I want to march. For the last year and a half, since the results of the 2016 presidential election came in and it became clear that Donald Trump had won, I have become increasingly frustrated with the government of the United States of America and with American politics in general. I want to march because I want to act in a way that protests the directions toward which our current leaders have led us. I think, for me, that means marching on March 24th, not in Cincinnati, where I live, but in Washington, D.C., at the national March For Our Lives.
I am old enough to be elected President and I have never voted in a civil election. In fact, I have been committed never to vote in future elections. You see, I believe that I am by identity a Christian first and only, that I am not an American, not a citizen of this world but rather the next one. I was born into American citizenship, but I died to that life and was reborn into another people: God’s chosen people-- Christians. That death and rebirth is not merely what baptism represents; it is what baptism is. As a citizen of heaven, I have chosen not to act as a citizen of America when not required to do so. I pay taxes and obey laws, but have not voted. A large part of me believes even now that participating as an American citizen in this March discredits and invalidates this aspect of my faith.
I believe that what is happening in America, in terms of mass shootings and especially mass school shootings, is appalling and deserves a response. These attacks do not happen in this way, at this level of frequency, elsewhere on Earth. In part, that seems to be because other countries have better protections, both legally and culturally, against maniacs hoarding and unleashing arms against their communities. In part, that seems to be because a large subsection of our nation advocates for individuals to have access to the weapons to fight our own government at apparently any cost (either in what has been paid or in what still may be paid).
This is not purely a gun control issue. It is purely a sin issue. While I believe changes in gun law can and hopefully will help, it is not wrong to blame the mental and spiritual health of those who would choose to attack and kill a large number of people. It is right to seek immediate solutions to preemptively identify and compassionately intervene in the lives of those who may put others at risk. It is also reasonable to question whether American government can curtail American freedoms without infringing on American rights.
It is also right to label these attacks “terrorism” and to draw connections between the Parkland shooting and events like the Oklahoma City bombing. America has a responsibility to react to isolated incidents like this in a way that prevents future incidents. The fact that mass shootings, and mass school shootings in particular, have not been isolated highlights the desperate and urgent need for actual, practical, governmental reaction. To say this is not purely a legal issue is not to say that it cannot be addressed, in part, through legislation. The survivors of the Parkland shooting, including students, parents and faculty, have been inspirational in their call to action. I want to support them. I want to advocate for and be part of the current tide of momentum toward change.
I like the Parkland students, but they are still strangers. I do not know exactly what the March For Our Lives supports. From their website, the march is “to demand that [students’] lives and safety become a priority and that we end this epidemic of mass school shootings.” I can support that. They say “[s]chool safety is not a political issue.” I disagree with that. Although I support reasonable measures to protect our students, no one marches in Washington without a political purpose. “The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues.” I do not think it is realistic that the organizers would already know the letter of this law , but I wish I could know what such a bill would or will state. As seen through in my past commitment to even vote, I am leery of being seen as supporting something I may not, in the end, fully support.
"…something I may, in the end, not fully support." I find that phrase convicting, and not in a self-supportive way. You see, I partially support a lot of things. I preach the absolute pursuit of absolute truth while practicing incomplete knowledge of that absolute truth. I truly believe our world is made up of white and black (here meaning cultural analogies to good and evil, very intentionally and blatantly distinct from racial terms). I also truly believe that we perceive our world largely in shades of gray. A great deal of determining our purposes in life is parsing out what is good and what is not good. At some point, though, we must stop finding our purpose and start acting out our purpose. We must move from intuition to action.
I feel that the March For Our Lives movement is good, but that is not enough. I feel that it is more right than wrong, more good than evil, and I also feel that my feelings make little impact in our world. If I want to comment on or participate toward any proposed legislation that results from this march, I should do so as a member of this movement and not as a proponent, as a marcher instead of an internet avatar.
I believe now that I have been wrong in the past to abstain from voting, that in trying to be Christian without being American, I have fallen short of acting as Christ would have. I now change my mind. I confess. I repent.
I believe that Jesus Christ did and does act, in this moment and in all moments. I believe that Jesus Christ would march in support of the survivors, in support of youth, in support of growth and reform and progress.
I believe that if I claim to be a Christian I must act as I believe Jesus would act. I believe I will act. In November, for the first time, I will vote.
On March 24th, in Washington, D.C., I will march.