Community

I want to begin by humbly recognizing the great sorrow and righteous frustration and rage in our nation for the violence against people of color. We will identify actions and do some imagining as a family and as a church for how we can enact better practices for a community where all may flourish. 

I also need to recognize that slogans like "kill the police" and "f%$# the police" are freaking our family out a bit. I know someone chanting "kill the police" should be the most upsetting, but it strikes me as the language my brother and I used when we fought. Or maybe it is just so disturbing that I repress my reaction to it.

I'm finding myself distressed over "f%$# the police". Perhaps it was inappropriate to tell my husband that everyone found out what a great lover he was and that's where it came from, but I have to keep making jokes or I'm not sure I will stay sane through this. Perhaps it is the vulgarity of it that bothers me, but I don't think so.

I think it is the undercurrent of sexual violence that so disturbs me. I know people don't really want to have sex with the police, but use of the f-word is such a violent rejection of their humanity. We recently reread the story of the Sodom from the Bible where all the men of the city nearly knocked down the door to rape two male guest who were visiting (and happened to be angels). It is not a story about same gender relationships; it is a story of sexual violence to humiliate and dehumanize the other. 

It is a story about what happens when the "other" becomes something to violate instead of someone to welcome. 

We've had enough dehumanizing, enough violation, and perhaps there is another way. I worry that the police have become a common enemy to unite people and give clarity of mission in a tumultuous nation and time. (I also fear the reverse is happening and we see it in some of the police reactions to protests). 

God bless our recent rally in Juneau. What an amazing showing of support, but when I read through the demands from the protestors for the police, I was struck by how many of those procedures are already in place. How different the experience could have been for our community if the police were part of the conversation instead of targeted as the problem. 

I'm not defending the institution of policing, but I know that they see the depth of human depravity and have to step in. They get called in at people's worst moments and often see some of the worst we can do to ourselves and each other. I often suggest in our family's discussions that a social worker and chaplain on staff would be incredibly helpful because police are asked to do everything. 

I do believe that violence is the least creative and effective way to solve a problem. I don't believe we can do away with it, but I do think we can create community conversations and relationships where violence in language and action are the last tools to be used not the first.