00:00:01.840 - 00:00:22.160

Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Mhm. Hello, how are you? Good morning. My name is Dr Asante Todd. I am happy to serve as assistant professor of christian ethics here at Austin Presbyterian Theological

00:00:22.160 - 00:00:35.220

Seminary. I'm happy also to be with you today for today's webinar we're talking about power, gender and gun violence and we want to look at that from a theological perspective. I want to say thank you

00:00:35.220 - 00:00:49.520

to Education beyond the walls and two melissa America for inviting me out. Happy to have this conversation and thank you also uh to my host, uh Devin Reynolds. Thank you for uh being with me today

00:00:49.530 - 00:01:02.730

and looking forward to the conversation. Maybe I'll begin um by just giving a little bit of an outline , a path and then we'll proceed from there to conversation. It's also going to be the case that

00:01:02.730 - 00:01:14.240

I have a couple of videos to show a few videos to show as we get into the conversation. And so I'm going to be for a brief moment switching back and forth between this power point and a

00:01:14.240 - 00:01:26.300

few videos. I think it's important for us to see brief ones. So thank you for bearing with me on that. So first of all, let's begin. They by talking a bit about the plan

00:01:26.300 - 00:01:40.610

or the path that we have for this conversation. I want to talk a bit um, about, you know, the general debate between gun control and self protection. Then I want to talk about the

00:01:40.610 - 00:01:52.280

gun debate really lifting up and highlighting, uh, the, the question about race and particularly from an african american perspective. I think whenever we look at the gun debate, uh, from this perspective,

00:01:52.290 - 00:02:06.660

a different set of questions may be unique set of questions emerges, uh, that I think we should be attentive to as we go to respond to these kinds of pressing issues in faithful and responsible ways.

00:02:07.240 - 00:02:20.860

Um, so I want to talk a bit about this thing called Stand Your Ground Culture. And that phrase is, I'll explain actually, comes from a scholar by the name of kelly Brown Douglas who teaches

00:02:20.870 - 00:02:31.260

theology and ethics as well. I really want to lift up and highlight some of the ways in which this culture might also be informing, influencing the ways that we take up this question of the gun debate

00:02:31.840 - 00:02:44.010

, and also the ways that it might affect women and african american women in particular in particular ways. But then I want to make a theological move right ? What what do we, what do we as

00:02:44.010 - 00:02:54.230

believers and as christians have to say or to think , reflect on this issue. The end, I want to turn uh, to some theological thinking from two figures. Uh first is that the larger my

00:02:54.230 - 00:03:07.950

name of Karl Barth who wrote in the early 20th century. And then also I want to pull from some of the thinking of reverend doctor Martin Luther King , Jr, Who wrote and lived and preached in

00:03:07.950 - 00:03:17.650

the mid 20th century. I think both of these figures have something to offer us with respect to this conversation. And I want to end up with the gap Ethics talking about what are the implications of this

00:03:17.660 - 00:03:32.820

for how we should respond to this issue today. So maybe the first thing I want to do is begin by highlighting two primary size of this debate. Uh, there's sort of the, what we might

00:03:32.820 - 00:03:46.040

call the gun control side of this conversation, and then there's what we might call the self protection or , um, somebody call it self defense or some even call it the First Amendment side of this debate

00:03:46.040 - 00:03:58.720

. Right there, there's often appeal to First Amendment or excuse me, the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms. Uh, whenever you begin to get anticipate, but also, uh, just the

00:03:58.720 - 00:04:12.900

general idea of freedom, right, constitutional, freedom and constitutional rights that comes up. So these are some of the two sides of this debate for those who really feel that gun control, primary strategy for

00:04:12.900 - 00:04:29.760

this. Um, guns symbolizes everything that is wrong in american culture. Alright, for it symbolizes things like, uh, perhaps what this thing we might call toxic masculinity, male dominance, aggression, violence

00:04:30.240 - 00:04:45.820

and for others who want to emphasize the protection for the defense or the amendment aspects of this debate. We talked about gun, the gun debate. It really symbolizes freedom or independence or self sufficiency. Um

00:04:45.830 - 00:04:59.330

, perhaps even something like a traditional american values, right? This is one of the things that means to be an american. So this debate is a tense and a difficult one. And maybe at the

00:04:59.330 - 00:05:09.250

end of the day, there are no easy answers , although I think there are some answers. Um , but this just give us a sense of the ways in which uh, there are key values that

00:05:09.250 - 00:05:20.700

play on both sides of this debate. I think maybe anyone stepping back, um, looking at both sides of this conversation might be able to appreciate the values that work on both sides of this conversation,

00:05:20.710 - 00:05:34.980

right? We definitely want, uh, to be in safe spaces. We definitely want to minimize toxic behavior, but many of us also definitely appreciate freedom , appreciate the right to defend ourselves. Should that

00:05:34.990 - 00:05:46.360

be the case? And so this is some of the difficulty that begins to emerge. We start talking about, uh, the gun debate in general, um, maybe just a bit more about uh,

00:05:46.840 - 00:06:01.990

gun control. A few terms that you may see come up here. People talk about licenses or permits , registers, um, license, right One might might have imply that there is a legal requirement respect

00:06:01.990 - 00:06:15.410

to firearms permits. The requirement have a permit to purchase a handgun um, in texas, very interesting . Uh, texas, generally speaking as a right to rtC right to carry state. So generally speaking

00:06:15.410 - 00:06:30.450

in texas, there's not really necessarily a requirement for licensure Registration or permits at least since 2013. Some of that may have changed since then, but generally speaking, texas primarily is identified as a right to

00:06:30.450 - 00:06:42.360

carry state. And so it tends to be the case that most of the conversations will lean towards a self defense, self protection, uh, kind of stance. Um, but as we know, of

00:06:42.360 - 00:06:51.710

course, this continues to be a debate. I want to now switch to maybe a few videos because now I want to, uh, bring up this question of race and maybe not even just race,

00:06:51.710 - 00:07:06.420

but culture and how this also plays into this conversation on the gun debate. I want to look up some perspectives from an african american culture dealing with women and also with men and getting some insight into how

00:07:06.420 - 00:07:18.490

this debate is taken up respect to that. So I'm going to switch to a brief video now, so I will explain a bit. The first video Was actually from an 11 year old woman, 11

00:07:18.490 - 00:07:32.660

year old girl by the name of Naomi Watler. Um, this was in response, uh, to the park and victims shootings, 17 people shot dead . And so people were very shocked to see,

00:07:33.140 - 00:07:49.250

uh, that first of all that this incident happened , Secondly, that an 11 year old was sort of now the face and the spokesperson for this incident of violence. Uh, and so what Naomi Wyler

00:07:49.250 - 00:08:03.950

said, essentially in that video was that she was there to represent and stand in for the shooting victims . And maybe even more specifically, um, for a young woman by the name of Courtland Arrington,

00:08:03.960 - 00:08:16.530

A young african american woman who was killed in that incident, received little recognition uh, in the headlines in the news line, we're gonna try one more video, It's a much shorter one, and we'll

00:08:16.530 - 00:08:28.560

get a chance to test the sound again, and if not, we'll just continue with the conversation. Let me try one more uh, free video, Right? So the second video, very brief,

00:08:28.560 - 00:08:39.290

limited video was from a young woman by the Briana Lawrence. You can see this on the screen, ah, who has a background in research and social work. She was really expressing the ways in which

00:08:39.300 - 00:08:50.790

a lot of times, uh, we read and hear statistics about gun violence, but many times that we don't hear the whole story, right? That's not necessarily the whole story because there's so many stories

00:08:50.790 - 00:09:05.600

of persons, especially in African american communities and in latino and latino communities, uh, who for various reasons do not report incidents of violence, right? Um, perhaps they may feel uh, generally unsafe

00:09:05.600 - 00:09:18.240

or perhaps feel they don't have the similar amount of resources and that kind of thing. And so for different reasons, uh, these different demographics don't necessarily report incidents of violence as frequently. And so even

00:09:18.250 - 00:09:33.200

statistics that try and take account of these harrowing events and incidents don't necessarily get the whole story. And so Miss Lawrence was simply highlighting the ways in which uh, the reason that she's trying to speak up

00:09:33.210 - 00:09:43.680

and speak out is because there are so many stories that are not being told and the statistics are not taking out. I've got one more video and you got the link that I'm not going to show it

00:09:43.680 - 00:09:54.570

to you, but really, I really want you to see this video. This video is actually harkening back to the reverend dr martin Luther King, Jr , you have the uh length there and you are

00:09:54.570 - 00:10:11.630

l there should you choose to look at it. The interesting thing about this video Is that the video goes on to explain that that Dr King was actually one who advocated gun ownership and applied actually to own

00:10:11.630 - 00:10:22.690

a gun, but was denied the right to own a gun. And so I wanted to show this third video bring out that point because I think it brings up maybe an interesting counterpoint are interesting uh,

00:10:22.700 - 00:10:35.790

to the other videos, in that This is a complex conversation. Right. On one hand, there are so many victims of gun violence, many of these women and disproportionately perhaps women of color. Um

00:10:35.800 - 00:10:50.010

, but on the other hand, there is entire culture, entire group that is denied in many ways gun ownership. And, and even when we get into issues of gun laws and gun regulation, there

00:10:50.020 - 00:11:05.600

is also in american history, uh, issues around race and culture that we need to attend to, such that it's often a bit more difficult for african american cultures to attain the same kinds of rights rights

00:11:05.600 - 00:11:18.560

. When we talk about the gun debate and its relationship to uh, alright, gun control versus self protection. When it comes to african american culture, right, we sort of sit in a unique position

00:11:18.940 - 00:11:31.280

and that we are looking for protection, but we also, uh, certain aspects of the culture also need or like gun ownership are being denied gun ownership . And so this sort of complicates the conversation in

00:11:31.280 - 00:11:43.380

some interesting ways. Um, I think it might be helpful at this point, right? We've got this gun control versus self protection debate, maybe take a step back, right? And to really ask

00:11:43.380 - 00:11:56.860

questions about the larger culture in which we stand in which we're having this conversation, I think many times we get into the conversation about gun control versus self protection. We tend to leave that, that that

00:11:56.860 - 00:12:07.740

conversation tends to leave the debate at a level, looking only at individuals, right? The individual has a right to own a gun, or the individual has a right to be protected. We take a

00:12:07.740 - 00:12:22.550

step back and leave the culture. We're going to really begin to see the ways in which, according to Scholar Kelly Brown Douglas in her text, Stand your ground. This text was written actually in 2015

00:12:22.550 - 00:12:35.060

. I'm showing uh, text here just for your information. According to Douglas, we have to take up these matters in light of awareness, particular culture , right? We're living in a culture these days

00:12:35.540 - 00:12:52.060

um, where there is a strong emphasis on sort of a retention and a reclamation of certain quote unquote traditional american values that many feel are at stake and many of you may have heard the saying even uh

00:12:52.540 - 00:13:07.420

, There's a popular saying promoted by some saying, take us back to the 1950s, many of us feel that given the different religions and different cultures that are coming to public light in contemporary times, there's

00:13:07.420 - 00:13:18.690

a strong tendency to want to hang on to a culture that many feel it's fading away. So this is also part of the conversation that we're getting into and get into gun debate. This also gives us

00:13:18.690 - 00:13:33.630

begins to give us a window into these questions of power and gender, right? Because today we're looking at the ways in which power is being utilized, perhaps even in chauvinistic and romantic ways to justify some

00:13:33.630 - 00:13:48.230

pretty heinous acts and incidents. Right? So you think, uh, right, not, not just about these large, there are definitely some, some horrendous large scale mass shootings that have occurred. But

00:13:48.230 - 00:14:00.750

even in the everyday day today incidents, uh, stand your ground culture. A lot of this is fueled by a desire of fear that one is losing one's culture. So all of this is in conversation

00:14:01.050 - 00:14:16.930

in the debate. Um, we also need to highlight the ways in which the stand your ground culture really harkens back to something of a chosen identity right now in America were asking questions about the degree to

00:14:16.930 - 00:14:31.570

which we are unique, exceptional, chosen and all of this may in different ways fuel right? This desire to hang on to our culture by any means necessary. All right. Not to, uh,

00:14:31.580 - 00:14:48.330

to use maybe a phrase promoted by another, uh , figure of a different culture. And so many feel that while some of these violent measures and appealed to guns and violence are not normally okay, that

00:14:48.330 - 00:15:00.360

in our particular, in our unique context, right , This is what needs to be done. So these are some of the other kinds of conversations going on. All of this sort of culminates such that

00:15:01.140 - 00:15:11.880

the gun debate is taken up in the context, right? Of this larger idea of standing one's ground , standing one's ground. So whenever I take up the gun debate, I like to talk about the

00:15:11.880 - 00:15:24.160

gun debate. Not an abstraction, but in the context where people are concerned about standing their ground and losing territory. These are some of the ways in which we're approaching this conversation, perhaps unarticulated at time

00:15:24.740 - 00:15:35.140

for me, all right. As well as begin to to respond to this or think about this from a theological perspective, I think there are definitely a few things that we have in the tradition of faith

00:15:35.150 - 00:15:50.160

that can help us take up this question. The first thing I might say is, uh, that according to theologian Karl Bart, we need to remind ourselves that God is a loving and free God,

00:15:50.640 - 00:16:06.350

that, uh, and Bart wants to be very particular, that we emphasize that God is a loving and free God in that order, right? In that order, right? The first attribute of the

00:16:06.350 - 00:16:17.340

first, uh, feature of God. For bar is that God is love, right? So, whenever we talk about power and gender and violence, the first thing we need to know that the fundamental

00:16:17.340 - 00:16:29.880

nature and truth of reality itself is love, right ? For Bart, this informs the way that we should understand the thing about power, right? And and for bar this comes out of this language of

00:16:29.880 - 00:16:45.890

freedom. God is free, but we know who God truly is, by the way in which God interaction loves us. Okay, So, like I was saying so for Bart, God is love and

00:16:45.890 - 00:17:00.540

this fundamental nature uh is what allows us and enables us to have fellowship first with God and then with one another, right? Uh and we know this right? For for Bart is also important that we

00:17:00.540 - 00:17:11.940

don't begin with a general definition of love, but that we begin with the specific act of God's love for humanity, right? This is love. Uh For Bar this is the true definition of love.

00:17:11.950 - 00:17:26.330

And this also should inform the way that we think about power and freedom, right? Freedom is not something abstract and the ability to do it exactly what everyone wants. Freedom in fact, is framed by

00:17:26.330 - 00:17:37.960

level. We know that through God's freedom and God's love, um Bart will say that the freedom of God consists in the fact that God loves and it is expression of his loving that he seeks and creates

00:17:37.960 - 00:17:49.950

fellowship with us, right? So for bar, anytime we talk about freedom, anytime we talk about power, we also have to talk about the love that was displayed by God. And this should frame

00:17:49.990 - 00:18:03.120

the way we think about all kinds of freedom and all kinds of love. Um again, there is no such thing as a general idea of freedom and this already, yes, you can see has some

00:18:03.120 - 00:18:15.850

implications for the way that we view things like power and stand your ground, Right? So, so the idea of the stand your ground culture is one that would indicate or suggest that power and freedom is

00:18:15.850 - 00:18:29.890

a fundamental good. But if we're looking at the theology of bars, we know that that power and freedom must already be framed and shaped by love, right? So this already begins to impact the way

00:18:29.890 - 00:18:45.880

we go about, uh, preserving and valuing our culture different ways. Um, for bart, the freedom of God means that God is free to reveal God's self anywhere at any time. And I think

00:18:45.880 - 00:19:00.160

the takeaway and the important indication of this particular moment in this particular case is that we need to be aware of the ways in which God might be uh , working and acting throughout all of our cultures,

00:19:00.160 - 00:19:11.540

Right? So, so whether we are gun control advocates or uh, self protection advocates or were part of cultures that perhaps sitting between these, we need to be open to the idea that God is acting

00:19:11.540 - 00:19:22.170

and living and moving all of these spaces, right ? So that none of us really is able to sit on the high ground and point the finger at the other, but that we should all be oriented

00:19:22.170 - 00:19:33.690

towards one another uh, in love and in freedom . I think a second theologian that has something to offer for us is the thinking of the reverend dr , martin Luther king Jr, which is right in

00:19:33.690 - 00:19:45.260

line with bar in many ways, especially on this question of love and freedom for king. Uh, he was right along, and the way he talks about it is God being strong and able, right

00:19:45.940 - 00:19:57.420

? Uh, God is both tough minded and tender hearted, is what King says, right? So there is definitely an aspect of God that is powerful , that is free, but God is also a

00:19:57.420 - 00:20:14.820

god of that agape love for king, right? That's that's selfless love that seeks out and seek to redeem the world even uh for king, something very important emerges from this conviction. And that is that

00:20:14.820 - 00:20:27.880

any time we talk about power, we also have to talk about this thing called justice, right? And so for King as well as for Bart, the idea that God is a god of love that

00:20:27.880 - 00:20:40.340

shapes the freedom of God means that God is also a god of justice, right? And justice for everyone, right? Not just just justice for a particular group of particular culture, but God is a

00:20:40.340 - 00:20:59.790

god of justice for everyone and all of this sort of lands for king. On two important points. One is, uh, I got to write this , the idea that instead of violence instead of chauvinism

00:20:59.880 - 00:21:11.180

, instead of positioning oneself against another authoritative ways, we need to be loving towards one another. But we should not be so sentimental that we forget justice for everyone. And so King was big on just

00:21:11.180 - 00:21:27.080

in the form of constitutional rights and economic empowerment towards equity for all this means that any time we talk about victims of gun violence, shootings of gun violence , that the victims should be afforded the same kinds

00:21:27.080 - 00:21:42.320

of rights, equal rights, regardless of their background , regardless of their culture or character. Um, it also means that we should be looking at the ways in which other aspects of this gun debate or

00:21:42.320 - 00:21:56.560

perhaps not being talked about, right. Uh, perhaps there are certain wealth inequities lead to certain other kinds of disparities. And we also need to talk about the ways in which justice means, Uh,

00:21:56.570 - 00:22:06.290

King of course, didn't speak directly to the gun debate. He was for gun ownership, but we also need to think, I need to talk about the different kinds of gun ownership and it seems to

00:22:06.290 - 00:22:22.560

me to be a bit problematic a certain large scale weaponry. Machine guns, these kinds of large are available. Perhaps the american public, well, maybe other kinds of firearms might be more appropriate for ownership

00:22:23.040 - 00:22:33.210

. Uh, I think that requires a bit of discernment. Right? But I think here, we need to have a healthy balance and respect for this , but there are certain kinds of weapons That should

00:22:33.210 - 00:22:48.200

not be available to the American public. Um, and I think, you know, machine guns, AK 47 things like this. I really can't see the efficacy or the purpose behind, uh, the

00:22:48.200 - 00:23:00.640

ownership of these. I think we also need to talk about something King talked about in terms of a good neighbor policy. Right? Really we've got to begin to be more altruistic and even sympathetic to the

00:23:00.640 - 00:23:18.420

other side. Um, we have to begin to imagine the ways in which those who have been wounded in these circumstances. These incidents are really those who , to whom we should be attending. Right.

00:23:18.420 - 00:23:30.650

So all the victims, Uh, of gun violence , you saw the 11 year old woman speaking. Um, you saw the other speaking, these victims need to be attended to even beyond the structures and

00:23:30.650 - 00:23:45.560

strictures of law and policy. We definitely need laws and policies again, I think for certain kinds of gun control. But beyond that, we need to begin also to reveal restore and rebuild communities such that

00:23:45.940 - 00:24:02.700

these kinds of conversations can take place on a more consistent basis a between people that that matter and have influence and power in the respective places and locations. Um, regard for devotion and interest, devotion to

00:24:02.700 - 00:24:15.750

the interests of others, which we always be thinking about the others as opposed to ourselves in these kinds of debates. And finally, uh, you remember that reverend doctor Martin Luther King believed in Nonviolence,

00:24:15.760 - 00:24:30.240

right? Um nonviolent resistance. Right? And so I understand this is a complicated debate and everyone has their opinions and perspectives, but it's important remember that as we go to lobby for our side, right

00:24:30.240 - 00:24:41.610

? If I'm, for example, if I'm a gun control advocate, I need to remember that as I go out, I need to go out non violently. Right? So I need to be diplomatic

00:24:41.620 - 00:24:55.360

, I need to be in conversation and debate with persons and I don't need to resort to violence on these matters. Um, King was was really emphasizing here when he talks about Nonviolence. King was really

00:24:55.360 - 00:25:07.780

wanted to lift up and holding comparison with someone who would resort to violence. Perhaps we might call them a terrorist, for example. But King was also really uh, calling to task those who might call

00:25:07.780 - 00:25:18.500

themselves pacifists, right? There are those who want to say, I don't want anything to do with this debate. I just wanna leave it alone altogether , and I want to go into my my particular

00:25:18.510 - 00:25:30.870

community and not even think about it. And King would also challenge those persons to say, no, you need to be out in this debate in this conversation and being active about it in nonviolent ways,

00:25:30.870 - 00:25:45.680

Right? So for King, those who would either sit to the side passively, as well as those who wanted to resort to violence, neither one of those was really getting the truth of the matter.

00:25:45.690 - 00:25:55.620

The heart of the matter, right? The heart of the matter is that because God is a loving and free God, that we should be engagement another in nonviolent ways. This is sort of the natural

00:25:55.620 - 00:26:07.690

play out of King's theology. I think these points are some of the major points that I wanted to lift up in terms of how we might begin to think about approaching this question of the gun debate.

00:26:07.700 - 00:26:21.070

Uh, maybe I'll say again, thank you for this time and participate in this conversation. A lot of interesting things to think about. I'm still thinking about and wrestling with some of these issues. Um

00:26:21.080 - 00:26:33.210

, but I think a beginning point again is learning to, uh, look at one another through the eyes of love, right? This idea of beloved community and helping us helping that lead us toward things

00:26:33.210 - 00:26:49.360

like good neighbor policies, um, towards effective gun control, um towards justice and equity for all, and also to do it in a non violent way so that the beloved community of God can be realized

00:26:49.740 - 00:27:00.570

, or at least perhaps inklings of it while we're on this side of glory. So thank you for your time, and um I look forward to talking