Pastor Michael McBride is Lead Organizer of the Lifelines to Healing Campaign at PICO National Network.
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Memorial Events for Trayvon Martin, Sunday July 21
Screenshot of Trayvon Martin event locations, Sunday July 21. Sojourners.
Sojourners and PICO are pleased to help highlight events in memory of Trayvon Martin around the country this Sunday, July 21.
This online event map is intended to amplify the work of congregations committed to healing our communities from the scourge of gun violence and initiate a multi-racial conversation about faith, race and justice. Please join us in this important reconciling moment of action and healing.
Leaving Fantasy Island: A Call for the Church to Respond to Gun Violence
NRA's Wayne LaPierre testifies at a Senate hearing on gun violence. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
In the 1980s television show, “Fantasy Island,” the island watchman heralded the arrival of individuals attempting to escape their reality with a call of “the plane … the plane … the plane!”
In the weeks since the Sandy Hook tragedy, I’ve spent much of my time in Washington, D.C., preaching about our moral mandate to reduce gun violence, especially in our urban neighborhoods. However, in my time in the capital, I have come to feel as though there are many arriving in Washington on the proverbial plane, escaping the realities of their hometowns, for the Fantasy Island in the beltway.
In the Book of Proverbs, we read, “Buy the truth — don't sell it for love or money; buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight (Proverbs 23:23, The Message).”
Sadly in Washington, truth seems to be for sale; wisdom seems to be radically individualized; education seems to be mocked; and insight seems to be unable to breach the partisan walls in our nation’s capital.