A group of Chicago pastors have banded together in an effort called "Thou Shalt Not Murder," calling for Chicago citizens to lay down their weapons and participate in a day without murder on Easter Sunday, March 27. | Photo from Facebook
By BRITTANY REYES
Homicide Watch Chicago
As the number of homicides in the city continues to spike in 2016, Chicago faith and community leaders are proposing a type of cease-fire: A day without murder.
The "Thou Shalt Not Murder" campaign is calling for Chicagoans to take a stand against violence by signing a petition to "symbolize their oath to lay down their weapons and serve as advocates for the worth and dignity of every person."
The group hopes to serve as a constant resource to the people who take this pledge by connecting them to other organizations and individuals who are passionate about making the upcoming Easter Sunday a murder-free holiday.
The idea for a day of peace stemmed from a discussion among pastors who gather together on a monthly basis to address prevalent issues threatening their faith communities.
After receiving many negative comments and threats, the Beverly Unitarian Church was forced to replace their sign saying Black Lives Matter with this statement. | Photo from Morgan Park UMC
With one of the group’s major concerns being racial violence, the Rev. Karen Mooney, a lead organizer for the campaign, described how she came to a meeting distressed after her church, Beverly Unitarian, received negative feedback from the community for posting Black Lives Matter signs.
The church was forced to take the signs down for promoting statements that were “too polarizing,” according to Mooney, and the act of resistance made her realize the community was in need of a change in perspective.
“In order to say that all lives matter, we must be able to look at our own world and say that the murder rate in Chicago makes life less for all of us: less rich, less full, less possible,” Mooney said. “We began looking at those issues and other resources to understand the murder rates, and we know that change can’t happen in our city unless we all change.”
Among the other organizers is the Rev. Dennis Langdon of Morgan Park United Methodist Church, who Mooney regards as the “visionary” behind the campaign. Langdon chuckled at the compliment, but agreed with Mooney’s sentiments that the community needs to take more action.
The Reverend Dennis Langdon is regarded by colleagues as the driving force behind the "Thou Shalt Not Murder" campaign. He joined the Morgan Park United Methodist Church in July 2011 and serves as an ordained elder. | Photo from Morgan Park UMC
“After hours of agonizing conversations, we knew we wanted to be engaged in discouraging violence, but we didn’t want to be involved in pointing fingers at the police,” Langdon said. “We acknowledged their hard work but began having a larger conversation about the level of violence in the city and we wanted to make a broad statement.”
While the campaign has received substantial support from many denominational leaders within the Lutheran, Presbyterian and Catholic communities, the group felt major pushback from parts of the Beverly and Morgan Park neighborhoods after a controversial figure, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, was chosen as keynote speaker for an event at Saint Barnabas Catholic Church in February.
Many believed Pfleger’s invitation was an inkling that the campaign was shaping up as an anti-police or anti-gun movement, but Langdon said that's not the case, and believes the negativity comes from a misconception about what the group is truly aiming to accomplish.
Another concern Langdon wanted to publicly address was the looming doubt about how simply signing an online petition could reduce murders in the city. Langdon said the issue needs to be viewed as a bigger picture, however, and the first step to solving the problem is acknowledging it exists.
“As a person who thinks they live in a world-class city, I have to sort of question myself because if I truly believe this city is great, then why do we have so much violence?
“There are homicides in virtually every single neighborhood in the city, and it boils down to the fact that we’re all less safe and that means the perception we have of the city is less–it’s diminished,” Langdon said.
It’s also no coincidence that the day without murder will be Easter Sunday, March 27, according to Mooney. The group chose the date deliberately, hoping people who sign the petition will take the pact seriously and use the season of Lent to reflect, repent and inspire others to do the same.
“As a minister, I understand I can talk until I’m blue in the face about things I’m passionate about, but the only way people actually move to do things that are potentially difficult is if their hearts are changed,” Mooney said.
“We don’t change our world by changing our heads, we change our world by changing our hearts. Sometimes we learn through our heads for our hearts to be changed, and sometimes our hearts are changed and information pours in.”
In order for the day without murder to become a long-term reality, Langdon and Mooney both believe a wide variety of issues need to be corrected, specifically failing education systems, inadequate housing, mental health care reform, lack of jobs, and “handgun laws that don’t make sense in an urban setting.”
As people of faith, the campaign organizers are hopeful that Easter will indeed be a day free of murder, but practically, the pastors are cognizant of the fact that there is a lot more work to be done and, according to Mooney, March 28 is just as important as March 27.
The group is already targeting Mother’s Day as another day of peace, believing that date will resonate because each person who picks up a gun has a mother, and every life is precious and deserves to be cherished.
In regards to Thou Shalt Not Murder’s future, Langdon said the group believes they’re moving from “a campaign with an end date to a movement with a life cycle and organic energy of its own.”
Langdon is confident the network will continue to grow, and by impacting a broader scope of people, will succeed in serving those who cower in fear living in violent, at-risk neighborhoods.
Even if the killing stops for only one day, Langdon and Mooney believe the step toward spreading awareness and rallying behind one push towards peace is what the city needs to start believing in the power of humanity again.
“There is power in self-policing and holding people accountable to take ownership of their own actions and the actions of their communities. While we haven’t experienced this level of success just yet, we’re hopeful,” Langdon said.
“We’re looking to the people of Chicago to take responsibility for themselves and the people living in their communities, and say it’s unacceptable for this type of behavior to keep happening.
"Even if it's only for a day, it will prove we have the ability to say no to violence in our city.”