Nancy King,
Burlington, Ontario, Canada

What has happened in the Southern US lately is truly shocking and almost inconceivable. However, living here in Canada, we can only watch and wring our hands at the horrible hatred so graphically shown in your country. Many Canadians express a sense of superiority and many pat themselves on the back that “we don’t have anything like that here”. Certainly it is not acceptable here to express racial intolerance or disrespect in any way. We even have laws that are set to protect against any such. I am glad we have that but I have to think that for many people, there is a deep underlying feeling of racial intolerance. Every so often it will show its ugly head. We publicly pride ourselves on also being intolerant of misogyny, and homophobia. Although both are enshrined in law, there is no question that it is still simmering below the surface – and sometimes surfaces.

I was recently in conversation with a woman who prides herself as being “a born again Christian”. She was expounding on how terrible it is that our new sex education program here in Ontario schools teaches an acceptance of homosexuality as being inborn and not a choice. She also stated, “I hate all Muslims!” When I tried to argue both these points she went on to say, “I have never met a nice Muslim. I responded that I had dined the previous evening with a very nice Muslim gentleman. She asked me where that was and when I told her, she suddenly realized she knew this man ( he is also a person of colour). That ended that part of the conversation!

Sitting up here in Canada, I feel sick hearing about the terrible troubles in the United States. I guess I need to say to you that although we do not have the same troubles, I believe that although we have managed to enshrine many safeguards for people of colour, there is still a dangerous lingering sense of mistrust and hatred for many people. I also think the Fundamentalist Christian Church harbours a lot of that.

My final comment I would like to make is that I truly believe that somehow you have to get control of the gun situation in your country. It is horrifying to read and hear of the terrible crimes that are carried out by some person that has every right to own a gun and use it with impunity.

I wish every blessing on our great neighbour to our South.

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Gary Schrag
Overland Park, KS

I remember that Martin Luther King Jr. once said something like, [I think that one can be forgiven for being black, but not for being poor.] I thought about that when I see that some African Americans have been very successful in America, but poor African Americans may be worse off than they were prior to the Civil Rights movement. Re-segregation is a reality in some areas of the country. The success of some African Americans has really angered some caucasians. I think that the anger is predominantly among the underclass. Witness the Tea Party. When I see their rallies, they appear to be primarily white. The Republican party is also predominantly white and seems to be working very hard to appeal to the most prejudiced populations.

I am a supporter of President Obama and am outraged by the efforts of Republicans to oppose him at every opportunity. When I listened to him speak at the Mother Emmanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, I realized what an outstanding person and leader he is and I was saddened that so many are not realizing his greatness and the wonderful opportunity they are missing. It brought to mind a verse from the Gospel according to Luke (19:44) in which Jesus comments: “They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’” That may be an overstatement concerning these times, he is not “the Messiah,” but he is special. Just today we learning that he had led the nation in one of the most significant successful negotiations for peace in our history. We have been visited, hopefully we will not miss its significance.

And then there is the reaction of so many to the influx of hispanics. I am more optimistic about their integration into our nation. It will take time, but the response to people like Donald Trump does not represent a large group. Inter-marriage is far more widely accepted. When the majority of hispanics speak English and more people become bilingual the prejudice will wane as did it with other ethnic groups.

But our history with African Americans will take more time and a lot more effort. Sadly each ethnic group that has emerged has been prejudiced against them. It will take a very intentional effort by groups to obliterate racism. Even though some religious groups have worked at it, the effort has been inadequate. The white protestant churches are so busy trying to survive or be successful I would not look to them for hope. Looking at the history of human kind it is difficult to be optimistic. Ironically it may be the African American community that will save us as they keep us from self destructing. Many of the gains have come from that community. The display of forgiveness from the families of the slain in Charleston may have moved us to “higher ground.” I still have hope.

Grace and Peace.

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Tucker Edward

I am embarrassed to admit that I am addicted to violence. Embarrassed because I consider myself as a retired, liberal, progressive, peace-loving, ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church to be enamored with portrayal of such behavior . And though I have preached against war, the proliferation of easy access to hand guns, and even had the churches I served collect such weapons to be melted down and destroyed, any evaluation of my TV viewing, novel-reading, habits show me to be addicted to violent shows which always seem to start with a killing; whether it was the opening to GUNSMOKE in the sixties, where Marshall Matt Dillon guns down a villain, to CASTLE accompanying his spouse Beckett to a murder scene, I seem inured (maybe even excited) to the obvious violence portrayed. What can I say? Does the witness attributed to the Apostle Paul in Romans “I discover this principle, then, when I want to do the right, only the wrong is within my reach” help alleviate my own tendencies? (Romans 7:21) Is it any wonder then that while the polls overwhelmingly cite the American public in favor of stricter measures against gun procurement, and stiffer sentencing for convicted offenders there is still a thrill that cannot, seeming will not change. How can I criticize such responses when I am guilty of the same hypocrisy?

Recently, film director Spike Lee is in our Chicagoland area producing a film with the controversial title CHI-RAQ which unfavorably compares the violence in our city with the warfare in Iraq. It is a satire based upon the old
Greek classic play of Aristophanes “Lysisrata” from 411B.C. in which the women of Athens withhold sex until their men put an end to the Peloponnesian War. It makes some trenchant points on how to end such conflicts without further violence. While there have been pubic marches and demonstration against the deaths of innocent children and adults, maybe the more personal approach within families will help to end the killing.

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Ed Reardon

Indelibly burned into my memory is the voice of one particular African American woman in the recent massacre in South Carolina. Faced with the senseless loss of her loved one in a church on a wednesday, while that person was actively practicing her faith, and allowed by the presiding judge to confront the killer, she told him he’d taken from her the most precious gift she had in life, and in her next breath said, “but I forgive you!” Encapsulated within that voice, within that statement was the purest expression of what Christianity ought to be that I have ever heard. Mark Twain suggested that Christianity is a wonderful idea, but that nobody’s ever practiced it. That woman practices it, with humility, sincerity, conviction, and grace–she and the other survivors demonstrated all of that. And look at the good that flowed from it. Would that we all had the courage to do so.

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Garby Elmore

I want to thank you for bringing up this very important topic. I appreciate Bishop Spong’s words, quoting John, “I come that you may have life and have it abundantly”. We as Christians and citizens of the world, cannot be silent on these issues. We need to preach it from the pulpit, discuss it in groups and call out the violence and racism when we see it. Silence is not an option. I wonder if there is too much emphasis in our society on winning at all costs — winning economically, winning socially and winning in sports — also at all costs. How do we teach kids to respect one another, that winning isn’t everything? Our churches need to be places where we can “intermingle” by inviting members of of other faith traditions to come and over coffee have a conversation, and likewise we need to get out and visit as well. In a nutshell social justice must be a priority.

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Vic. Hs. Leu
Otjiwarongo, Namibia

Racism is structural violence.

Violence is the “take-away of someone’s life”.

Maybe step by step.

Share life is the contrary.

To be grateful is the solution.

To become grateful:

Learn to exchange “something” against a word.

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Bob Pattie,
Lawrence, KS

Your point of racism being rampant in society, and Biblically based, is well taken. You have spent years of writing and speaking about it. I’m waiting for you to address the Bible-based notion that MALE DOMINATION was and continues to be the foundation of the evils of which you speak.

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Wade Dizdar
McAllen, Texas

I can’t say the pressure is directly on me; it’s on them. But I’m from South Texas and went to college in New York City and in Virginia, spending about 8 years in the area. My Dad was European and then lived in Ohio; my Mom was a Southerner and farmer’s daughter.

I might not have been born if they had not “taken a chance on love” nor persisted, when economic + social success were not a given.

I believe pressure is on parties to accomplish precisely the aims of the deranged, Southern shooter; so that the impulse posting of racial comments against Southerners is babysat and encouraged. Why, oh why should a flag be removed from a whole region, when that flag is an emotional flashpoint for the very sentiments involved.

Does someone possess a final solution, for those parties romantically attached to the past such that a mad individual, “Were he to represent the entire population, Which he does not” would be moved to act and act violently? Even this logical thread is weakened, by undue emphasis on that person.

I include it, for balance though, while pointing to the Northern states. What “is it” about those other regions that qualifies them idly to point fingers of judgement at ma and pa on the farm etc. in such a callous fashion. To rear the head back for perspective is dizzying; add to that you become singled out, yourself, and it’s understood to be rare.

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