Our Framing Stories: How They Can Free Us or – As In the Club Q Shooting, Can Demonize Us

We are framed by stories.  Our values, horizons and purpose are shaped by the stories that we have heard, read and absorbed.  Some of those stories are constructed – and refracted, to reinforce prejudices and resentments.  While we don’t yet know for sure if the gunman who burst into Club Q in Colorado Springs carried a story of hate, all the indicators suggest that he was influenced by a pattern of stories that suggest people who identify as LGBTQ are an aberration and therefore can be destroyed, which he proceeded to do by murdering five (at recent count) and wounding dozens with a long gun.  Similarly, an ongoing story of resentment has no doubt been the key ingredient in lionizing Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two people during an August 2020 protest march in Kenosha, Wisconsin; and who last week was invited by some members of Congress to Washington to tell his story.  Some of those same Representatives are touting Kyle Rittenhouse as a hero of the Second Amendment, and predict that he may join their ranks in the future.

These framing stories of prejudice and resentment, which then get acted out in horrific ways, kindle (I am resisting the impulse to say trigger) a similar resentment and prejudice in me.  About a month ago, while coming out of convenience store during a drive home from another state, I noticed two men who were getting into their truck.  The combination of their dress, truck, facial hair, and the unfamiliarity of where I was prompted me to comment, “Trump voters”.  And I projected onto them all sorts of negative attributes and intentions.  It rather shocked me, because it was totally unfair on my part.  I made all sorts of assumptions on the basis of a very brief visual encounter.  I diminished them; actually I dismissed them, and as I did so I diminished myself.  My visceral reaction wasn’t racial profiling, because the two men were white.  But it had the same sort of dynamic.  “Oh my God”, I said to myself, “I do it too.”

These framing stories are pernicious and destructive.  They have the power to reduce us to hyper-reactive warriors, who then seek to distance, dismiss or even destroy those who the framing story suggests don’t fit into what is construed to be normal or acceptable.

How do we fix this?  We don’t.  Or we can’t.  Another framing story that our culture carries is that we have the capacity to shape our environment.  That we have the knowledge, particularly the technological knowledge, to fix the broken parts of society.  A glaring example of how that is not working is what is unraveling at Twitter.  Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, and by many accounts a technical genius, has forcefully brought his knowledge to his newly acquired company.  He is applying a technical fix.  Instead of building up Twitter, Musk’s actions are making it more fragile.  People have been fired, and now people are leaving.  Pundits wonder whether Twitter will survive.

I am not suggesting that we rule out technical fixes.  As one who has worked in the gun violence prevention arena for several years, we need to legislate better background checks and institute (and enforce) red flag laws, ban assault weapons, upgrade mental health services, invest in community violence intervention, and so on.  That will make a difference.

But we need to go deeper.  We need to claim another framing story that can take us beneath and beyond resentment, prejudice and an unwavering commitment to technical fixes.  From my vantage point, the framing story we need to claim should contain the elements of love and hope woven throughout.  I’m not talking about love as a passing feeling or a pleasant experience;  but love as an act of the will.  Love that binds us closer together as members of the human family.  And not hope as thinly veiled optimism, which wishes that things can be better; but a fierce hope that invests in better outcomes – even when the return on investment does not show immediate positive gains.  As writer Jim Wallis has written, hope is believing in spite of the evidence; and then watching the evidence change.

Every religion that I know frames its foundational story around love and hope.  Those framing stories often get lost when the institutional dimension of a particular religion becomes more committed to self-preservation or, more dangerously, to exercising control and claiming domination.  That has happened – and continues to cause many people to either keep their distance or drive people away from religious institutions.  But love and hope still shine through, despite some of religion’s structural intransigence and resistance.  Martin Luther King spoke of this important and life-giving power:  “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” 

Love is not just a feeling.  It is a power.   We need to incorporate love – and hope, in a framing story.  And keep telling it.  And then watch the evidence change.

 

 

Different Definitions for Christian Orthodoxy and American Freedom

It was one church.  Sort of.  For seven hundred years, from the early 300s until 1054, there was essentially one Christian church — with two centers.  The Western center was in Rome and the Eastern center was in Constantinople, named after Constantine, the first...

The Hope of Ubuntu During an Avalanche of Change

“Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing there is a field.  I will meet you there.”  So wrote Sufi poet Rumi, a Persian who lived from 1207-1273.  His well-remembered words have framed the desire that many have had since to move beyond the limitations of...

Soweto and a Sermon

Two days ago I was in Soweto, a township of two million people located just outside of Johannesburg. For decades Soweto was seen as the epicenter of anguish during the years of Apartheid, from 1948 to 1994. Thousands of people were forcefully removed from rural...

An Interfaith Pre-Inauguration Gathering

Last night Braver Faith, a “department” of Braver Angels,  convened a pre-inauguration event.  We had three speakers – a Rabbi, a Southern Baptist Pastor, and the national Braver Angels Ambassador.  Surrounding their reflections were prayers offered by Christian,...

Inaugurations Past and Present

It wasn’t the first speech I heard, but was the first one I paid attention to.  I was 9 ½, home for lunch on January 20, 1961,  and watching television as President John F. Kennedy took the oath of office and then give his inaugural address.  My parents weren’t...

Ep 20 – “The Way of Love” with Bishop Michael Curry

In this episode I welcome the dynamic and inspirational Bishop Michael Curry, 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. Known worldwide for his passionate proclamation of “The Way of Love,” Bishop Curry’s ministry centers on the transformative power of God’s unconditional love to heal, unite, and renew. He rose to international prominence after delivering a moving sermon on the power of love at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Yet his legacy extends far beyond that moment, as he has consistently challenged the Church to follow Jesus by embracing love, confronting societal divisions, fighting injustice, and embodying hope in action. This conversation will inspire and uplift anyone searching for deeper meaning, courage, and connection.

Seeing Woke and Born-Again in a New Way: Reflections on Epiphany

I didn’t know the story.  Most of us didn’t know the true story of 855 black women who served as the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II, dramatized in the recently released  film entitled “The Six Triple Eight”.  The well-trained battalion...

Three Lives Well Lived

We lost Jimmy Carter yesterday, the most recent death of a long list of prominent Americans who died this past year.  The well-deserved tributes are flooding in from all the media platforms, and the gratitude being expressed his extraordinary service to humanity,...

Christmas: An Invitation to Mystery and to the Soul

Christmas is a mystery.  The holiday evolves from a story which, over the centuries, has often been overshadowed by endless commercial appeals for presents, food, activities, along with some visual and cultural benchmarks for what constitutes home and hearth.  More...

Ep 19 – “The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics” with Curtis Chang

In this episode, we delve into the importance of addressing spiritual dysfunctions in the Church and fostering meaningful dialogues across differences. Curtis offers helpful insights into overcoming political polarization, the temptations of power, and finding hope and mission in local communities.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join my mailing list to receive the latest blog updates.

You have Successfully Subscribed!