From Tragedy to Unity: Reflecting on the Trump Assassination Attempt
We were enjoying a meal with friends before seeing Horizon: An American Saga by Kevin Costner when news broke of Donald Trump being shot at a rally in Pennsylvania. The TVs over the restaurant bar interrupted our conversation, showing shocking images of Trump bloodied and rushed away by Secret Service agents. Headlines reported chaos and possible dead or injured in the audience. This tragedy will undoubtedly heighten the already intense election climate, but it doesn't have to.
As we process this, I wanted to share some thoughts on a sobering truth we often ignore and the lessons we can learn as we elect a new president.
First, the sad truth:
E Pluribus Unum - Out of Many, One
This motto appears on our passports, money, and government seals. It has created a vibrant culture and shaped the most successful democracy in history. We have fallen short of this ideal time and time again. The core values of diversity and unity, rooted in the Enlightenment, Jesus's teachings, and going back to Aristotle, have shaped this country and will continue to do so into the future.
The sad truth is that although unacceptable and reprehensible, evil is unavoidable on this side of the Kingdom of God. There will always be individuals pushing the limits through violent rhetoric and action. We often forget that since JFK's assassination in 1963, multiple assassination attempts have happened every decade up to 2024:
2020: A plot to poison President Joe Biden with ricin was foiled.
2018: William Clyde Allen III sent ricin-laced envelopes to President Donald Trump and other officials.
2017: Michael Sandford attempted to grab a police officer's gun at a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas to shoot him.
2011: Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez fired shots at the White House during Barack Obama's presidency.
2008: Neo-Nazis plotted to assassinate Barack Obama.
2005: Vladimir Arutyunian threw a grenade at President George W. Bush in Georgia, which did not explode.
1994: Francisco Martin Duran fired an assault rifle at the White House during Bill Clinton's presidency.
1993: A man named Francisco Martin Duran opened fire on the White House with a semi-automatic rifle, targeting President Bill Clinton.
1981: John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan outside a Washington D.C. hotel.
1975: Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald Ford in San Francisco but missed.
1975: Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme attempted to shoot President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, but her gun misfired.
1974: Samuel Byck plotted to crash a plane into the White House to kill President Richard Nixon. He hijacked a plane but was shot before takeoff and later killed himself.
1972: Arthur Bremer attempted to assassinate President Richard Nixon but failed to get a clear shot.
1963: Lee Harvey Oswald successfully assassinated President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.
This is just the list of known attempts. Many others acted on their plans but were probably deterred in one way or another before getting anywhere close to becoming a real threat.
The truth is people are just a mess. To one degree or another, we all are, which leads me to the lesson we can learn from this: How we govern ourselves individually affects how we treat others and ultimately creates our culture. Our values can be diverse and unifying or diverse and toxic. We can't just legislate, enforce, and punish unity into existence; it has to be a cultural shift.
This act of hate and violence can wake us up to unity and diversity as a core American value influenced by the teachings of Jesus, and we realize we can only change culture if we change ourselves.
What started with the teaching of a provincial Rabbi in Judea named Jesus created a network of churches in the Roman Empire. People still bickered in those churches; hence a letter from Paul to a group of Christians in ancient Ephesus asking them to consider changing their ways. The ideas spread through the centuries, ultimately influencing Western civilization as a whole and America in particular.
When we bicker on a grand scale as we do now, it would be good to remember that these things start through almost invisible changes on a personal level. Let's give this a try with just one short passage:
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Eph 4:2-6)
Here are ways to take this from an inspirational quote to reality:
- Reach out to someone with different views and start a conversation with the sentence, "Help me understand."
- You'll probably understand more if you don't lose your temper and find points where you still disagree. On those points, this is what you say, "I disagree but I love you," and mean it. Hug it out and keep the conversation going.
- Think about what it would look like to actually make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Do you think this can change things for you? If the answer is yes, it can also change things for the country.
The motto E Pluribus Unum - Out of Many, One is powerful, aspirational, and Biblical.
How we think and treat others shapes our culture and spills over into all areas of life. When we see hate and violence, we can lose faith, we can rage and blame this group or the other, or we can deploy faith to create change one person at a time, in groups on social media and beyond.
What’s your take on this? Share in the comment section.
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What I’m watching: Speaking of Unity and Diversity - Horizon| An American Saga by Kevin Costner is an epic film about the American frontier and the impossible task of reconciling the diversity of the people who built it.
What I’m reading: The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway. A humorous, vulnerable, and practical book on wealth creation. Hint: there is no silver bullet.