We continue our reflection on God’s call to us through the ELCA’s “60-Day Journey Toward Justice in a Culture of Gun Violence.”
DAY 8: The causes of violence are complex
“Even when experienced as stark and brutal, the causes of violence are complex. Different
forms of violence have distinctive dynamics and remedies. Social as well as individual
factors are involved. The collapse of families, economic injustices, breakdown of
community institutions, unemployment, inadequate moral formation and guidance,
personal irresponsibility, racism and sexism, inability to deal with anger and conflict,
homophobia, low self-esteem, psychological problems, biochemical imbalances, and
substance abuse—these and other factors lie behind the incidence of violent crime
today. Fear, anxiety, and alienation are expressed through readily-available weapons of
destruction.”
From the ELCA social message “Community Violence”