Table of Contents | My reflections on Ron Artest, the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers and the "melt-down in Mo'Town" take me along a "road less traveled" in recent years. When I was studying for my doctoral degree at the Divinity School of Vanderbilt University in 1970, a major seminar was in Ethics and Society. One of the more memorable exchanges between Professor Harrod and another student was about the justification of violence to protest Vietnam. That heated debate was brought on by something profound that was happening in this country. The youth were aroused by the violence in human relations, by the violations of civil rights and by the stance of militarism and began to demonstrate for more sensitive treatment of people. But the chosen instrument of this noble corrective to the trends of society was soon challenged. The marches of those who felt violated turned violent at times. Thus, those who were enraged at the insensitivity of the power structure adopted the very tactics they deplored. Some were advocating violence as the only realistic avenue to change. But a consensus never emerged! And Vietnam ended before anyone looked in the mirror. Another "road less traveled" is both more recent and the result of the radical Muslims who kidnapped Islam and offered their literal interpretation of the Qu'ran as the rationale for their acts of terrorism. It is simply "outrage imitation," not jihad. I have written elsewhere (see "An Enticing Elixir") about "pre-emptive strikes" and war or what Chris Hedges calls "a force to give us meaning" and what Adam Gopnick (see "A New Vision") described as "useless self-improvement through mutual slaughter." The result is that what is alarming and frightening to many is the fact that violence is erupting savagely in every part of the world. In every country, it seems, society is characterized by nothing less than "a culture of violence." With this personal anecdote and brief but inadequate historical sketch in mind, I return to my musings about the Pacers and the Pistons and their basketball game of November 19. Without excusing the players, the coaches, the NBA or the fans, what happened is just what I would expect, given the addiction of our society to violence. There is no excuse for any of the principles involved in the fracas. I am unwilling to exonerate any of them. But what about the society in which we all live that I have designated as a "culture of violence?" Are pre-emptive strikes against other nations, national policy for the Bush Administration and his neo-conservatives, securing freedom or inciting more violence? Is violence in the form of JFK Reloaded and the Jerry Springer talk show to be accepted as entertainment without qualm? If the richest nation in the world can reduce and even terminate its international obligations while spending $145 billion on the war in Iraq that results in the death of thousands of soldiers, women and children, is there any reason to expect others to act in some non-violent fashion? If the execution of retarded people and the pollution of our air and water are acceptable and a facet of some fabricated "moral values" mandate or "culture of life" then what am I to believe and how am I to act? And what about any sports team that faces a daily barrage of enticements to "win at any cost?" To what extent are they accountable for succumbing to the pressures? Does the public approve of exorbitant salaries in exchange for a "violent and entertaining display" of physical prowess? Look into the mirror for an answer. Until all of society as well as the media realize that our culture is addicted to violence and aggression and resolve to seek again peace and order and respect for the lives and property of others then these fearful outbursts of hatred, cruelty and senseless violence will continue undiminished. If you need someone to blame then choose your aggressor. Don't let the Pistons, Pacers, coaches, NBA and the fans off the hook. But Ron Artest shouldn't have to shoulder total blame for a society that refuses to look at (and correct) its addiction to violence. In this situation does faith have anything to say? While religion doesn't claim that humanity will find a utopia of peace and security by the simple injection of love, there is a word to be said for love. The biblical faith portrays a fallen world in which there will always be need for laws to be enforced and justice carried out. To believe in the power of religion isn't to abandon all forms of restraint and control. What the biblical faith does do is throw us back to discover the deepest roots of all human violence -- the lurking suspicions and hatreds in the hearts of everyone of us. Thus, what I propose is clear, at least for me. I want to support every practical effort to reduce violence and prevent any outbreak of other wars. At the same time, I am determined to expose my life to the grace that roots out the darkness of the human spirit. Indeed, that is the function of a vital church in this dangerous world -- to replace indifference with caring, apathy with concern, contempt with respect, hatred with compassion and despair with hope. Ron Artest, will you help us "get ready to rumble" with some hopeful word? Years ago I saw the movie called How Green Was My Valley. It was the sentimental story of a mining town in Wales as well as a vivid picture of what happens when violence enters the human scene. Roddy McDowell played the sad-eyed baby brother in a large family of miners and he was sent to school in a neighboring town where his clothes were different and he was a stranger. The teacher and the students treated this outsider terribly. They ganged up on him and knocked him around on the playground. The teacher whipped him unmercifully right before the ridiculing eyes of the entire class. The next day Roddy McDowell's burly miner brothers appeared at the school and proceeded to beat the daylights out of that teacher. Do you need to guess what my reaction was? I bought what happened one hundred percent. But, later, I realized that I had been duped. I had yielded to the temptation to let moral outrage goad me into buying the very actions I found so detestable. I understood what happened to be moral victory when, in fact, it was the very opposite. What had happened was that one man acting like a beast had succeeded in pulling several others down to the level of a beast in order to repay the teacher for his cruel act. The behavior of animals had won out and had emerged the victor as it sucked people into participating in the very violence they had set out to oppose. In spite of all the violence in the world I still believe that there is a word of hope. It is the way of gospel and its symbol is the cross. It's a hard and frightening way and it makes a person vulnerable to this "culture of violence." When one responds lovingly, not eye for eye but love for violence, wounds can result but out of such wounds comes healing, the only kind of healing there is. I yearn for the courage to hold to such a stance against all the odds of a violent world. It involves trying to remain human no matter how inhumane the treatment becomes. It means to keep on listening even when I am no longer listened to. It means to keep on being sensitive even when others are insensitive to me. Ron, don't contribute anything more to the "culture of violence" that trapped you in its web. We need your gifts! I recognize, of course, that this may be futile. I could get run over. But, even at that, it would be going down at one's best and not at one's worst. Remaining human. Not getting sucked into the swirl of violence. If I have to go down, that is the way I would prefer to go. I don't know when the surge of violence is going to ebb. A final violence could be unleashed by a hideous fanaticism at any time. But this I do know. Every century of human history bears witness to the power of this robust vision! (1) If there is any hope, this has to be the way. It's the way to that counter-world Jesus called Empire of God. Crossing the boundary, lo and behold, it's ablaze with unfailing justice, unutterable love and compassion and inextinguishable hope! And, I wonder, is this that "unreachable destination" that continues to beckon and keep me traveling on a "perpetual journey?" I wonder...I really wonder. -------- (1) See Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times, p. 18, he sees a resurgence of "the vision of justice, fairness and equality." If you wish to respond then you can reach me at my e-mail address (BobSueSand@aol.com). |
length.