In the last few days, some of our communities have been impacted by violence, intimidation and unrest.
I was back home in Northern Ireland last weekend, and as
we heard the news of what had taken place in Belfast city centre and beyond, my family and I all recognized the same awful sense of familiarity in how we reacted. ‘We have been here before, and we know how this could end’, is how we felt. We found ourselves back in a place of hyper vigilance, watchfulness and tension that we hoped we had long left behind.
We had hoped we would never need to feel this way again. I never wanted to have to tell my children to stay in, and not to go the cinema in the neighboring town. I never wanted to have to check on my friends and colleagues to see if they were ok, because their safety was under threat.
We also knew, from our own experience, that what has happened in recent days will have an ongoing impact. The trauma caused will leave it’s mark.
So, how do we, as people of Christian faith, respond to rioting, violence and disorder?
What are we called to do when violent racism leaves communities terrorized and
terrified? How do we respond when misinformation and malicious communication add fuel to already tense situations?
As followers of Jesus, we know that each and every person is created in the image of God, and that we are to love our neighbours as ourselves, and stand with and alongside people who have been marginalised. As part of our commitment to be a Justice-Seeking Church, the Methodist Church adopted five priorities for justice. These include seeking justice for refugees and opposing discrimination. What is ours to do, now, when these priorities seem more urgent than ever?
The President and Vice President of the Methodist Church have released a statement condemning the violence and reminding us that ‘people with hate in their hearts will never have the last word’. They encourage us, as Methodists to ‘continue to work with our ecumenical and interfaith partners, as we join in clearing up, restoring trust and building communities of love, in which people can live in peace.‘
So, how do we put this into practice? Discerning the right action, the right way to respond, in a particular time and context, is a core practice within the cycle of community organizing.
Some will discern that their response is to be part of a peaceful protest. For others, that is not an option, which is possible. This may be for reasons of accessibility, health or wellbeing. It may be because the reality is that the risk of attending a protest, even one that is carefully organized, is greater to some folk than to others; particularly to people of colour. It may be because the experience of being at a protest, in the midst of crowds and noise and in an unpredictable situation is overwhelming; because of previous trauma, neurodiversity, or because we are already carry too much to be able to do anything more.
Or, perhaps, through our own careful discernment or on the advice of others, we feel that protest is not an appropriate response for now. Sometimes, however well intended, our responses can have consequences which cause harm, rather than bring calm and healing. Perhaps we sense the timing is not yet right. There’s a powerful scene in the film, ‘Selma’ when Martin Luther King tells folk to wait; not to march, not to protest, that day, because that action will not have the impact they hope and pray for.
Yet none of those reasons mean that we therefore remain silent or inactive. There are other ways to act, other ways to respond.
Some will use their relational and positional power to speak out, in writing or aloud, against racism and xenophobia. Sharing the truth around refugees, asylum seekers and wider migration, in the face of misinformation, some of which has been created with malicious intent. Telling stories of communities coming together, working for the common good. In a message sent to friends last weekend, the Rev Dr Inderjit Bhogal, former President of the British Methodist Conference, founder of City of Sanctuary and recipient of the World Methodist Peace Award, wrote this: ‘The root causes, not least misinformation about mythologies about minorities, especially refugees, requires attention. This cannot be seen as a policing matter only. It calls for all communities to come together building ways ahead that are based on humanity and hospitality, challenging hatred and hostility, as the basis of hope and healing. We can do this.’
Earlier this week I joined an emergency zoom meeting of Citizens UK leaders from across England. We heard from folk whose mosques and community centres had been targeted, and who were still concerned about the ongoing threat even as we spoke together. We heard about the alarming rise in racist hate crime incidents as people tried to go about their daily lives. We heard from others who had seen violent destruction in their towns and who had been there in the aftermath; getting involved in the clear up, checking on vulnerable neighbours and community groups. We paused to remember the horrific incident that took place in Southport, three precious young lives lost, and a community already in shock and mourning caused further
distress by the events of the following days. We heard people speak about being retraumatized, overwhelmed, and exhausted. And we heard, as so often is the case, of how the impact has been greatest on people who are already vulnerable; the elderly, people less able to leave their homes, children, and people newly arrived from situations of conflict across the world who had just begun to hope that they might finally have found sanctuary.
We spoke of the place of lament and righteous anger and reconciliation.
So, what, then, is ours to do? Here are some of the possibilities offered during our Citizens UK meeting, some of which many of you are already engaging in. But the message, again and again, from those gathered was that we should realize and recognize how much of an impact even seemingly small steps and actions can make when taken with care and intentionality.
1. Reach out to mosques, and to local organisations helping migrants. People on the call said how much these messages of support, solidarity and care meant to them.
2. Reach out to people in your community. We spoke about the importance, too, of checking in on people who may be feeling particularly isolated and vulnerable. We recognised the potential for re-traumatisation for people who had lived through violent unrest in the past.
3. Follow guidance from your own organisation about any actions you might take, including risk assessment. The Methodist Church offers guidance for church leaders wondering how they might respond, which includes reflecting on how to avoid putting others or ourselves at undue risk.
4. Commit to the longer term; the connections made now through reaching out can be the beginning of an ongoing relationship of organising together for the good and flourishing of our communities. Citizens UK’s recent report on organising across difference, offers much wisdom on how to build intentional, sustainable relationships. There’s also a self lead learning module for anyone who would like to gain a deeper understanding of how to put this into practice. Organising Together across Difference – Citizens UK
‘We build hope through action’ Saeed, lead organiser for Birmingham Citizens has been reminding us this week. In the face of that which seeks to divide, fragment, and destroy, we can find ways to connect, to listen, to ally and to plan so that our communities can flourish anew. A friend and colleague in the Learning Network reminded me again of these words of Seamus Heaney’s taken from his poem, ‘The Cure at Troy’, and the passage below, quoted by Bill Clinton during the Northern Ireland Peace Process in 1995.
‘History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.’
As people of faith, we carry within us the knowledge that hope, and resurrection and transformation are possible even in the bleakest of times. May we discern the ways to act which make that hope a reality for others.
Kerry Scarlett 7th August 2024
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