: What a target rich environment! What a dangerous thing to do, gathering hundreds of unarmed innocents in a mall! Then I grieved deeply in my spirit thinking about how low we have descended as nation.
How did we get here?
Our gun massacres reflect terrible failures both of our government and our culture. Government is failing in its first and most basic task, that of providing security for the population.
“Our gun massacres reflect terrible failures both of our government and our culture.”
Whether you operate from a Romans 13 vision of government or a Lockean social-contract vision, on both accounts the first task of government is security. Romans 13: God gives government its coercive powers to deter and punish wrongdoers who would harm the innocent. Locke: People give up some of their freedom in order to contract together to secure collectively their life, liberty and property.
But our government officials (chiefly Republicans) are unwilling to take the steps necessary to provide basic domestic security from gun violence. Government’s failure to prevent the distribution of military-grade weapons to a civilian population is staggering, especially in comparison with the policies of other countries.
This failure of the government is deeply discrediting U.S. democracy. It leads one to wonder whether there are certain government officials at the state and federal level who find it in their interests to preside over the military-grade arming of a hostile, divided population. Is this, as Jeff Sharlet has argued, scenes from a slow civil war — or perhaps a war on targeted population groups, which has been characteristic of some of these massacres?
But we must acknowledge broader cultural failures too. Culture is failing in that we are repeatedly producing people who are willing to massacre others. Where are the moral forces that once trained people in love of neighbor, the sacred worth of others and self-restraint? What is happening in the souls of people who decide mass murder is the best concluding act for their lives? Remember when people used to be taught in their families and congregations to love their neighbors?
“Culture is failing in that we are repeatedly producing people who are willing to massacre others.”
While mental illness is a factor in some of these gun massacres, we must not lose the language of evil. From the first gun massacre of our era at Columbine in 1999 until today, when we read the stories of many of these killers they quite often read like a descent into evil — often aided and abetted by cultural and material products easily accessed in our libertarian free market. There are plenty of resources on sale to help train the American soul into mass murder.
Do people have parents anymore? Do parents teach children anything anymore? Is there anyone telling people there are better ways to deal with anger, frustration, conflict, job loss, rejection or political differences besides slaughtering people?
We are a very sick society. We need our politicians to do their jobs. But we also need our culture, including its families and congregations, to do theirs. God help us all.
This article first appeared on Baptist News Global.