Another incident of political violence. We should all be grateful that no one was hurt as gunshots rang out I the Washington Hilton Saturday night. As the President had his third brush with such violence, he called for unity and bipartisanship at this time. How ironic that it was in the press briefing room named after James Brady, Reagan’s Press Secretary, who was severely injured in the 1981 assassination attempt.
Brady, partially paralyzed and in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, established the United Against Gun Violence Center, which has advocated for a sensible gun policy. Saturday, the assailant had several weapons. At this point we do not know whether he was able to purchase them legally or not, but that may be beside the point.
The angry heightened rhetoric that has created an atmosphere in which such violence has become acceptable over the last thirty or forty years. We have seen it in the assassination of doctors, bombings of health clinics, murders of state representatives, and shootings of Members of Congress.
It doesn’t seem to matter what the political views of the assailants, whether on the right or the left. We must put an end to the language and behavior of violence by both true believers and the government purporting to act on our behalf.
Prayer for the Day
Oh, God, we cry, not another time,
As we live the impact of political violence?
Why is it we are so beset by those, full of hate,
Who think the answer lies with a bullet?
Move us, O Holy One, beyond the belief
That in our Nation, issues can be settled by murder.
In the name of the One who counsels us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We must condemn political violence, but we must also condemn hate and hate speech. You cannot condemn one without condemning the other. For hate is itself a kind of violence that kills the spirit and corrupts the soul of a person and of a nation. And that vicious cycle of violence and hate, of hate and violence, can only lead to the demise of our country and the destruction of our humanity.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga)
The extreme form of power is All against One, the extreme form of violence is One against All. And this latter is never possible without instruments.
Hannah Arendt, from Crises of the Republic (1906-1975)
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
Or take the path that sinners tread or sit in the seat of scoffers;
But their delight is in the law of the Lord,
And on that law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season,
And their leaves do not wither, in all they do, they prosper.
Psalm 1: 1-3