Homecoming :
Stories of Living in God's Way
Mary Ester on the Practice of Non-Violence
My mom tells a story about me when I was a little girl. We lived in Pocatello, Idaho and were visiting Salt Lake City, Utah. My mom remembers vividly this little girl - me - at about four or five years old standing on the steps of the huge Mormon Tabernable…in my little yellow dress … with my holsters and toy guns.
When I was little I was obsessed with toy guns. That was the first section I ran to in the toy store. I loved the mechanics of them. The sound. And oh I loved cap guns with the pop and the smell of sulphur.
Well, here it is more than forty years later and you could still say I’m obsessed with guns.
I work for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
So I just want to say to the moms and dads, aunts and uncles, grandparent –if you have a kid who is obsessed with toy guns, don’t worry too much about it. Because violence is caused by things much more complex than a cap gun. And peace and non violence are much more complex and difficult to foster than just taking that cap gun away.
I’ve learned that in my eight plus years at the Brady Campaign working in fundraising and now in Communications and Fundraising. Reverend Rachel Smith, who is a board member and founder of the Brady project called God Not Guns (www.godnotguns.org), coined a phrase. And it’s “Gundamentalism.” She believes “Gundamentalism” is a religious movement without spiritual grounding. It offers the allure of safety and security, but it is based on fear, fear of each other. Fear of what God has created: our neighbor. It is idolatry of the almighty gun. Idolatry of the “right” to own guns. The gun swung over the head of an old actor and the ringing phrase to loud cheers just weeks before the Columbine massacre “From my cold dead hands.”
But I’m sure you’ve all thought of this. Peter standing at the pearly gates welcoming that actor and gently taking the rifle from his cold, dead hands saying “Mr. Heston, you really won’t need that here.” But I take it a step further -- as that gun is being lifted from his hands, I see a weight of hate and fear being lifted from Charlton Heston’s shoulder.
Now I understand people will say: “Damn right I’m afraid and I’m going to get them before they get me. I am protecting myself and my family.”
And I’d take a deep breath and say: “The risk of homicide in the home is three times greater in households with guns. The risk of suicide is five times greater in households with guns. So you put your family and yourself at risk of tragedy.” But the problem is that facts can always be argued.
Now if I had a facility and memory to quote the Bible I’d say to them:
“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12 …or from Matthew 26 …
“And behold one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” … or
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Galatians 5 …
And the oldie but goodie “Thou shalt not kill.”
But I’m not great at citing chapter and verse -- but the one I do know and what fits with our theme this season, “Living in God’s Way”, is we are to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for an arsenal of guns, but, more importantly, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for fear.
One of the questions that Ashley asked me to think about when preparing this was: How does this work you do/this practice of non violence connect you to values of faith. I think there are a lot of ways to be violent. St Francis of Assisi said “While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.” So I try to be non violent at work with those I work with. And by that I mean I’m trying harder to wait, to stop, to listen to my co workers. To be open to God’s love in each moment. To be more humble and apologize more quickly when I’ve hurt someone. And – oh this is a hard one for me – not think that I’m always right and that I can control everything.
Working in gun control is tough, often sad and can get frustrating. The power structure in Washington definitely favors the gun lobby.
But I will leave you with a quote from John F. Kennedy that inspires me “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. And however undramatic the pursuit of peace, the pursuit must go on.”
