Kim Moulder’s response to January 20 sermon:
January 20, 2013
Jeff,
Just a quick note before I’m off to bed on this MLK day. I appreciated your sermon on Sunday and I wanted share with you some thoughts. I had to let you know that I read the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” tonight. I had never read it in full, and I was so moved by it. I see why you were led to do a sermon around the passion of that letter. I was taken with how timeless some of the passages are.
In particular: “My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.”
and: “So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?”
and, my favorite passage, I think—the very end : “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”
Needless to say, I enjoy discussion of politics and issues. I find that the more I discuss these things, the more clarity I have of my own convictions and my own moral compass. I spent (way too much!) time on FaceBook debating some of my old, Southern, high school friends over the course of the election the last 6 months or so. I even debated an old friend’s father over email—he emailed me because he was so unsettled by the things that I had written. Some of the things that he was quoting/repeating were so obviously wrong to me, but, of course, he didn’t see it. The first passage that I quoted here of King’s made me think of the people I had been debating and their ‘bondage of myths and half-truths” keeping them from “the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal.”
I feel that by stirring things up in their world, I have created tension. It is unexpected to them for me to disagree—and so vehemently. And, because they like me—love me—they are disturbed and don’t know what to make of it. These are Christians—I’d say most are strong, evangelical Christians. And, the sarcastic, sardonic, mean things that they post is in direct conflict with the other posts that they put on FaceBook quoting scripture and the like. How they can see these things as righteous is beyond me. But they do.
Finally (sorry, Jeff—I’m like King in that I can’t write a short letter, not even at my comfortable desk!), the horrible events in Newtown have weighed on me since that day last month. I can’t listen to a report or read an article about it without crying. And, it makes me angry. I see some of the things that these Christian NRA supporters on my newsfeed are saying and I am overwhelmed and stunned at their response. I’ve not been able to bring myself to comment to them about my thoughts. The other day, after listening to an interview with parents of one of the children lost, I was compelled to do SOMETHING. So, I wrote a letter. (this was before your challenge!) I don’t know if it will make any difference at all. Maybe I should write more letters, but I thought I would share it with you—in case it doesn’t really get seen—and see what you think.
I’m so glad that I read King’s letter tonight. It really brought the story and the struggle to life for me. It gave me more understanding and made so much more clear to me how much of an inspired man he really was—and why he was so passionate.
Thanks Jeff!!
Peace,
kim
ps, below is the letter that I sent (email.)
Rep. Holt,
I have never written a letter to my congressman before. But, this morning, I was compelled to do something after listening to an interview on the BBC with Nicole and Ian Hockley—the parents of 6 year old, Dylan Hockley who lost his life that morning at Sandy Hook Elementary along with 25 other souls. I heard this interview 20 minutes ago and I am still sobbing. . .
I know that parents everywhere have been deeply affected by this horrific event. Those parents, like myself, whose children were at their own elementary schools that day when we heard what had happened, are chilled to the bone. My son is 7 and in first grade. My daughter is 9 and in third grade. I cannot hear or read anything about that day without getting very emotional and imagining how easily it could have been our own community going through this same scenario.
And it scares me. And, it makes me angry. Very angry. I’m angry that there are guns and ammunition like the ones that this disturbed person used available to the average person. Not just available, but marketed to the civilian population in order to justify the manufacture of these weapons. I understand that the manufacturers do not make any profit on these weapons without selling them to civilians.
I believe that this is the ‘sole’ reason that the NRA and gun rights advocates are against any assault weapons ban. These guns should not be available for the average person (much less someone with mental problems——or their mothers). The NRA protects Gun manufactures at ALL COSTS. At the cost of our children. After hearing the president of the NRA defend this position, I know that this is the case. Because I don’t know anyone. Not one person that thinks that we, as citizens, have a right to own and bear a weapon that could kill so many children in a matter of seconds.
Finally, I would like to say that I would never want an armed person standing guard at my children’s elementary school. I don’t want my kids to feel that it is dangerous to go to school. And, anyway, in order to fight off a bad, crazy person with an assault weapon, a good guy would also have to have an assault weapon. Otherwise he is no good to our children, because an assault weapon would out shoot any other weapon out there. An assault weapon is the last thing that I want walking around my kids’ school.
We must cut off the head of this snake. And, then we must begin to find ways to really help parents of children with mental problems and find ways to teach our children the kind of values that would make any idea of an act like this one, foreign and unthinkable. Adam Lanza’s mother had obviously given him the tools and the skill to do this horrible thing. But, society and the lack of help with his problems and issues pushed him into the darkness. After guns. This is the next thing to focus on.
I’ve dried my tears, but the lump is still in my throat and the tears come as soon as I think of those small children and the fear they must have felt. The parents and the horror they felt when they found out.
Mr. Holt, I hope that you are fervently fighting for what is right on this issue and that you and others won’t back down against the false cries of the NRA et al. We know and they know what is right. And profit for the gun manufacturers is NOT important here. And, no grandfathering on this bill (especially since the sales have been through the roof since the tragedy)! These weapons should be taken off the street and destroyed, at all costs.
I apologize for the length of this email, but I needed to ‘do something’. I felt that the best thing to do would be to send my opinions out there to someone who might have some kind of influence where it mattered.
Thank you so much for your service. I pray that you will be able to make a difference in this issue.
Be strong and true.
Sincerely,
Kim Moulder
Mother of two in Lawrenceville, NJ
