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A call for mercy and justice
Doug Paul, the new pastor at East End Fellowship, has posted a thoughtful response to the killing of Rashamella Willingham and William White on 35th Street earlier this week.
I’m going to step close for second on this… I’m about as heathen as they come (sorry grandma), but I think we can all share a recognition of what he’s written about here. Whatever moves your heart, vast swaths of our neighborhood are in definite need of both mercy and justice.
But I wonder…do we see that these are Effects of something deeper? Do we keep feeding the poor, caring for vulnerable children, visiting people in prison…do we keep doing those things and not realizing that there are forces at work that keep putting people in that position and keeping them there?
There is Cause, and Effect.
There are root Causes that keep producing these kinds of Effects. There are systems that make the double homicide we experienced on Sunday night somewhat normal. (emphasis mine – JM) Sometimes these systems accidentally or unintentionally do this. They produce unintended effects or consequences. But sometimes? Sometimes it’s intentional.
But whether it is intentional or not only matters a little. Whether a system produces evil because of foolishness or it produces evil by intention…it’s still producing evil.
Whatever moves your heart, vast swaths of our neighborhood are in definite need of both mercy and justice…. well said.
Yes indeed, for some murder is just part of the picture and the reason that it is, too often, is because, in fact, there are forces, systems, economic models, political movements (the list goes on) that foster oppression.
Thank you, Doug and John, for this rich, thoughtful post.
It’s kind of all of you to read the post, and thank you John for putting it out there as people are wrestling through these things. I hope and pray there aren’t many more posts like it. Grace + Peace, Doug.
I’m sorry, but while I also believe this is a tragic event, and I truly feel remorse with the families involved I disagree with the causes. Forgive me for the plagiarism but, “We are the origins of war: not history’s forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government, nor any other thing. We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside. Dead bodies rot in field and stream because the living ones are rotten. For the love of God, can’t we love one another just a little – that’s how peace begins”.
Thank you for posting this, Doug. I recently read Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire and what you said resonates with a lot of what he discusses in that book – the systems of oppression and injustice that exist (whether intentional or unintentional) but nobody wants to talk about or own up to.
Thanks John. Talking about compassion, but also showing some is truly food for thought in these confusing times.