I’ve just completed reading The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. It was recommended by NPR’s Evening Edition and the New York Times as the book for the June online discussion. The novel is set in a world where natural disasters are common and often catastrophically destructive. However, the people with powers to mitigate those disasters are feared and oppressed. It juxtaposes these people with a population accepting the inevitability of these life-threatening disasters and fearing even more extreme consequences if attempts are made to change things.
In an interview with NPR, Jemisin said: “I wrote this book while watching (the protests in) Ferguson unfold on the internet … tanks rolling down the streets of an American city, towards an unarmed, peaceful protest and treating them like the enemy. And why are they being treated like the enemy when literally all they’re asking for is to not get shot?”
The novel suggests the question, “Who in our society are feared or denigrated for rejecting the inevitability of violence breeding violence?”
In the Hebrew scriptures we read, “I shall pour out my spirit on all humankind; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your elders will dream dreams and your young people will see visions, even the lowly” (Joel 2: 28, 29). However, in our society, these people are often silenced in favor of the way things have always been. Many portray them as “unrealistic,” “impractical,” soft on the opposition, and even dangerous or traitorous – undermining the defense of our country.
For centuries humanity has been trying to cope with coercive force by devising increasingly more devastating counter force. In my lifetime there have been World War II, the Korean conflict, the Cuban conflict, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror that has taken our military into dozens of countries in the world, including active fighting for more than 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq. Military force has been the default response to any perceived threat. It has been accepted as a means to confront demonstrations and protests, border crossings, raids seeking undocumented people and even moving checkpoints questioning citizens within our own country. These events have eroded our values of reason, negotiation and the self-evident truth that all people are created equal with the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
For example, some justify torture as a tool against enemies of our country. Many support the U.S. maintenance and upgrade of a nuclear weapons arsenal with the intent to use it if the perceived need arises, even at our own peril. President Donald Trump recently defended the poor treatment of immigrant children saying, “Things were just as bad or worse where they lived in their home country.” Is that really the standard we are willing to accept for the lives of children?
Also, the alternative Independence Day celebration orchestrated by the president in Washington, D.C., on July 4 illustrates the determination of many to equate greatness with military and economic prowess. There was a grand military display of tanks and roaring flyovers by fighter jets and bombers. His speech included a review of America’s military history, recounting with reverence the early beginnings of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. It seems apparent that our country and the nations of the world are on a trajectory to repeat the same military actions over and over hoping for different results.
However, these accounts leave out a significant capacity of human beings. Humans not only have a penchant for war and violence, they also have the aptitude for empathy, care for others and a commitment to equal justice for all. Our nation and the world of nations have a need to nurture this capacity. The world needs a movement of people who have the vision, the energy and the will to solve conflicts in new ways that abandon the display and use of coercive force to demonstrate strength and solve problems.
Some of these people are already among us. For example, consider Vista volunteers, people advocating for children on our border with Mexico, a University of New Hampshire student working this summer with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniers in Palestine and Israel, Doctors Without Borders, community service volunteers, people nonviolently demonstrating for social justice issues and No More Deaths volunteers in border regions of Arizona.
It is time to nurture and celebrate these expressions of human nature. In today’s aggressive climate, sometimes empathy and nonviolence are dismissed as unrealistic divisive constructs of intellectuals and idealists. Contrary to this criticism, they can serve to unite people in a common cause. Building supportive relationships can give direction to the more privileged and a sense of justice, strength and self-esteem for those struggling for basic needs of food, housing, health care, education and equal opportunity employment. Working together may be the means to break out of the cycle of violence, war, cultural divides and scapegoating that have plagued humanity for centuries. Such a movement may even contribute to the survival of humanity, and perhaps the Earth.
As our country moves toward the 2020 elections, look for candidates who are among these visionaries. Look for candidates who are willing to reject the centuries of failed dependence on coercive power and lead us toward a time of trust, cooperation and security among all people and all nations. It is a significant part of our nature. May the capacity for this new spirit flourish among us.
(The Rev. John Buttrick, United Church of Christ, lives in Concord.)