Horrific violence in El Paso where "All are Welcome"

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Beloved of Christ in the Rocky Mountain Synod,

photo credit: Andreas Acosta - El Paso Herald Post

As I write it has been two days since the horrific shooting in El Paso, one day since the equally terrible shooting in Dayton. Once again, we feel the collective trauma of senseless violence and innocent loss of life. Once again, this violence comes far too close to home as it impacts a beloved part of our own synod. 

What makes the shooting in El Paso particularly heart-wrenching is not only the scale of the carnage but the fact that the shooter was inspired by a rhetoric of hate for immigrants framed by a belief in white supremacy. His actions specifically targeted a place I have come to know as a community where all are welcome, where there is a strong commitment to overcome divisions based on race or ethnicity, where the border serves as meeting place not dividing line for all God's people.

Yesterday synod bishops and vice-presidents from around our church gathered for worship prior to our ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee. Tears welled in my eyes as we prayed for the people of El Paso and Dayton. When will enough be enough? What will it take for us to wake up as a people and say “NO!” to acts of hatred toward our neighbors who may look different from us, “NO” to a culture in which a weapon of war can be used to slaughter families buying school supplies?

Your church is not only asking these questions, your church is committed to discerning how the love of Christ and the leading of the Spirit compel us to respond and act in the face of such challenges. While there is no single pathway forward, we can all begin by taking advantage of the many resources at our disposal to engage in meaningful conversations about difficult issues, particularly in our congregational settings. I commend to your careful consideration and use the following at starting places:

Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture (ELCA Social Statement)

A 60-Day Journey Toward Justice in a Culture of Gun Violence

AMMPARO Migrant Children

It’s one thing to address the outward symptoms of complex issues such as gun violence, systemic racism, migration realities, and white supremacy. It’s far more daunting to dig deep and engage the root causes. At our May Synod Assembly, Father Richard Rohr spoke compellingly of how each of us struggle with our ego’s compulsion to think and act dualistically. Dualistic thinking frames the world in terms of “us” and “them” – “with me” or “against me,” reflecting our Lutheran understanding of what it means to live in “bondage to sin.” Our ego’s need to “protect” itself pits us against each other. It comes so naturally to us we often fail to recognize how our own dualistic thinking contributes to our way of operating in the world.

True change and transformation in our world begins when we dare to look within and recognize the ways in which we are part of the larger problem. True change and transformation grows in us when we experience God’s relentless, cross-shaped commitment to loving us into being Christ’s Body, broken and yet blessed. When rooted in contemplation, our actions display true integrity.

I encourage all of us to prayerfully consider the actions we can and will take–individually and a collectively–in response to the tragic events in El Paso and beyond. I pray that we do so deeply rooted in our contemplation of who and how God is… for us, for all fellow children of God, for the life of the world itself.

Yours in Faith,
Bishop Jim

Comments

Bill Webster, Valley Lutheran, Belen, NM said…
Thank you for this message.
11:05 AM
Unknown said…
I believe that every church denomination across the nation should take an ad in a national newspaper and make a strong statement decrying the unchristian, immoral acts of our government regarding immigrants and refugees, in their lack of response to gun violence and many other issues, and our president's unkind, hate - mongering tweets over the past 3 yrs. Every church synod or diocese should publish something similar to what the pastors of the National Cathedral wrote.
9:29 AM
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