I didn’t really expect or plan for my first discussion point to be coverage or analysis of things currently transpiring. But here we are. My heart is grieving and my mind is raging. Go big or go home, right? Or perhaps, more fitting - trial by fire. Imagine my frustration/shock/anger/sadness when I turned on the news to the scene in Washington DC yesterday

Yesterday, Americans from across the country showed up in DC to make their voices heard. As the electoral college votes were to be counted and certified, these Americans wanted to make it known that their confidence in our election systems has been lost. I don’t want to tackle the topic of election fraud or reform right now, that’s much too big for this moment. But I think it’s important to note why those people, or the majority of them, were there. Our constitution allows for, even calls for, peaceful protest. I don’t pretend to know the intentions of every American or person in DC today, but as we talk about the why and then discuss the what happened, we need to have a starting point. You don’t have to agree with the premise of yesterday’s rally turned protest turned riot to look at it objectively and figure out what happened.

What happened at the Capitol was wrong. Violence is not the answer. Ever. This is 2021. But let’s look back at how we got here and why it’s hypocritical for people to call out what happened today when they largely ignored or even defended the violence that filled our summer. These protestors today, many wearing MAGA hats, carrying American flags, and even invoking the name of Jesus, were wrong. Period. There is no excuse. Here’s the problem though: America has been watching violence just like this and much worse for the last 7 months. Cities across the nation have been terrorized by intense and outrageous violence brought on by people wearing BLM shirts and covering their faces in the style of antifa. Where was the outrage then? When businesses were burned to the ground, the news media was calling for understanding - riots are a valid form a protest. Just as we were begged to not condemn the good being demanded by the 99% peaceful protestors during the summer by BLM, we cannot just write off the concerns of the people marching in DC yesterday because some of them turned to rioting.

I am in no way excusing or ignoring or condoning what happened in DC. But if we are to start to heal the huge political divide in America, we have to start looking objectively at all sides and calling a spade a spade; regardless of how deeply we agree or disagree with the subject matter. There has to be truth in politics, in debate. If we are not having discussion based on mutually agreed upon terms, then we will just argue in circles. We will tell the other side that they are evil or filled with hate because they do not agree. Both sides will believe they are right, holding the only truth. Both sides will become so frustrated with the lack of civility from the other, that riots will ensue. If we cannot first agree that violence is wrong, calling it out on both sides, no matter the cause, then we cannot begin to come to the table with understanding and compassion in mind.

Can we not step back from the high emotions of our various convictions and try to understand one another? Have we lost all ability for civil discord and debate? Are we to continue down the path of division, when we very likely agree on so many things? Good, decent, important things? I pray that unity among Americans is not a lost cause. That empathy has not been extinguished. That hate for “the other” hasn’t become such a potent fuel for fire that we end up in a situation like the civil war. I hope that respectful discussion can be had, and I pray for the people who read these words to take them not as an assault on their views, but as an olive branch towards civility.

Yesterday was a protest and a riot. One is ok, one is not. That should be a point we can all agree on. Let’s work towards that goal and maybe we will heal, after all.