We live in a world with far too much violence, far too many shattered lives, far too much fear and sadness that is brought about by gun violence. We enter into this conversation in the spirit of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said:
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it…
Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate….
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
We believe in love and the power of community to confront a culture of violence with hope, and to partner with others to help bring about safer communities – starting right here in Minnesota.
We will work with our partner organization, Protect Minnesota (www.protectmn.org) to constructively and prophetically work to reduce the pain of gun violence in our community and state, with our priorities being safety and peace in our communities.
Contact: Rev. Luke Stevens-Royer / revluke@wbuuc.org