The Hardening of Hearts

By: Adama Brown

Within the last decade, some of the most egregious acts of gun violence have occurred in this country. College students, professors, young school age children and their teachers, moviegoers, bible study attendants, and those just out to have a good time at a night club have all unexpectedly lost their lives. Between June 2015 and June 2016 there were a total of 34 mass killings in the U.S. that involved gun violence, resulting in a total of 229 deaths.  True enough, the constitution grants us the right to bear arms, but just as clearly as God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and called him to lead the Israelites out of captivity, surely the thirty-four signs that have appeared to us in the last year should be enough to warn us that without action, efforts to achieve freedom are futile.

These thirty-four signs and the countless others that we have seen in recent years have become more than just signs. They’re more like our modern day plagues. Just this June, forty nine people died at the hand of gun violence in Orlando, Florida. The policymakers did nothing and hardened their hearts. Fourteen people were shot to death while attending an office holiday party in San Bernadino, California in December 2015. The policymakers did nothing and hardened their hearts. In June 2015, nine people in Charleston, South Carolina were shot and killed on sacred ground while studying the word of God. The policymakers did nothing and hardened their hearts.

Sacred text reminds us that not even the stench of blood or dead frogs, annoying insects, skin boils, hail, locusts, or even darkness could make Pharaoh free the Israelites. Instead it took an unfathomable act, the death of the Egyptians’ firstborn for him to finally relinquish control and let Moses’ people go. What’s it going to take to make U.S. policymakers have a change of heart? Shouldn’t the stench of blood from fallen innocents be enough? Will it take losing a daughter, son, spouse, or other relative to make them say enough is enough and take the necessary actions that will benefit the common good? Or will political ideology and money cause them to continue to uphold the status quo?

The covenants found in sacred text tell us a lot about the ways that we are called to be in relationship with each other, and the consequences that arise when we don’t heed said agreements. Our covenants with each other will remain questionable, at best, if we don’t put the basic safety and lives of our people first. This week policymakers decided to “down in order to stand up” for the American people. Their mantra soon became “no bill, no break”. Unfortunately, without necessary action, I see no break in the blood flow on our nation’s streets.