By IPN Coordinator, Sept. 29, 2025
Reading several pieces related to recent gun violence recently
inspired me to put something together of what I’ve been seeing. As we all know, September 10, 2025, a young
man killed a man named Charlie Kirk in public at the University of Utah. I happened to turn the TV on when the breaking
news was airing.
This comes after a shooting in Minneapolis of schoolchildren
in a Catholic school earlier this summer, in August. Also this comes after a political
assassination of Melisssa Hortman and her husband in Minnesota, as well. I have heard from friends their anxiety
because of these shootings, and to be honest my anxiety went up as well. Like William Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
have said, “Because we follow Jesus, we practice nonviolence. We are called to love our enemies , even when
they do things that hurt us and the people we love. We are called to never want to see the demise
of another.”1 Although we have anger and
fear, we are called to love.
It hasn’t been that long since the school shooting in
Minnesota. On the morning of August 27,
2025, a mass shooting occurred at the Church of the Annunciation in the Windom
neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The attack took place
during a scheduled school-wide Mass attended by the students and faculty of
Annunciation Catholic School.2 We are
all worried about the children in our lives when we hear of yet another school
shooting. That both the Annunciation shooting
and the assassination of Melissa Hortman and her husband happened in our neighboring
state, Minnesota, makes it more worrisome, though we have experienced a school
shooting in Iowa in Perry.
A mass shooting occurred on January 4, 2024, at Perry High
School in Perry, Iowa, United States. Seventeen-year-old student Dylan Butler
shot five students and three staff members before killing himself. 3
William Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove responded
within the week of Charlie Kirk’s murder. They aptly state that “When a young man in
Utah decided to murder Charlie Kirk this week, he tried to silence a debate on
a college campus and an argument about the future of America that depends on
the assumption of equality, a commitment to liberty, and a respect for human
life.” They go on to say, “We mourn the murder of Charlie Kirk because every
life is precious… we also grieve the shooter cut short a debate we still need
to have. 4
Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove tell the story that Jonathan
Wilson-Hartgrove was invited to a debate with Charlie Kirk after Jonathan published
a book in 2019 arguing that religious nationalists were misusing the Bible to
justify the MAGA movement. In short,
they were never able to have the debate because of other obstacles; the Liberty
University was about to build an academic center on American public life, but there
was scandal with the president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, then
Charlie Kirk left that project, and the debate was never had. They say of the September 10 killing of
Kirk: “One of the tragedies of (that)
week’s violence is that it makes it harder to have the honest conversation that’s
needed about Jesus and American politics.”
5
Among the conversations I read per emails at Iowa Peace
Network, Maury Giles, CEO of Braver Angels, an organization whose mission is to
connect those otherwise polarized because of pollical leanings, wrote on
September 21 about the shooting of Charlie Kirk as well. He said of the work Braver Angels is doing: “I believe the work we are doing together
just became significantly more difficult.
As a society, we are experiencing what systems thinkers call a doom
loop, or a self-reinforcing downward spiral.
How we conduct ourselves now either breaks or feeds the chain.”6
He goes on to say that he feels more committed and hopeful
today. “Our choice is more directly in
front of us than ever. We can start
here, with the fundamentals on which we can all agree at Braver Angels: “Political violence has no place in society,” “Killing anyone for beliefs or speech is a
profound wrong,” “Behind the politics is a person,” “Celebrating death is wrong. It erodes our own humanity, ” and “We reject
collective blame and condemn threats or celebrations of harm from any side.” 7
Giles describes the different feelings people have on
different aisles of politics. Some “have
a deeply held truth that Charlie Kirk’s methods were reckless. They see him as racist, divisive, anti-woman,
and not so much engaging students as bullying them, and a contributor to increasing
violence.” 8
On the other side, many are mourning someone who inspired
them. “They saw him leaning into conflict
and getting young people to engage in dialogue and debate.” 9
Debate is what Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove were calling for
as well. They say that they accepted Kirk’s
invitation to debate because they believe the religious nationalism he vigorously
advocated for was dangerous. Further, “Even
as we mourn his death, we maintain that conviction. Now is the time to embrace his family, wife,
and children with the sincerity of grace.” 10
That is a conviction that Charlie
Kirk’s wife also publicly shared- she has forgiven the killer.
I have friends who have the range of feelings about the
Charlie Kirk murder, so the language we can use to engage interests me very
much. The day of the murder, I met later
that Wednesday evening for the first Bible Study of the year at my Des Moines
church. The perspective about who Kirk
was related to more of what Giles shared about Kirk being kind to young people,
engaging them in conversation and debate.
In my church that I attend on Sundays and am involved with in rural
Grundy Center have more of the perspective that Kirk was reckless. I have read of quotes of his that don’t seem
kind.
Still, Barber says, “As the prophet Isaiah said, “Come, let
us reason together.” 11
Giles starts to close his writing by reminding readers that
the choice is now clearly in front of us.
“The question isn’t simply, “Who is right?” or “Who started it?” The real question is this: How do we work the
problem together, even when we have every reason not to trust the “other”
person’s hand on the controls?”12 We
need to practice the “third’ way, confronting the problem together.
Giles says he mourns the fact that we have moved in society,
from thinking simply the other side is wrong, to believing they are evil. “We will not give violent actors a veto over
our civic life; we will mourn, lower the temperature, and keep faith with
normal politics- persuasion, debate, and due-process.” 13
Where Jesus said if you live by the sword, you will die by
the sword, Kirk embraced the NRA’s agenda to escalate gun sales and arm
Americans. 14 Gun control becomes a
topic of conversation again.
Mass shootings were up in 2024 to 503 in the U.S.A. from 332
in 2015. Numbers of children killed and
injured has also gone up. Children aged
12-17 who were killed by gun violence was 626 in 2015, with a jump up to 1,407
in 2022 and in 2024, to 1,171. Numbers
for 2025 were not available at this time with this source. Additionally children injured from gun
violence was 626 in 2015, and in 2024, it was 1171. Injured pre-teens and teens (ages 12-17) were
injured by gun violence more in 2024 than as 2015, as well. 3,239 were injured in 2024, and 2,074 were
injured in 2015. 15
Clearly, trends are not good when it comes to mass killing and
gun violence. There have been groups of
people working for gun control for a long time, but things don’t seem to be
changing. One group, if you are
interested in getting involved in gun violence prevention, is On Earth Peace, a
Church of the Brethren organization.
They have the Gun Violence Prevention Ambassador Gathering coming up in
November, where you can learn more about how to work in your community on this
issue. The website is: https://www.onearthpeace.org/2025_11_01_gun_violence_prevention_ambassador_gathering. It is not only for Brethren, but all who would
work for peace.
No civilian needs an automatic weapon. That is one piece of the legislation that is
being worked on. From Native Voters
Alliance Nevada: “Every day in America,
an average of 316 people are shot, and 125 of them die. Gun violence has become
an epidemic that affects both rural and urban communities indiscriminately,
from schools and workplaces to places of worship and our own homes. We cannot
stand by while lives are tragically cut short. We must demand comprehensive gun
reform to protect our families and future generations. This includes universal
background checks, banning assault weapons, and promoting responsible gun
ownership.
“Join us in calling for meaningful change. Please sign our
petition to urge lawmakers to prioritize public safety over partisan politics.
Together, we can make a difference and create a safer America for all.” 16
In closing, I would share what Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove’s,
and Giles closed with. Giles says the
following has helped in his family discussions.
Again, Giles is the leader of Braver Angels, an organization committed
to nonviolent political discourse. Giles passed along an acronym that John
Inazu, professor of law and religion at Washington University, shared is
G.R.A.C.E.:
Ground yourself in your convictions. Respect others. Assume complexity (more to the story) not
character (assuming someone is evil.)
Cultivate curiosity. Engaged with
Empathy. Giles says, “Especially
now. We need to practice grace in our
courageous citizenship.” 17
Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove say, “We’re sorry we will never
get to have that debate with Charlie Kirk, but we remain committed to having it
with anyone who will listen. Indeed, our
faith requires it.”18
Sources
1- 1- Barber
II, William; Wilson-Hartgrove, Jonathan.
“The Debate We Still Need to have- Political violence has no place in a
democracy; neither does religious nationalism.”
Sept. 14, Substack. Accessed
Sept. 29, 2025.
2- 2- “Annunciation
School Shooting,” Wikipedia.org; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation_Catholic_Church_shooting. Accessed Sept. 29, 2025.
3- “Perry
High School Shooting,” Wikipedia.org; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Perry_High_School_shooting. Acccessed Sept. 29,2025.
4- Barber,
Wilson -Hartgrove.
5- Ibid.
6- Giles, Maury.
“Trying to get real with the pain, hurt, and response.” Sept. 21, Braver Angels newsletter. Accessed Sept. 29, 2025.
7- Ibid.
8- Ibid.
9- Ibid.
10 - Barber,
Wilson- Hartgrove.
11- Ibid.
12- Gilles.
13 - Ibid.
14 - Barber,
Wilson-Hartgrove.
15 - Gunviolencearchive.org;
accessed Sept. 29,2025.
16 - Native
Voters Alliance Nevada. Shared by
Progressive Reform Network, “Top Ten Petitions of the Week,” Sept. 22, 2025. Accessed Sept. 29, 2025.
17- Giles.
18 - Barber,
Wilson-Hartgrove.
No comments:
Post a Comment