I am sad that I wasn’t all that surprised. I wish I was surprised; I wish I was shocked. But on Saturday, as I drove back from the ordination and consecration of the new Bishop in Rochester, and heard the horrible news about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, I just wasn’t that surprised. Sad? Yes. Deeply weary in my soul? Of course. But not surprised.
Given the divisiveness of our current culture and the stunning temperature of the political rhetoric in this country, political violence felt inevitable. News media presented aghast on Saturday but a number of media outlets have been stoking the flames of partisan fervor for years. It helps ratings and drives viewer loyalty. But also it ratchets up rage and promotes a climate of violence.
We have, in our nation, grown far too comfortable with violence – especially gun violence. At this point, I grieve the fact that I am incapable of being surprised at mass shooting reports. There have been so many and so many tragic deaths: in schools, on military bases, in grocery stores, at concerts, at worship services. And at a presidential political rally. Lives are cut short without warning; families are shattered; bystanders forever scarred.
And while the people present, including a former president, grieve and hurt and try to heal, the rest of the nation moved on immediately to the political impact. The next day my Facebook feed was filled with people, on both sides, attempting to spin the shooting, spin the assassination attempt.
Of course folks feel strongly about the presidential election. In every election, from local to national, rights and protections feel up for grabs; personal and social values seem vulnerable. I get it. Elections matter. But we have to be better than this – as a nation and as citizens.
And especially as Christians. We have to resist the unholy forces of dehumanization that permeate our political culture and our society. We are baptised Christians. We have taken a vow to “seek and serve Christ in ALL persons.” We promise to love our neighbors as ourselves. We have pledged to God that we will “respect the dignity of every human being.”
Thomas Merton wrote, in 1966, another fraught and messy time in the history of our nation, “Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God.” Our ability and willingness to see Christ in even the opponent is our witness in this fractured time, in our fractured nation. We do this work in the name of the One who prayed that we all may be one.
Your companion in these times,
Bishop Jeremiah