Ferguson, Responding to the Continuing Tragedy

The grand jury has decided to not charge the police officer who shot and killed an unarmed teen in the Ferguson suburb of St. Louis three months ago. The decision and public response reveals a great deal about our broken criminal justice system and skewed media and civic grasp of the incident. A few highlights:

Grand Jury decision: A wide range of critiques are being made of the evidence and the judicial process such as bombarding jurors with mountains of contradictory testimony without any apparent effort to help focus on useful evidence, skewing the results toward dismissing the charges.

Protests: There have been significant numbers of nonviolent protests, largely ignored by the media, in Ferguson and around the country that represent positive responses and hope. The mass media also has seemed incapable of separating nonviolent protest and random violence like looting, and incapable of going beyond that coverage to the real issues of this tragedy such as the four we raised in LPF's blog post on Ferguson, issues that beg for serious attention:

Militarization of police: that separates police from the community and protesters, undercuts legitimate “protect and serve” orientation and programs, and often makes confrontations more lethal;

Racism: such as discriminatory policies in education and jobs, police behavior and incarceration rates; the protests in Ferguson and elsewhere build on decades of marginalization of young people of color and other forms of structural racism;

Skewed budget priorities: that spend money on militarized police and the highest prison rates in the world, instead of addressing the roots of racism;

Stereotypes about nonviolence and inadequate preparation and training in effective protest, especially in a context predisposed to dismiss serious protest and merge it with random violence.

The result has been a minuscule amount of media attention on the important issues like these... attention that might help move the public discussion – and civic action – in productive directions.

It is important that we don’t allow our understandable disappointment, frustration and feelings of powerlessness to get in the way of our thoughtful positive contributions. There are many positive ways we can respond:

- Share helpful information in a thoughtful manner with friends, and in comments on web and media discussions, letters to the editor, etc. (see links in this blog).  You may be surprised at how your sensible comments can stand out!

- Participate in and encourage others to support The Week of Action, Dec. 1-5, including moments of silence, vigils, dialogues, and prayers. It is a call from groups such as Hands Up Coalition, Why We Can't Wait, Code Pink, and The Peace and Justice Studies Association.

- Look for opportunities to encourage addressing underlying issues like militarized police and racism in church adult forums, community discussions, upcoming government deliberations on budgets and priorities, etc.;

- Ferguson should serve as an inspiration for us to suggest forums and workshops on nonviolence. LPF has effective, highly-regarded leaders’ guides and other materials on nonviolence. Connect with the inspiration and resources of the Campaign Nonviolence movement of which LPF is part. (See LPF Nonviolence Resources including a Shalom discussion essay, an AV-rich Nonviolence Forum or our highly regarded Budget Priorities computer-based activity. Contact us about longer trainings.)

- In all this, it makes sense to connect with other people who share your views to support one another’s processing this tragedy and its implications, and taking useful next steps.

Blessings and Peace in this worthy effort!

      Additional links to useful material:

Links on the social and historical context surrounding the events in Ferguson assembled by Sociologists for Justice, 1,600 sociologists against police brutality and racism.

“It's not just Ferguson: how the system protects police,” by Chase Madar The Nation magazine, Nov. 24, 2014.

"Will Ferguson be a Moment or a Movement?" by Fredrick Harris, Director of the Center on African American Politics and Society at Columbia University, Washington Post, Aug. 22, 2014.

“The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries,” ELCA Social Statement on Criminal  Justice, includes a study guide 


     a couple newer useful links:

"Ferguson Activists Meet With President Obama to Demand an End to Police Brutality Nationwide," FergusonAction website, Dec. 1, 2014

"Obama resists demands to curtail police militarisation calling instead for improved officer training," by Paul Lewis, The Guardian, 12-1-14

New Opportunities . . . Dangerous Politics

updated Oct 5th

Just when citizen input might do some good, 

the political process seems consumed by all the 

partisan drama in Washington, DC.   And indeed, 

there are a remarkable number of new opportunities 

for peacemaking and justice seeking.  We should 

not stop encouraging our elected officials to: 

*Support international efforts to remove Syria's
chemical weapons, end the fighting, and provide aid
for civilians impacted by this war – especially refugees.

*Find ways to address the role of Syria's worst 

drought in 70 years in aggravating the humanitarian

impact of the war; these problems aren't separate.

*Pursue new openings for diplomacy with Iran.

*Pass a U.S. budget with significant and long- 

overdue cuts in defense spending.

*Push through sensible gun control legislation in 

the wake of the horrific Navy Yard mass shooting.

Now is the time to encourage our friends and

congregation members to join us in advocating

for movement on whichever of these issues 

they feel strongly about . . .

And, of course, we and our nation
are confronted by another problem
with huge peace and justice impact:

Our voice is also needed urging Congress to act 

now to end the government shutdown that has cut so
many vital services, and threatens an even more damaging
default.  And Congress needs know we strongly oppose ending
the shutdown at the expense of key service programs, especially 

for the most vulnerable.  As the default deadline approaches, 

careful reflection on America’s needs can be undercut by 

last minute – and often back-room – negotiations. The 

House voted to defund Obamacare without such open

discussion. And it has voted for a $40 billion cut to

SNAP (food stamps), one of the most effective – 

and efficient – programs serving those in need.

While we should trim spending where we can 

(and the Pentagon is one place!), many program cuts 

being considered would seriously hurt many Americans, 

especially the most vulnerable, and actually endanger the 

economic recovery. The focus should be on jobs, not 

cuts to programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social 

Security, and vital safety net programs.

The U.S. is at a critical moment. Our friends 

and members of our congregations probably need 

encouragement to set aside all the inducements to

just “zone out” on these issues. We can support 

and inspire one another as we each contact 

our elected officials and share our sense 

of where their focus might be, e.g.: 

new opportunities for 

peacemaking... justice

for the poor... jobs....
 

download this advocacy update as a pdf

---

"At heaven's door, St. Peter is probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small. But he is going to ask you what you did for the poor."  E.J. Dionne quoting John Kasich, Republican Gov. of Ohio, and a top lieutenant in Newt Gingrich's revolution in the 1990s.

A few especially helpful sources:

“Why the Government Shutdown Is Unbiblical”
by Jim Wallis, Sojourners, http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/10/03/why-government-shutdown-unbiblical

“8 Reasons Democrats Should Refuse a Shutdown ‘Grand Bargain’ ”
by Richard Eskow, Campaign for America's Future blog, Oct. 4, 2013
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/04-3

"Lasting Damage From the Budget Fight,"
editorial, NY Times, 9-26-13
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/opinion/lasting-damage-from-the-budget-fight.html?src=recg

"A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning"
by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Mike McIntire, NY Times, 10-6-13 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/a-federal-budget-crisis-months-in-the-planning.html

"Obamacare's strange bedfellows"
by E.J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post, 9-22-13
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-09-22/opinions/42299449_1_medicaid-expansion-bill-john-kasich-medicaid-issue

"Free to Be Hungry"
by Paul Krugman, NY Times, 9-23-13
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/opinion/krugman-free-to-be-hungry.html?_r=0

"US-Iran: Breakthrough After Decades of Silence,"
ABC News, 9-28-13 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/us-iran-leaders-talk-time-1979-20401912

"The UN Needs a Larger 'War on Poverty'"
by Ralph Nader, 9-27-13
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ralph-nader/united-nations-poverty_b_4005364.html

Other useful links:  www.billmoyers.com - http://robertreich.org/ - www.yesmagazine.org - www.truth-out.org - www.democracynow.org - www.thenation.com

Please share with others. . .    To see previous LPF blog posts . . . Further resources: www.lutheranpeace.org

Support a strong Arms Trade Treaty

Time is running out. The final week of negotiations for an Arms Trade Treaty is now underway. The treaty presents a great opportunity to prevent the world's worst catastrophes by keeping weapons out of the hands of warlords, war criminals, and genocidal dictators. Urge President Obama to support a strong Arms Trade Treaty.

Pastoral Letter on Violence

by MDC Synod Communications on Mar 11, 2013

“Every faithful caregiver who sits with victims of violence knows what we know – as God’s church, we are called to reduce violence and should, in most cases, restrain ourselves from using violence. Whether or not statistics show that overall violence has declined in recent years, every person wounded or killed is a precious child of God.

“As bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we lament the tragedy of gun violence in our country. We are grieved by the way violence threatens and destroys life. We affirm the current soul searching and shared striving to find a way to a better future.”

These are the opening sentences of A Pastoral Letter on Violence adopted by the ELCA Conference of Bishops, adopted on March 4, 2013. The Rev. Richard H. Graham, bishop of the Metro D.C. Synod, is in the conference. Read and download the full letter (pdf file) on the MDC Synod website, or read online on the ELCA Web site.

“This letter intends to encourage conversation and common reflection,” said Bishop Graham when forwarding it to rostered leaders in the Metro D.C. Synod and recommending circulation.

“The ELCA has already made significant statements on violence, and we wanted to call attention to what our church has already said. But we also wanted to be able to make a statement as a Conference of Bishops in response to a culture of violence,” said the Rev. Jessica R. Crist, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod and chair of the conference (ELCA News Service, 3/8/13). “The letter was carefully crafted and re-crafted, debated and prayed about. We commend it to the church.”

Find a list of related ELCA resources at the end of the “Pastoral Letter on Violence.”
See also: LPF's list of resources on gun violence