A couple of Saturdays ago, we were among the 2,000-plus in Santa Rosa’s Courthouse Square during the March for Our Lives against gun violence. Lots of signs, held high above the throng, proclaimed the message.
Some of them took a theological bent. “Jesus didn’t need an assault rifle to make his point,” one said. Another pointed out that, “Thoughts and prayers without meaningful change is hypocrisy.” These signs were held aloft by marchers from the Church of the Incarnation as they wended their way down Mendocino Avenue toward the square.
Another sign gave a telling reversal of the Serenity Prayer which is sometimes attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, America’s most important theologian of the 20th Century. Often part of 12 step programs, the Serenity Prayer goes like this: “God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”
It’s a wise and beautiful prayer that helps many people through difficult days, but I had to agree that in protesting gun violence, the version on the sign has its place: “I no longer accept the thing I cannot change; I’m changing the thing I cannot accept.”
A lot of teachers were there in support of their students. One of them held a sign that said simply “Books not Guns.” Perhaps the largest ovation of the day came after a speaker proclaimed, “Arming teachers is a dumb idea.”
Many signs acknowledged that this event, along with others around the world that brought millions into the streets, were organized and led by teenagers. A large placard with the headline “Our New Leaders” was covered with pictures of kids of various ages. Several signs told us to “Listen to the Kids.”
One of the young speakers pointed out that the great protest marches of our recent history were spearheaded by young people. I wanted to disagree, but, thinking back, I remembered that when I marched in the Civil Rights Movement and in the protests against the Vietnam war, I was by no means an old codger, and the majority of the participants were younger than I was even then. They were tear gassed, bludgeoned, and hauled off to jail, and they changed the world. It may be that changing what seems unchangeable happens when young people take to the streets, and we older citizens fall in line behind them.
Our Sonoma County young people showed themselves the equal of the bright, articulate, and poised high schoolers from Parkland, Florida, who sparked this worldwide effort. High school sophomore Jonah Gottlieb, with great tone and timing, not only gave us facts like “4,000 shot dead and 15,000 wounded in our schools during the last 10 years,” but also wove in potent humor that took us right with him. “If someone says the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, that’s probably someone who wants to sell two guns,” he quipped, and we roared our approval.
Gottlieb also proposed that high school kids everywhere skip school on April 20 and not go back until meaningful gun laws are passed. Many educators in the audience rolled their eyes at that one, as did I. But clearly it has gotten that drastic. We’ve had years of needless suffering, and nothing has been done to stop it. Kids are uneasy about going to school. “Am I next?” asked a small sign carried by a young girl.
I believe our taking to the streets can help protect that young girl and thousands of others like her. Yes, it’s time to be on the march again.
Bob Jones is the former minister of the Guerneville and Monte Rio Community Church.
