Enduring Violence in America: Two Essays

Abstract

The essays gathered here were written during my tenure as a Nominated Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh and as a visiting fellow with the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University's School of Divinity, New College. It was a particular pleasure for me to spend eight months of the year 2022 in Edinburgh, as I had lived here for a similar amount of time during the first year and a half of my life (but with less awareness of my surroundings) while my father pursued doctoral studies at New College.

The first essay, Epiphany at the Capitol: Fight Songs for the Insurrection, offers an elaboration upon writing I had begun as part of the "Uncivil Religion" digital media project—a collaboration between the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama and The Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History under the direction of Michael Altman and Jerome Copulsky. In this piece, I am interested in the claims about Christian identity that seem to be advanced in song by supporters of the "Stop the Steal" campaign. While this event takes place on January 6, the Feast of Epiphany (or the 12th day of Christmas) according to the Christian church year, there seems to be no awareness of this holy day's stature among the Christians who have sojourned from afar to gather together in the nation's capital. The inference of this disregard may itself suggest a kind of epiphany. The second essay, Notes on The Beatles' 'White Album' in the Year 2022, considers the historical context and literary content of certain tunes from the Beatles' 1968 album that speak to the continuing problem of violence in America over half a century later. A surprising admixture of religion and gunplay, it is argued, appears in these compositions. This essay arose in relation to the insurrection in Washington in January 2021, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the series of mass shootings that were occurring across America during the spring and summer of 2022.