Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

There are times when a mystery novel appeals as a source of entertainment. The appeal of a mystery novel is the neatness. Facts are laid out like bread crumbs. We follow the trail, piecing together the evidence from the scene of the crime to a logical conclusion. The author has walked us through a world that is at once unsafe, confused, deceptive, and to one ordered by reason. Unless it is a noir mystery, we expect a tidy ending.

Tidy endings elude us in life. Each day is a mystery. The beginning is an anticipation of routine. Parents and children go about the house readying themselves for work and school. Children are eager for the first days of classes. Friends, unseen over the summer break are eagerly greeted. Parents drive off to either home or jobs. No one is anticipating a telephone call. But on Wednesday the telephone rang.

A message came for the families of Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday, 27 August. Their world of innocence was shattered.

Since 1999, when gunfire erupted at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, 397,000 children and their families have experienced school gun violence.

Wednesday at noon, I settled before the television for the news, expecting to hear the usual Trumpian grumblings about the Federal Reserve, the National Guard occupation of Washington, and the political firestorm spreading from Texas to other states for Congressional power. What was unexpected was a senseless, murderous act against innocence. To borrow the words of Alec Guinness, “Death has made some swift, unexpected and sad visitation…”  

Statistical data establishes that “Since 1999, 440 people have been killed and 1,243 injured in shooting events at K-12 schools.” There were “332 shooting incidents at K-12 schools in 2024, resulting in 267 injuries and fatalities” https://www.security.org/blog/a-timeline-of-school-shootings-since-columbine)

We feel a range of emotions, and numbness when we hear the news of a school shooting. Our focus is on the victims, the number of dead and injured. Questions are asked about the motives behind the attacks. The face and name of the shooter is provided by the media. The politicians will pay homage to the dead, wounded, and need for gun control, but then do nothing. Others will express their heartbreak and express their gratitude to law enforcement and the first responders. However, they will quickly add that the violence is caused by the human heart and not the availability of guns. And after a few days, we move on from the scene. We leave the families, children, and their communities to grieve in their trauma.

Research conducted by Standford University found that: “More than 100,000 American children attended a school at which a shooting took place in 2018 and 2019.

• Research indicates a higher rate of antidepressant use among those exposed to a school shooting in the years following the gun violence.
• School shootings lead to drops in student enrollment and a decline in average test scores.
• School shootings also lead to an increase in student absenteeism and the likelihood of needing to repeat a grade in the two following years.
• Students exposed to shootings at their schools are less likely to graduate high school, go to college, and graduate college, and they are less likely to be employed and have lower earnings in their mid-20s.” https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/health/surviving-school-shooting-impacts-mental-health-education-and-earnings-american

What does this say about our American social contract? In theory, a social contract is an agreement that people will live together in accordance to established moral and political rules of behavior. The United States Constitution is one example of the American social contract of what people and the government can and cannot do. The philosopher Stuart Rachels observes the Social Contract Theory is grounded in self-interest and reciprocity. Morality, in this theory, consist of rules “that rational people will accept, on the condition that others will accept them as well.”

As I write, another child has been added to the list of wounded in Wednesday’s shooting. This brings the total to 18. A statistic? Flowers were delivered to Annunciation Catholic Church from the families of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas where 21 people were killed in 2022. Marty Scheerer, the director of emergency medical services at Hennepin County Medical Center stated that  one child “took a shotgun blast to his back” while shielding another child. Children protecting children.

The president and his advisors want to change the Constitution for a third term in office. He takes control of the National Guard to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital, and threatens to deploy military personnel to other cities to reduce crime. This after pardoning those who attacked the Capitol building. He violates the legal rights of immigrants with paramilitary actions. He and others offer their prayers and order flags to be flown at half-staff. He issues a statement that this violent act is viewed as an act of “domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics.” While ordering flags flown at half-staff, we hear no expression of grief for the families. Nothing is said by the Administration about a federal and state bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. There are no statements pertaining to resources for schools to minimize the threat of school shootings, and the neccesity to improve resources for mental health and medical treatment for those in need. Instead, we are issued a statement that strokes fear. Is this another hint at invoking the Insurrection Act?

What does all of this tell us about the state of our social contract?

The families of Annunciation Catholic Church are left in a world that is unsafe, confused, and deceptive. There is no tidy ending to the horror and tragedy.

Let us pray they find comfort and healing, but let us pray with our feet.

Image: Liam James Doyle for The New York Times