FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A Pastoral Response to ANOTHER Mass Shooting
By Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral
Fort Lauderdale, FL
SunshineCathedral.org
A high school in Broward County has been attacked. Another mass shooting. More victims. More traumatized children. More devastated families.
There have been almost 30 mass shootings in the US just in the last 45 days. Let that sink in. No other developed nation has such an incomprehensible mass shooting epidemic.
I used to say, “that’s not who we are.” I acted as if each outrageous mass assault was an appalling exception to who we are as a nation. And, of course, the attackers are few in comparison to the larger population. But I can no longer say it isn’t who we are. It continues to happen and we do very little to prevent it from happening again.
Oh, some of us cry, or pray, or yell into the ether that someone should do something. But how many of us demand that our government leaders do something? How many of us use our vote to bring about positive change? How many of us can’t be bothered to vote in any case? Our inaction, apathy, or acceptance of this on-going soul sickness of our nation is showing who we are. I don’t like it any more than you do. In fact, it breaks my heart to say it. But the evidence is clear: As of this moment, this IS who are. We are a nation that allows our children to be sprayed with bullets.
This time, the tragedy is in my county. This time, the violence is on my local news broadcast. This time, the senseless brutality has struck near me. But, of course, it was naive to ever imagine it wouldn’t be my community next.
Aurora showed that this could happen anywhere.
Sandy Hook Elementary School showed that this could happen anywhere.
The Washington Navy yard showed that this could happen anywhere.
San Bernardino showed that this could happen anywhere.
Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston showed that this could happen anywhere.
The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, TX showed that this could happen anywhere.
The Pulse nightclub in Orlando showed that this could happen anywhere.
Las Vegas showed that this could happen anywhere.
And now, Douglas High School in Broward County.
God forgive me for not expecting it. God forgive me for not shouting from the rooftops many mass shooting ago, “We’re infected with an apathy toward violence and it’s time to repent.”
It’s time for prophetic voices to call for us to beat our swords into plough shares.
This is not a political issue where many sides have merit. This is a nation that calls itself good, democratic, and evolved that has allowed mass violence to happen so routinely that multiple deaths no longer stun us or even remain in our thoughts for long beyond the initial news of the event.
Today, on this Ash Wednesday, on this day of repentance, that is, on a day that calls for a change of heart and attitude, I do lift my voice to call my congregation, my community, my family, and my nation to repentance. Bullets are raining down on us like a biblical plague. Children are dying. We talk and sing and preach about peace when there is no peace. Toxic attitudes come to kill, steal and destroy. And it is time for people of faith, and leaders of communities of faith, to speak up and say, “Enough!”
Let us pray for the victims of today’s violence. But let us not take too much comfort in our prayers, especially if those prayers are not leading us to speak up and to do what we can to change a culture where mass murder is normalized. Let us pray, and then let us be the answer to our prayers.
Who we are is a country infected with out of control violence and too little righteous indignation about that. But, just maybe, we are also a country that remembers the moral victories of the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s Rights movement, the Marriage Equality movement, and maybe, please God let it be so, we are the kinds of people who are determined to work for what is right again, and to not settle for anything less than the healing our country so desperately needs.
For our country and our culture, I pray the words of a hymn which is also my favorite prayer of repentance:
“Dear Mother-Father of us all, forgive our foolish ways. Reclothe us in our rightful minds, in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise.” Amen.
/End/
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Friday, July 24, 2015
A Disturbing Trend of Violence Against "the Other"
"A transwoman of color was beaten to death in Florida...the 10th transwoman this year to be killed.
Yet another mass shooting took place yesterday...a movie theater in Louisiana (by a gunman who reportedly "hated" liberals...though I don't know how many Louisiana liberals he suspected of going to the movies on a weeknight).
A Metropolitan Community Church in Georgia was recently vandalized (MCCs have an historic and primary affirming outreach to the LBGT community).
In Texas, Sandra Bland, an African American woman, was verbally abused, physically manhandled, and detained (all for changing lanes without signaling). She died in custody.
A presidential hopeful recently vilified undocumented immigrants.
These violent events have taken place in the span of just a few days and just weeks after the shooting deaths of 9 people at Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina (an historically Black congregation) and the burning of other historically Black churches.
Beyond the violence itself, the common thread is that the targets of violence have usually been marginalized people (transgender people, gays and lesbians, African Americans, Latinos/Latinas).
It is a very disturbing trend and we must call it out, talk about it seriously, and renew our commitment to positive change...of making our society less violent, less hateful, less frightening. We clearly have a long way to go still." Rev Dr Durrell Watkins, Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral
Yet another mass shooting took place yesterday...a movie theater in Louisiana (by a gunman who reportedly "hated" liberals...though I don't know how many Louisiana liberals he suspected of going to the movies on a weeknight).
A Metropolitan Community Church in Georgia was recently vandalized (MCCs have an historic and primary affirming outreach to the LBGT community).
In Texas, Sandra Bland, an African American woman, was verbally abused, physically manhandled, and detained (all for changing lanes without signaling). She died in custody.
A presidential hopeful recently vilified undocumented immigrants.
These violent events have taken place in the span of just a few days and just weeks after the shooting deaths of 9 people at Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina (an historically Black congregation) and the burning of other historically Black churches.
Beyond the violence itself, the common thread is that the targets of violence have usually been marginalized people (transgender people, gays and lesbians, African Americans, Latinos/Latinas).
It is a very disturbing trend and we must call it out, talk about it seriously, and renew our commitment to positive change...of making our society less violent, less hateful, less frightening. We clearly have a long way to go still." Rev Dr Durrell Watkins, Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral
Friday, September 19, 2014
I Strongly Oppose Corporal Punishment
"When a child hits a child, we call it aggression. When a child hits an adult we call it hostility. When an adult hits an adult, we call it assault. When an adult hits a child, we call it discipline.” Haim G. Ginott
A Queer kid in a hostile environment (homophobic bible belt), life was lonely and frightening for me (my grandmothers and a great-aunt provided much needed refuge). It got better once I knew what the rest of the world suspected (that my loafers were permanently light), because then I could embrace, own, and celebrate my truth. Self-discovery brings great courage and even joy.
But as a child, with no one to understand my "difference", life was not easy. And, being reared in an environment where "switches" (nature's riding crops) and belts (and the not infrequent slap and occasional choke hold) were considered acceptable forms of punishment (though, the intensity of the punishment had more to do with the punisher's anger than with the so-called punishable offense), not even home ever felt safe.
Years of therapy, spiritual work, and direct dealing led to healing and to more reconciliation than I ever thought possible, but I have been a life-long opponent of hitting children. I believe that parents who hit believe they are doing what is right, that they were similarly punished as children (its the never ending cycle of violence), and that in spite of the harm they inflict on their children, they really do love them. But I know (not just from social science but from lived experience) that terrorizing children with the threat of physical abuse does a lot of harm. As a gay child where there was no safe place in the world to be, not feeling safe at home only led to intense feelings of isolation, loneliness, and despair. I would spare all children that pain if I could.
A Queer kid in a hostile environment (homophobic bible belt), life was lonely and frightening for me (my grandmothers and a great-aunt provided much needed refuge). It got better once I knew what the rest of the world suspected (that my loafers were permanently light), because then I could embrace, own, and celebrate my truth. Self-discovery brings great courage and even joy.
But as a child, with no one to understand my "difference", life was not easy. And, being reared in an environment where "switches" (nature's riding crops) and belts (and the not infrequent slap and occasional choke hold) were considered acceptable forms of punishment (though, the intensity of the punishment had more to do with the punisher's anger than with the so-called punishable offense), not even home ever felt safe.
Years of therapy, spiritual work, and direct dealing led to healing and to more reconciliation than I ever thought possible, but I have been a life-long opponent of hitting children. I believe that parents who hit believe they are doing what is right, that they were similarly punished as children (its the never ending cycle of violence), and that in spite of the harm they inflict on their children, they really do love them. But I know (not just from social science but from lived experience) that terrorizing children with the threat of physical abuse does a lot of harm. As a gay child where there was no safe place in the world to be, not feeling safe at home only led to intense feelings of isolation, loneliness, and despair. I would spare all children that pain if I could.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Pastoral Prayer for Ferguson, MO
Haven’t we had enough of war: not only
the wars we export, but the wars on our streets, the wars that wage in our own
hearts?
Aren’t we yet willing to recognize the devastating
legacy of racism?
Can’t we seek to heal the wounds caused
by injustice, domination, and exploitation?
Will we ever cease our worship of
violence and our distrust of the Other?
The Earth and Her inhabitants are weary
from conflict. We are despondent to see once again communities torn apart by
injustice and disregard for the dignity of every person.
The riots, the pain, the losses in
Ferguson, Missouri that have followed the brutal slaying of Michael Brown bring
all these questions to mind, questions that we grow so tired of asking,
questions that still have not found satisfying answers.
And so we turn once again to prayer.
There will be letters written and protests and debates, but in the meantime, in
this moment, in this time of sadness and frustration, we choose to quiet
ourselves, to know that there is a Universal Power that flows through every
life, that is part of every life, that excludes no one for any reason, and in
the name of this one Power we affirm hope and the possibility of healing in our
world. In the name of the Omnipresence we affirm blessings for the residents of
Ferguson. In the name of Justice Herself, we affirm wisdom for those who must lead
us through the difficulties at hand.
God of many names, mystery beyond our
naming, give us the courage and the resilience to not allow our weariness to
prevail, but rather let us continue to hope for, work for, and settle for
nothing less than “liberty and justice for ALL.”
Amen.
Rev Dr Durrell Watkins
Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Response to FRC Shooting
On
Thursday, Aug. 16th, 28 year old Floyd Corkins was charged with
shooting a guard at the Family Research Council headquarters in Washington, DC.
The FRC
identifies as a conservative, Christian organization and they are well-known
for their opposition to LBGT equality.
The president
of the Family Research Council used the event as an opportunity to vilify the
Southern Poverty Law Center, saying, “Corkins was given a license to shoot an
unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
The
leadership of Sunshine Cathedral is grateful that the guard survived the
shooting and we certainly can’t condone acts of violence. However, it must be
stated that the Southern Poverty Law Center is an historic, non-profit civil
rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry. Using the
unfortunate incident to blame and attack an organization committed to working for
justice and equality was neither helpful nor fair.
Organizations
that advocate for LBGT equality (and for the dignity and well-being of all
people) and that respond to anti-gay rhetoric (even when it is cloaked in
religious language) are not the cause of violence but in fact are trying to
reduce the prejudice and dehumanizing rhetoric that does promote violence and
discrimination.
Our
best wishes go out to the guard as he recovers from his injuries, and we also
continue to hope that those who promote discrimination against gays and
lesbians come to realize that they are doing violence too and we pray for an
end to all violence in our society.
Yours
in shared service,
Rev.
Durrell Watkins, D.Min.
Senior Pastor
It grieves us that as we work for “liberty and justice for all,” there remain groups and individuals committed to keeping some in the margins of society and that often even blame their prejudice on religion. We work and wait for an end to such blasphemous misuse of religion and we stand up and speak out for true equality and the affirmation of the sacred value of all people.
While we disagree with the homophobia and heterosexism promoted by the Family Research Council, we would never wish anyone in their organization any harm. We pray for them to become more tolerant, more accepting, and more appreciative of the diversity of the human family, but our disagreements can be settled with discussion, legislation, legal action, and the changing of human hearts and minds. May we never condone the use of violence even in our most vehement disagreements.
And now, Power permeating all life, let healing energy flow through the body of the one who was wounded, and let healing love deeply touch the souls of all who have been impacted by these recent events, including the shooter. And may the day soon come when all people are treated with dignity and respect, when suspicions and unreasonable fears are healed, and when violence is rare and peace is known everywhere and at all times. Amen.
Senior Pastor
Let us
pray:
Spirit of justice and healing, It grieves us that as we work for “liberty and justice for all,” there remain groups and individuals committed to keeping some in the margins of society and that often even blame their prejudice on religion. We work and wait for an end to such blasphemous misuse of religion and we stand up and speak out for true equality and the affirmation of the sacred value of all people.
While we disagree with the homophobia and heterosexism promoted by the Family Research Council, we would never wish anyone in their organization any harm. We pray for them to become more tolerant, more accepting, and more appreciative of the diversity of the human family, but our disagreements can be settled with discussion, legislation, legal action, and the changing of human hearts and minds. May we never condone the use of violence even in our most vehement disagreements.
And now, Power permeating all life, let healing energy flow through the body of the one who was wounded, and let healing love deeply touch the souls of all who have been impacted by these recent events, including the shooter. And may the day soon come when all people are treated with dignity and respect, when suspicions and unreasonable fears are healed, and when violence is rare and peace is known everywhere and at all times. Amen.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Action Alert from MCC
A C T I O N A L E R T
from Metropolitan Community Churches
URGENT! TIME VALUE!
LGBT Jamaicans Need Your Help Today!
An Important Messagefrom Rev. Pat BumgardnerChair, MCC Global Justice TeamFebruary 28, 2007
Your help today -- just a few minutes of your time -- can help protect the lives of LGBT across Jamaica.Time Magazine has designated Jamaica "the most homophobic country in the Western hemisphere." Over several years, MCC has documented an alarming pattern of overt hostility, violent attacks, and murder of LGBT people in Jamaica. These incidents have received little coverage by the Jamaican media and have often been ignored by the civil authorities.In the latest incident, three gay men in St. Andrew's parish were attacked by a mob on Valentines Day 2007. While being rescued by police, one of the gay men was gun-butted by an officer. Another was hit by a rock thrown from the mob. All of the men were taunted with anti-gay slurs by police officers.Now is the time for all people of goodwill to take a stand for justice and against intolerance. No person of conscience should remain silent in the face of the continuing horrific attacks on gays in Jamaica.By taking action today -- in less than five minutes -- you can help make a difference in the lives of our LGBT brothers and sisters in Jamaica.Won't you take two simple steps right now?
First, write a brief e-mail directly to Jamaica's Prime Minister... The Most Honorable Portia Simpson Miller at HPM@opm.gov.jm. Keep your message brief and write from your heart. Ask her to speak out publicly against the violence, to establish a tone of respect and tolerance for all life, and to guarantee the human rights and safety of Jamaica's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens. (And to help us track responses, please send a copy of your e-mail to MCC's Communications Department at info@MCCchurch.net.)
Second, forward this Action Alert... to your friends, distribute it to your e-mail lists, and post it on listserves to which you subscribe. Reprint it in your newsletters, post it on your website, and send it to publications and media outlets in your area. Help get the word out.Your actions -- today! -- will focus international attention on the horrific pattern of anti-gay violence in Jamaica and can help bring about legal protections for LGBT Jamaicans.
/signed/
Rev. Pat BumgardnerChairMCC Global Justice Team
(END)
For Additional Information, ContactMCC Communications DepartmentE-Mail: info@MCCchurch.netWeb: http://www.mccchurch.org/
from Metropolitan Community Churches
URGENT! TIME VALUE!
LGBT Jamaicans Need Your Help Today!
An Important Messagefrom Rev. Pat BumgardnerChair, MCC Global Justice TeamFebruary 28, 2007
Your help today -- just a few minutes of your time -- can help protect the lives of LGBT across Jamaica.Time Magazine has designated Jamaica "the most homophobic country in the Western hemisphere." Over several years, MCC has documented an alarming pattern of overt hostility, violent attacks, and murder of LGBT people in Jamaica. These incidents have received little coverage by the Jamaican media and have often been ignored by the civil authorities.In the latest incident, three gay men in St. Andrew's parish were attacked by a mob on Valentines Day 2007. While being rescued by police, one of the gay men was gun-butted by an officer. Another was hit by a rock thrown from the mob. All of the men were taunted with anti-gay slurs by police officers.Now is the time for all people of goodwill to take a stand for justice and against intolerance. No person of conscience should remain silent in the face of the continuing horrific attacks on gays in Jamaica.By taking action today -- in less than five minutes -- you can help make a difference in the lives of our LGBT brothers and sisters in Jamaica.Won't you take two simple steps right now?
First, write a brief e-mail directly to Jamaica's Prime Minister... The Most Honorable Portia Simpson Miller at HPM@opm.gov.jm. Keep your message brief and write from your heart. Ask her to speak out publicly against the violence, to establish a tone of respect and tolerance for all life, and to guarantee the human rights and safety of Jamaica's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens. (And to help us track responses, please send a copy of your e-mail to MCC's Communications Department at info@MCCchurch.net.)
Second, forward this Action Alert... to your friends, distribute it to your e-mail lists, and post it on listserves to which you subscribe. Reprint it in your newsletters, post it on your website, and send it to publications and media outlets in your area. Help get the word out.Your actions -- today! -- will focus international attention on the horrific pattern of anti-gay violence in Jamaica and can help bring about legal protections for LGBT Jamaicans.
/signed/
Rev. Pat BumgardnerChairMCC Global Justice Team
(END)
For Additional Information, ContactMCC Communications DepartmentE-Mail: info@MCCchurch.netWeb: http://www.mccchurch.org/
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