Unfriendly Fire

With his own weapons, you destroyed the chief of those who rushed out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey. – Habakkuk 3:14 (NLT) 

When a person is shot by another person from their own side, it’s called friendly fire. But the word “friendly” certainly doesn’t make the assault any easier to bear for the victim or the victim’s family. 

Our country, arguably the greatest superpower on the planet, is currently being destroyed by weapons of our own proliferation.  

Much of our national patriotism that should unite us has devolved into volatile nationalism that threatens to tear us asunder. We are pitted against one another in ways that not only question our interpretation of the Constitution but in ways that question our loyalty to the Constitution. Many believe that a second Civil War of incompatible ideals between the so-called red states and the blue states has already commenced in effect. 

The focus on our Second Amendment rights to the detriment of our public safety has all of us on high alert and prepared to dodge bullets from our own people anytime and anyplace. The spiritual and psychological stress of living under the constant threat of random gunfire is yet to be fully apprehended. When mass shootings become normalized because the trauma no longer registers with us, we have moved into a state of consciousness that is numb to life. 

And we are again confronting a racism that denies the major role racism plays in American history and contemporary American life. Homegrown racial bias has done more to destroy the democratic foundations of America than any foreign nemesis. 

Death by our own weapons. Poetic justice? 

Let it be a call to national repentance, instead.

Prayer
Lord, we have formed weapons against ourselves. Let none of them prosper. Amen.

About the Author
Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Decatur, Georgia.