Imagining a World Without Gun Violence
Zoe Scrivener, Gun Violence Prevention Intern
I was ten years old when news of the Sandy Hook school shooting flashed across the television. I didn’t know what had happened more than the whispers I heard from my parents and the new drills we started practicing in my classroom, but I remember being afraid. I was sixteen years old when a CNN alert came up on my cell phone during the school day – seventeen people killed in Parkland, Florida. I remember when news like this was shocking and unprecedented, when we felt empowered to make sure that tragedies like these would never happen again.
But they did continue to happen again, and over time, news like this began to feel like scratching the same open wound. My body built up scar tissue so that I wouldn’t have to feel the loss so deeply. I had become accustomed to hearing about gun violence – it had become part of my world. When I decided that I would try to imagine a world free from gun violence, the task felt difficult, impossible even. I realize now that I’d fallen into the same pitfall as so many others: accepting our country as an inevitably violent place that is incapable of change. And how could imagination create this change that we’ve failed to enact? I thought. What shift could I create in my mind that would possibly make a difference?
In Modern Social Imaginaries, philosopher Charles Taylor explores the power of imagination, not just as something personal or internal, but a shared imagination that shapes how society functions and dreams. He coined the term “social imaginary,” which refers to the way we collectively picture our social world, what we believe is normal, what we expect from one another, and what we assume is possible. It’s not something we consciously think about every day, but it quietly shapes our choices, policies, and hopes.
Think of the high school student: they walk into school past metal detectors, practice their lockdown drills, and, like I did, watch the news alerts pop on their cell phones. Nobody has told them outright that violence is inevitable, but the message is all around them: this is what America is like. This is just how things are. This is the dominant social imaginary in our country, one that normalizes violence, distrust, and inaction. And after living this way for so long and accepting it as normal, we are limited in what we can change because we do not believe that change is possible. We believe that gun violence is inherently part of our world, but that is not the truth.
As Christians, we have been called from the beginning to question the social imaginaries at work in our world. In the Gospels, Jesus taught us to love our enemy; to turn the other cheek; he tells us not to take up the sword but to change the world through peace. In Isaiah, we are told to “beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks,” to turn tools of war into tools of life and growth. Our call is to be united in how we imagine our world – to envision it as a place of peace and love. And we have the power to make this vision a reality, but first, we must imagine together and truly believe that it is possible.
Imagination is resistance. Accepting that the world is a violent and unforgiving place just ensures that it will stay that way. We determine the character of our world, of our country. And we have the power to change its identity. When we dare to imagine something better, we reject the violence that has become so normalized, and we declare that it has no place in the world we are called to build. When we imagine a world free from gun violence, we say: This is not just how things are. This is not how it has to be.
If I close my eyes, I can see the world as it should be. I imagine a world that knows peace, where children play without considering where to hide. Where loud noises mean celebrations, and doctors patch up scraped knees rather than bullet holes. I imagine neighborhoods filled with laughter and love rather than tragedy, where children grow up and grow old. I imagine a country where we do not tolerate hate, where the mentally ill receive care, and where we reach out to each other in times of distress to fall into open arms. This world I imagine is not a fantasy; it is the world we will create.
This weekend is Wear Orange Weekend, a time to remember those we have lost to gun violence and advocate for policies that will make our country a safer place. I encourage you to seek out any events in your area and say a prayer for a world without gun violence. I also urge you to spend time with your own imagination this weekend. Try to imagine what a world without gun violence would look like. Let it be a powerful tool, not to escape the world we live in, but to reshape it. Let it guide your hope, your voice, your vote, and your prayer.
Imagination may not be the whole solution, but it is where every solution begins.
Thank you to our Gun Violence Prevention Intern Zoe Scrivener for your work this year, helping our churches connect to Guns to Gardens, growing relationships with gun violence prevention organizations, and educating our network about gun violence. Next year, Zoe will head off to law school in New York. We are thankful for her work with the WCC this year.
