Horizons magazine is published by Presbyterian Women (PW) the national women’s organization of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
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4 Violence, Violence Everywhere BY ALONZO JOHNSON I imagine you have seen it happen before. It happened to me recently, though not for the first time. I was on my way to the Goodwill to drop off some donated items. When I pulled up to a traffic light, I saw a man quickly get out of his car; by the look of frustra- tion on his face, it seemed as if he may have been asked to leave the car. I couldn't help but notice how demon- stratively he walked over to the car idling next to him at the light. Words were exchanged. My distance from where this was taking place made the exact words unintelligible, but they sounded angry. Sud- denly, the man who'd exited his car began to throw a series of fast and hard punches into the rear passenger window of the idling car. Before I could see what would transpire next, the traffic light changed, and I was off. When the traffic light changed, it represented for me a welcome change, even something of an escape. I quickly left the scene and went about my own business, trying to pretend that this explosively violent event I had just wit- nessed had never happened. Exploring Our Responses to Violence As I drove away, a true but haunting line from theologian Cheryl Kirk-Duggan's book Violence and Theology came to mind: "Silence is often a culprit." 1 Seeking to complete my journey to the Goodwill, I realized that I had passed up the real "goodwill" by not doing or saying anything. I thought of using my cell phone to call the police, but that idea brought with it two additional harrowing thoughts. The first was: "I certainly don't want that guy at my door throwing punches at me." Reinforcing this fear was the fact that I was living in Philadelphia, a "no snitching" city, where fear of reprisal discourages one from taking a stand against perpetrators of violence. The second thought was of Ferguson, Missouri: "What if the police come and use excessive force, adding more vio- lence on top of what I'd already witnessed?" I made the decision that it would be best to do nothing and quickly began to rationalize it by thinking, "I'm quite sure it will all be all right, someone else has probably called the police by now." An American flag rendered in guns and bullets rather than stars and stripes is a heart-wrenching testimony to the pervasiveness of violence in our culture. Following the December 2, 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, community members went to San Manuel Stadium for a candlelight vigil to honor the 14 people killed and 22 injured. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.