The Urgency of Now
Too often, we find ourselves heavy with grief as we learn of yet another attack on a place of worship. At the same time, we must wonder if our society has become desensitized — no longer righteously outraged by the desecration of our most sacred houses and the trail of blood and tears these mass shootings and violence leave across the United States (U.S.) of America. How long before our attention span shifts to a different headline — if it is covered at all? When will the images of bereaved families, children traumatized, and rows of white crosses and trees clad with memorial ribbons finally awaken our full sense of humanity?
For two decades now in this 21st century, our society has mourned the tragedies that occurred in mosques, temples, churches, and faith-centered schools. The connection to racism, bigotry, and the patterns of violence in America should shake us to our core. We should be so outraged by the loss of so many innocent lives that the halls of Congress couldn’t deny the demands for reform to restrict accessibility to firearms and destructive devices, strengthen background checks universally, enforce an assault weapons ban, and increase awareness around gun safety and preventative measures.
Sunday’s tragedy in Grand Blanc Township, located near Flint, Michigan, according to The Associated Press News, resulted in at least four fatalities and eight injuries. The gunman, an ex-Marine from a neighboring town, drove his vehicle into a crowded Sunday church service, opened gunfire, then set the church building afire before he was fatally shot by police. Presently, these actions are not considered acts of terrorism. The Federal Bureau of Investigation instead categorizes Sunday’s devastating acts as an “act of targeted violence.”
Exactly two weeks ago today, September 15, 1963, marked the 62nd commemoration of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama (AL). The bombing resulted in the loss of lives, including four girls who were worshipping in Sunday school. Nearly two-dozen were injured as the terrorist act by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) demolished the church. The bombing was not an anomaly, as bombings targeting Black churches, businesses, and homes were among the normalized acts of violence in AL and across the segregated American South. The murders of school-aged children sparked outrage and further elevated the 20th-century Civil Rights Movement in its persistent rally for moral legislative reform on state and federal levels.
The urgency of now to protect the sanctity of life beyond neatly phrased condolences is critical. Here we are 62 years later, still facing systemic fractures in our society — on all levels and in each branch. We still face a normalized culture of violence and a romanticized, out-of-touch interpretation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
We still face faith communities under siege. We still face the irreconcilable loss of innocent lives — albeit Sunday school children in 1963 or school children praying for the start of the school year in 2025. How many more generations must bear witness to the commemorations and memorials before a change will come?
How long must worshippers go to their altars in fear?
How long until enough is enough?
With Love and Lament,
Rev. Dr. Waltrina N. Middleton
Executive Director