by The Rev. Dr. Conrad Pridgen, Governing Board President-elect, Presiding Elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2nd Episcopal District and The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director, North Carolina Council of Churches
Words make a world and the world our words are making in this nation these days is pretty ugly. The Tops Supermarket massacre in Buffalo, N.Y., is the latest example of vicious words that were turned into violent action. The North Carolina Council of Churches stands with other Councils across the country denouncing the rhetoric that produces violence. We especially call on our elected officials in all parties, but particularly the two dominant parties, Democrat and Republican, to renounce such speech. We call on them to stop using violent language or innuendos toward violence. Furthermore, we call on them to renounce violent language from anyone in their respective parties, censoring those in their party cohort if the behavior is not voluntarily checked.
Those who speak are not the same as the one who conducted a violent rampage and killed ten innocent people in Buffalo, N.Y. He is described as a lone gunman, but was he really?
Sharing in the responsibility for this crime are those who recklessly and irresponsibly teach and preach racist, false narratives on social media platforms and other various news outlets. They were not physically present at the Tops Supermarket, but the spirit of their rhetoric was present. They did not purchase the guns and ammunition; they did not aim the gun; but their fingerprints are on the murder weapon.
Other hands were also on the gun May 14, 2022, at the Tops Supermarket. Many of us condone the mean-spirited under-currents roiling our nation today. Those currents now surface regularly in violent rampages like the one we saw Saturday and again on Sunday. The hate-filled, mean-spirited talk, only slightly veiled, we hear from some candidates running for public office lends credibility to that which should be openly denounced—violence is not a political tool. These candidates were not physically present for these massacres, but the spirit of their rhetoric was present. Their fingerprints are on the murder weapons.
Finally, other hands that were on the guns used this weekend are perhaps unwitting hands, but they are present all the same. These are the hands of you and me, the hands of those who see our country going down a path characterized by hate, violence, and fear; but remain silent. When we fail to speak out against the direction our country is going and the rhetoric that is taking it there, we bear some responsibility. We were not physically present in the places where violence occurred, but our silence creates complicity. Our fingerprints are on the murder weapons.
Each of us have the right and the responsibility to help determine what kind of country we want to live in. If “hatefulness” is not the way you want to go, then speak up. We have a choice. When each of us vote today in North Carolina and again in November all over the country, we are voting for more than a candidate. We are endorsing their rhetoric and their tactics. We are deciding which words we want to support and what kind of world we want to live in. Words make a world. What kind of world do you want to live in?
Thank you for making a statement about the unjust killing of ten innocent people. It is of most importance when the Church speak up and speak out about the wrong that has been done. Silence from people of faith is always more dangerous…
Drs Conrad and Jennifer, Thanks for speaking out and reminding us of our failures to speak out. Sandy Irving
In response to “other hands were on the guns,” I would appeal not only our politicians, but our churches, their ministers, and their members. Where are our voices? Please check out the What Does It Mean To Be White? initiative at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte and the curriculum by that name developed by Dr. Ben Boswell. The collective voice of our churches could effectively and efficiently bring all of this mayhem to an end if only ministers and churches could find the courage to speak up.
In his recently published book, For the Facing of This Hour, Dr. Boswell has shared 18 sermons that could be preached from our pulpits. Could The NC Council of Churches recommend this to it’s audience?
Thank you for this information. I agree wholeheartedly that our churches are slack and we’ve rm complicit in their silence.
“…violence is not a political tool.” In the world we’d like to have, that is true, but in the world in which we live, violence sometimes must be a tool. The Ukrainians are being forced to use it as a tool even as we deplore violence used as a political tool in Buffalo.