When Terror, Not Just Fear, Is All You Can Feel (Theology in the Aftermath of the Death of Sandra Bland)

Last night I caught my 7 year old tearing up in the bathtub. Asked her what's wrong, she said nothing. Closed the door and asked again +

— brittany (@bdoulaoblongata) July 22, 2015

She went on to confess that she keeps thinking abt me being killed by the police. & what's happens if I get pulled over & she can't save me.

— brittany (@bdoulaoblongata) July 22, 2015

My. child. wants. to. save. me. from. the. police.

— brittany (@bdoulaoblongata) July 22, 2015

 

Shall we sit with these tweets for a moment

A 7-year-old is terrified that she won’t be able to save her mother in the situation of her mother having an encounter with the police. And in the reverse (what we usually talk about), her mother is terrified that she won’t be able to protect her daughter in the situation that the daughter having an encounter with the police (and after McKinney, that terror is even more present).

ok my liberal religious friends….what’s our theology that stands up in the face of continuing trauma and stress? [we might get to the “post” in PTSD, but that’s not happening anytime soon]

Don’t give me the usual platitudes. Tell me how you are dealing with those in your midst that are living this every day.

When talking about #BlackLivesMatter, how ofter do you mention the women whose lives have been taken by an agent of the state? [there’s a new name to that list…Ralkina Jones]

7-year-olds are worried about how to protect their mothers in encounters with police. Mothers are worried about how to keep their children alive in case they encounter the police.

Liberal religion better have a response to this otherwise it will irrelevant in the “new” religious landscape.