Here We Go Again

Early last fall (2008) I said that the violence of multiple killings would increase this year and that these killings would become almost weekly events.  We have seen this come true.

It will increase.  I hate to say this, and you will have the chance to see if this is correct.  I predict that as 2009 goes on, the weapons used will be more powerful in some of these killings, that in addition to guns, explosives will be used to kill multiple peoples.  What makes me say this?

We are seeing the consequences of the stress of mimetic conflict in American culture.  We are a culture of violence, gun ownership, violent video games and surrogate violence in movies and TV.  The downwardly spiraling economy and job losses contribute to the emotional instability of persons who feel they must 'compete.'  In short, get used to the violence that is coming down the pike, it will get worse before it gets better (if it gets better).

It is time for us as Christians to be realistic.  We can either arm ourselves to the teeth and defend our "God given rights" (sic) or we can do the things that make for peace.  There is no middle ground on which to stand.  In this sense the escalating violence in America is a call for the church to take a stand: either it will continue to justify the view that violence stops violence or it will turn and follow Jesus allowing it's witness as peacemakers to permeate our 'gun culture.'

I am not a pessimist, but a realist.  I understand well the mechanics of mimetic theory and I cannot help but wonder if, as a society, we are not coming apart at the seams, because the fabric of our lives is only stiched together by hatred, violence, bitterness and retribution.

I am full of hope though, for I believe that Jesus can and does make a difference when we follow Him.  I pray the churches will find their way clear to acknowledge the deadly affects of the justification of violence and instead follow Jesus, the Prince of Peace

Michael

Comments

[Tom Truby]

Thanks Michael. I appreciate your interpretive comments on contemporary life. It helps me remain non-anxious with my parishoners and even provide them with a broader frame for understanding our culture, its deterioration, and the hope of the Gospel.

[nancy hitt]

This past Sunday during prayer requests we found ourselves overwhelmed trying to remember accurately the multiple shooting events of the past week. People were bewildered by the seeming randomness of the events. Reading an article in the NY Times today about the increasing violence in Iraq toward gays helped me account for our own phenomenon- we've identified groups of victims of violence and moved to protect them such that violence toward them no longer brings any sort of relief to the tension around them. In Iraq, the violence toward gay men is intense; they are such "legitimate" targets that families kill their gay sons and then refuse to claim the bodies; they are deeply ashamed of gay members. Here, there is little or no shame involved, in fact, we have pride... and no "acceptable" targets for the violence among us. Hence our multiple random shootings that we struggle to understand. I appreciate your perceptions Michael; we need to remember that the answer is NOT an acceptable target, but rather, following Jesus. Eliminating targets turns our violence back on ourselves- at which point we do well to turn to him!

[michael hardin]

Thanks John and Nancy. As you can see almost every day since this post there have been killings with multiple deaths (including one today at a Michigan college). What I see happening is a mimetic doubling effect, the more it occurs, the more it will occur. Can it be stopped? Certainly not as long as we have guns as available as we have here in the US and as long as the stresses of mimesis (job layoffs, downscaling, uncertainty, etc) keep rising. As we head toward summer expect to see this as an almost daily occurrance with people everythwre saying "it has never happened here before." Then comes the heat of summer....