Driverless Cars Demand Ethical Thinking by Humans

The Wired Word for the Week of July 31, 2016

"Teaching Driverless Cars Whom to Kill" is a deliberately provocative headline from a recent Newsweek article, but, when you read the piece, you see the headline is a succinct statement of a significant ethical dilemma facing those who are developing such vehicles.

Driverless cars, long a futuristic concept, are now in various stages of development at 30 corporations worldwide. And in the United States, four states plus Washington, D.C., have passed legislation permitting testing of prototypes on public roads. But to date, no driverless car is fully ready for sale to the general public.

The startling headline from Newsweek tells one reason why: Programmers must decide what protocols to put into the "brain" of such a vehicle regarding how to choose between saving the lives of those in the car and those outside it when situations bring the two into conflict.

For example, suppose a self-driving car carrying passengers is zooming down a road when some distracted pedestrians step into its path. Given the speed of the vehicle and the proximity of the people in the road, the car may have only two options: mow the walkers down or swerve into a tree, killing the people inside the car.

Newsweek referenced a recent study, "The Social Dilemma of Autonomous Vehicles," in the journal Science that polled nearly 2,000 people regarding the relative morality of an autonomous car's response during a number of hypothetical crashes. In general, those surveyed felt that the more pedestrians were spared, the more ethical it was for the car to sacrifice a passenger -- even when that passenger was one of their family members.

Responses were less straightforward, however, when those polled were asked whether governments should require driverless cars to minimize pedestrian deaths at the expense of passengers, and if participants would actually purchase a car designed to make that choice.

"People liked the idea of autonomous cars that would kill one pedestrian to save 10 others," said the Newsweek article. "They also liked the idea of other motorists owning cars that would sacrifice passengers to protect pedestrians. But they were less likely to want to own such a car themselves or to support the government enforcing this kind of sacrifice."

Lyad Rahwan, co-author of the study, summarized, saying, "Most people want to live in a world where cars will minimize casualties. But everybody wants their own car to protect them at all costs."  

The difficulty, of course, as development of driverless cars moves forward, is that somebody must decide in advance who the vehicles will try to spare in life-and-death situations. "When it comes down to it," Newsweek observed, "nobody wants to be the one to plow into a tree to save the walkers."

More on this story can be found at these links:

Teaching Driverless Cars Whom to Kill. Newsweek
People Want Driverless Cars with Utilitarian Ethics, Unless They're a Passenger. IEEE SpectrumThe Social Dilemma of Autonomous Vehicles. Science (abstract only)
30 Corporations Working On Autonomous Vehicles. CB Insights

Applying the News Story

This news invites a discussion regarding the value of each human life, but also touches on matters of ethical decision making in life-against-life situations.

While driverless cars are objects of technology, the protocols for such vehicles will be decided and programmed by human beings, and thus the whole matter is about human choices and thus ethics.

Ethics, as typically defined, "is the discipline concerned with the evaluation of human conduct, that is, with determining the goodness or evil properly ascribed to human choices." Christian ethics "is this discipline pursued in the perspective of the Christian faith." Christian ethics are sometimes explained as "responsible freedom."

The Big Questions

1. In the hypothetical situation described in paragraph 4 of the "In the News" section above, what "choice" would you want the car to make? Would your answer be any different if you were one of the passengers? if you were one of the pedestrians? Why?

2. If you were in charge of deciding the protocols for a driverless car, what sources of human wisdom might you consult when making those decisions? Why? How might you tap into divine wisdom to aid decision making? Where might human and divine wisdom overlap in this situation?

3. Aside from driverless cars, where else in life might you need to apply similar protocols? If you have had to actually do so, describe what entered into your thinking?

4. How should the commandment "Thou shall not kill" be applied to these protocols?

5. When has deciding how you will respond in advance of a hypothetical situation helped you when an actual situation came along? What commitments regarding behavior, if any, should Christians decide in advance of actually facing circumstances where a clear way forward is not obvious?

Confronting the News With Scripture and HopeHere are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Leviticus 19:35-36You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity. You shall have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. (For context, read 19:1-37.)

These two verses are samples from a whole chapter that deals with real-life ethical applications of serving God. (Another term for faith-driven ethical applications is "moral holiness.")

Question: Why do you think God included the statement "I am the Lord your God" in a command about ethical dealings in the marketplace?

Acts 16:4-5
As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily. (For context, read 15:40--16:5.)

The "they" in the verses above refers to Paul, Silas and Timothy. The three traveled together throughout Asia Minor preaching the gospel, establishing new churches and, as mentioned above, passing along directives from the apostles and elders, who were the leaders of the whole church. In this case, the directives no doubt included the church council's recent decision that Gentiles were welcome in the church without having to observe Jewish practices (see the council's deliberation and decision in Acts 15:1-21).

The passage shows us that right from its early days, the church felt an obligation to issue instructions for how Christianity should apply to matters which people in the local churches were dealing with on a daily basis. So in that sense, the church was advising Christians in advance how they should behave in given circumstances.

Questions: What resources help you decide in advance how you will respond in certain difficult situations? How do these beforehand commitments help you when you encounter a situation that is different from those you anticipated and where the right choice is not clear-cut?

Matthew 7:12In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. (In its location in Matthew 7, this verse appears as a stand-alone statement within the Sermon on the Mount. However, it easily connects with earlier statements Jesus made in that same discourse, especially 5:43-48.)

When speaking in summary about what Jesus taught, it is hard to avoid this verse, the one often called the "Golden Rule." In fact, we have quoted it several times previously in various Wired Word lessons. But it deserves to be heard again and again, and it is especially applicable to the subject at hand, for it is part of the bedrock for Christian ethics.

Questions: How might the Golden Rule apply to driverless car protocols regarding life-against-life choices?
Driverless cars aside, would applying the Golden Rule to our driving be likely to make our roads safer? Why or why not?

1 Kings 3:9Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people? (For context, read 3:3-14.)

Although in later life Israel's King Solomon departed from the Lord, early on he made an excellent start, requesting of God not wealth and power, but "an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil." This request so pleased God that God not only granted it, but granted the unasked-for wealth and power as well.

Solomon's request for the ability to discern between good and evil reveals that the concern for clear guidance in difficult, "unscripted" areas has been around a long time. In short, Solomon was asking God to help him with "casuistry."

Casuistry (KAZH-oo-i-stree) is a word common in the study of morals and ethics. It comes from the Latin word casus, which means "case." Casuistry is the work of determining the right thing to do in unclear situations by applying general principles of moral law to specific situations where a moral or ethical decision is needed. In other words, it's figuring out what to do on a case-by-case basis using the broad guidelines we do have.

Questions: In what situation did you have to make a casuistic decision? What general principles or guidelines did you deduce your decision from? How, if at all, can case-by-case protocols be built into driverless car controls?

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (For context, read 3:14-17.)

This is a reminder that the Bible is the primary sourcebook for Christian ethics.

Question: What arrangements have you made for learning what's in the Bible and for studying it? What does it mean to "apply scripture" to the circumstances of your life where a clear right and wrong is not obvious?

For Further Discussion

1. Have you heard of the trolley problem? It is essentially this: A runaway trolley is headed toward a group of five people standing on the tracks. You are standing next to a lever, and if you pull this lever, the trolley will be switched onto a different track, with a single person standing on it. Do you pull the lever?

2. Respond to this from one of the people working in the development of autonomous cars: "... we're putting more of a burden on the autonomous car than we do on the human driver. Human drivers, when faced with emergency situations where they might have to make a difficult ethical decision, aren't always able to make a reasonable ethical decision in that short amount of time. What level of performance are we going to hold autonomous cars to? The answer is, quite probably, a higher level of performance than we would hold a human driver to, or most people won't accept the technology. That may be unfair, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong."

3. Discuss this, from TWW team member David Lee: "The premise for Isaac Asimov's three laws of Artificial Intelligence (where we even got the term!) are that first, a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; second, that a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law; and, third, that a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second laws.
            "Also is self-driving self-autonomous? Some cars already are able to park themselves, and can only park in places that the AI determines the car can fit into without trouble. But we can make cars choose to fit into tighter places."

Responding to the News

This is a good time to remind ourselves that following Jesus includes trying our best to live as people with Christian ethics and morals. And this should apply not only to personal behavior, but also to how we address issues of our society.

TWW team member Mary Sells gives some examples, but you can likely add others:

"To me personally the handgun issue in the United States is a chicken-and-egg conundrum. Do we need guns because we fear others with guns?  If I had a gun, I would need to be prepared to use it, potentially to harm or kill another in self-defense. How does the Bible inform us in that decision-making moment of potentially taking a life?"

"If I believe 'thou shalt not kill,' how do I reconcile the death penalty?"

"When soldiers go off to war zones, we know some will not return, having sacrificed their lives.  Is there moral holiness in this kind of sacrifice, or have we accepted dying soldiers as 'normal' for so many centuries that we have no other view?"

"In other closer-to-home situations, we know cigarette use and working/living with asbestos and taking too many drugs might kill some people. Is that an ethical issue when people choose to accept the danger?"

Prayer

Help us, O Lord, in applying our faith to the nitty-gritty of life, and especially to the situations where the way forward is not clear. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Pokémon Go Game Captures Attention of Millions

The Wired Word for the Week of July 24, 2016
In the past month, people around the world have been captivated by the rollout of a free virtual "augmented reality" game called Pokémon Go that has taken the world by storm. Using their mobile phone cameras, players follow GPS signals to find and capture fictional characters with names like Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle and Jigglypuff, who appear to be located in the actual vicinity of the players. Once caught, the characters, sometimes called "Pocket Monsters," can be trained for work or battle to assist in the capture of other players' Pokémon.

Within a week of Nintendo's launch of the app, Pokémon Go became the most popular mobile game in U.S. history, raising the company's stock 33 percent. Estimates of the number of players vary widely, ranging from 9.5-21 million people daily.

Participants indicate that the game pushes them to exercise and to interact with their environment and with other people more; others say their academic performance, feeling of emotional well-being and mental health improve.

Some players use the game as a form of escapism to help them cope with an increasingly scary and dangerous world. Marketing specialist Dariush Shafa, 32, who plays Pokémon Goin Owensboro, Kentucky, says, "I've got concerns about politics, … my community, ... my country, and ... the world, but ... if you ... get overwhelmed by that, that's no fun. So it's nice to have something ... enjoyable that gets you outside, gets you a little bit of sunshine and some physical activity."

But some players become so engrossed in the game that they are injured when they fail to notice hazards around them. Some have found the game addictive, an unhealthy obsession. Other competitors have become aggressive or even violent toward other players who are trying to capture the same Pokémon. There have also been reports of criminals using the app to lure participants to a remote location where they rob or assault them their victims. This is one reason some critics of the game express concern over privacy and safety issues.

Another criticism of the game arose when Pokémon images were discovered on cell phone maps of sites considered sacred, such as the Holocaust Museum and the location of atrocities such as Auschwitz.

In her 2006 book Millennial Monsters, author Anne Allison suggests that Pokémon fits into the category of "techno-animism," which attributes a spiritual nature to digital technologies. Pokémon, like the thousands of Japanese kami or Shinto gods said to inhabit the earth, may grant favors to people who bring them food or incense, but punish others who disrespect them.

For over two decades, fans of the original Pokémon franchise have debated the question: "What if Pokémon were real and inhabited our world?"

Pokémon Go game designers have designated many churches as Pokéstops or Pokémon Gyms where players can "power-up" with additional resources that can help them reach their goal of finding more Pokémon. Churches have an opportunity to consider how they wish to engage the community of gamers who may visit their facilities in search of Pokémon.

More on this story can be found at these links:

Has Your Church Been Overrun By Pokémon? ChurchWest Insurance Services
Why People Can't Stop Playing Pokémon Go. PSFK
Pokémon Go, Explained. Vox.com
What to Do If Your Church is a Hub for Pokémon Go. Ministry Matters
The Gospel of Pokémon Go. Ministry Matters
If Pokémon Go Feels Like a Religion, That's Because It Kind Of Is. The Guardian

The Big Questions

1. Do you think it is possible to build community with a game like Pokémon Go? If not, why not? If so, how?

2. Is your church a Pokémon Go site? If so, have you seen an uptick in people hanging around your building? How could you use the opportunity to engage your visitors in spiritual conversations, using the phenomenon to help them discover the one who is the real end of all our searches for meaning?

3. How can creative use of secular influences, fads and culture be instrumental in delivering the Good News?

4. How might the well-intended use of secular attractions sometimes detract from the gospel message? What precautions do we need to take when considering how to use illustrations from culture or secular events in conjunction with our mission?

5. How do you imagine Jesus or Paul might react to the Pokémon Gophenomenon?

Confronting the News With Scripture and HopeHere are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Ecclesiastes 2:2, 24; 3:1, 4
I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?" … There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; … For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: … a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance … (For context, read 2:1-3, 10, 24 and 3:1, 4, 12-13.)

There are a lot of things that are neither good nor evil in themselves and are harmless fun that don't hinder us in our Christian walk. TWW contributor Frank Ramirez remembers a fellow in seminary who told him he never read anything but the Bible because other things might distract him in his Christian walk. Yet he came over every night to watch three hours of silly television shows at Frank's apartment. For all his serious pursuit of God, he needed "a time to laugh."

In Ecclesiastes, the writer records his search for meaning in the varied experiences life offers. He doesn't understand the purpose of laughter and pleasure, yet he says there is nothing better than the simple pleasures of life.

A healthy life requires a balance. There is a time for tears and a time for laughter, a time to work and a time to play. He concludes, "moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil," which is a way of saying that work and play are not always separate things, and it affirms that God intends for us to enjoy the things we do.

Questions: Do you gravitate more to toil or to relaxing? Do you feel guilty when you take time to rest and play? Where do you think that feeling comes from? If you tend to spend an inordinate amount of time pursuing pleasure, what drives that pursuit? How do you restore and maintain a healthy balance between work and play in your own life?

Luke 12:27
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. (For context, read 12:22-32.)

Jesus is inviting his hearers to step back from the purely obligatory matters of life and take a moment of leisure to ponder the beauty of some flowers, and even find their faith strengthened by so doing. And then, pointing out how well God cares for the creation, Jesus tells us not to live our lives bound by worry and fretting. He advises against being preoccupied with the utilitarian side of life. Seek God's righteousness and then take pleasure in the day that is at hand.

Questions: What are some of the ways you "consider the lilies"? How has that kind of activity changed your response to worries and cares of this world?

Mark 1:35-37
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." (For context, read 1:32-39.)

As Jesus launched his earthly ministry, he was in great demand, since he healed many who were sick, casting out many demons. After one exceptionally long day, Jesus rose early the next morning to spend some time in prayer to God. Apparently he had a good isolated place, for everybody was searching for him. But he didn't stick around. Instead, he took his followers to the neighboring towns so he could proclaim his message there as well.

TWW team member Joanna Loucky-Ramsey recalls that her father would always advise the family to push away from the dining room table while they were still a little hungry, so they would always want to come back for more. He explained that we should always have that approach with God as well; we should never feel that we had "too much" of God, but always hunger for more of his presence.

Questions: Do you think you hunt for God with anywhere near the level of passion gamers have when they search for Pokémon characters? Why do you think Jesus didn't remain in the place where people obviously wanted him? Do you ever feel as if God is hidden from you? What do you think God wants you to do when you feel that way?

John 5:39-40
You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (For context, read 5:15-18 and 39-40.)
Acts 17:11
These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. (For context, read 17:10-12.)

After Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders criticized his actions, questioning his claim to be the Son of God, by which they understood him to say that he made himself equal to God (John 5:18). Jesus defended his authority by pointing to the miracles he did, the witness of John the Baptist and of his Father about his identity, and the scriptures they searched to find the key to eternal life. Those very scriptures testify as to who Jesus is, he said, but all their searching would be for naught if they rejected the One who came that they might have life in abundance (John 10:10).

After Jesus' death and resurrection, the missionary team of Paul and Silas traveled about bringing the message about Jesus to various cities and villages. Luke tells us that they received a better hearing for the Good News in Beroea than they had in Thessalonica. The Jews in the Beroean synagogue eagerly searched the scriptures every day to see whether Paul's message rang true. As a result, many came to faith in Christ as the Messiah sent from God.

Questions: What do Pokémon Goplayers seem to be searching for? Could their hunt be a metaphor for a different kind of search, the longing for a deep, right relationship with God and neighbor?
Why do you think people search the scriptures? Why do you? What do you hope to find in so doing? What did the Beroean Jews add to their hearing the Good News that made all the difference? Are you following their example? What benefits would you gain if you did? How can you be more like them?

Luke 15:3-5
So he told them this parable: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices." (For context, read 15:1-10.)

In this chapter, Jesus tells three parables, the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin and the Parable of the Lost Son. In each parable, he is answering the complaint of the scribes and the Pharisees that he "welcomes sinners and eats with them." He doesn't deny it, but embraces that role. The shepherd who has a hundred sheep cares so much for the one lost sheep that he goes in search of it until he finds it. In the finding of his lost sheep, he rejoices, along with all the angels in heaven.

Anyone who has ever looked for a lost child or pet knows the anguish and worry of the shepherd in the story. A parent or pet owner will lose sleep and spend countless hours searching for the one lost. And upon finding the child or pet alive, the worry dissolves into joy.

The scribes and the Pharisees held to the belief that only certain people were eligible to receive God's favor, and they were part of the elite elect. They were unwilling to share that blessing with those who were not part of their inner circle. As a result, they did not share Jesus' joy in finding lost people. They could not "enter into the joy of the Master."

Questions: Do we delight in searching for people we can invite to come meet Jesus?
Who do you know that you long to see share in the joy of knowing Christ? Take time to pray for those persons by name, that God's Spirit would draw them to the cross, so they would understand how much he loves them.

Acts 10:5-6, 19-20
"Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside." … While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look, three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them." (For context, read 10:3-6, 9, 17-20.)

This chapter records how God orchestrated a meeting between the Roman centurion Cornelius and the apostle Peter, so that Peter could share the Good News of Jesus Christ with him. God communicated with each man separately when they were praying in different locations. An angel told Cornelius where to find Peter, and God spoke to Peter through a vision, which the Holy Spirit explained to him.

At the very moment Peter was puzzling over the vision, men from Cornelius knocked on Simon the tanner's door, looking for him. Cornelius was searching for God, three men were searching for Peter, Peter was searching for meaning and direction, and God brought them all together.

Now these men normally would not have rubbed shoulders, since Jews and Gentiles typically didn't mix (v. 28). But God had other ideas, so that they would all discover the joyful message that God accepts people from every nation who fear him and do what is right (vv. 34-36) and that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ receives forgiveness of sins through his name (v. 43).

Jesus told his disciples to GO make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). Seeking and saving the lost is how Jesus articulated his mission. That is our mission, too. Here we see that people came to Peter before Peter went to them. Today, some churches are finding that people are "coming," ostensibly to search for Pokémon. Wouldn't it be cause for great joy in heaven if some of those searchers ended up finding a whole lot more?

Questions: Where are the particular places that God is calling you to go? To what particular people is God calling you? If you don't know how to answer those questions, why not pray for God to give you directions?

For Further Discussion

1. Respond to this from TWW team member Mary Sells: "Call me the big skeptic onPokémonGo. People chase little invisible things, not because of the places, but because they want to win. There is talk of monetizing the game so that coupons can appear at venues. Will churches add coupons for free baptism? free education? I really do not think Pokémon Go is a venue for churches to increase attendance by youths or any others. The users are simply playing a game."

2. John Updike wrote this about the game of golf: "There is a goodness in the experience of golf that may well be ... a place where something breaks into our workaday world and bothers us forevermore with the hints it gives." How might Updike's remark apply toPokémon Goor to other leisure activities? How might God break into our workaday world and bother us forevermore, and what might such an experience be hinting to us about?

3. Review the modern parable about The Gospel Blimp and discuss how your church can make good choices about how to effectively fulfill your mission. When does a method of delivering the Good News become a gimmick? When is the use of culture to deliver the Good News appropriate?

Responding to the News

Consider how you should respond to the Pokémon Gophenomenon, as an individual and as a church. Will you engage with players? If not, why not? If so, what would motivate you to do so? Brainstorm some ways you might interact with players that would align with your sense of your mission. Here are some possibilities from other churches to get you started. After brainstorming, pick one or two ideas to implement.

1. Post a notice outside your church and on your website and social media pages, saying something like this: "We are a Pokéstop. Get supplies outside. Find Jesus inside."
2. Blog or post that Pokémon have been spotted in your fellowship hall, sanctuary or bell tower. Then sit back and watch what happens. 
3. Offer to recharge game-players' phones, since the game quickly drains batteries.
4. In hot summer weather, set out a water cooler with cups to provide refreshment for players.
5. Engage players in conversation, asking them to tell you how they became interested in the game and to teach you about strategy. Use the game to build friendships old and new.
6. Invite players to check out your services and ministries, to seek after the One who can really satisfy their deepest need (think about the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4).

Prayer

Father God, who heals the broken heart and gives joy to those who seek you, we acknowledge with gratitude all the blessings we have received from you. Help us always to rejoice more in you, the Giver, than in the many gifts you have bestowed upon us. We are awestruck that you so desired to have a loving relationship with us that you willingly sent your only Son to be our Savior. May your Spirit fill us with the joy that comes from discovering who you are and what you have called us to be and to do, for the glory of your name. Amen.

Black Shooter Targets White Police Officers in Deadliest Day for Police Since 9/11

The Wired Word for the Week of July 17, 2016

On Thursday evening, July 7, in downtown Dallas, at a peaceful rally protesting two recent police shootings of black men -- one in Louisiana, and one in Minnesota -- a lone sniper opened fire, killing five police officers who were guarding the rally and wounding seven other officers, plus two civilians.

The killings are the deadliest single incident for law enforcement in the United States since 9/11, according to statistics from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

The shooter was black; the slain officers were not. The attacker said that he wanted to kill white people, especially white police officers. Following a standoff later that evening, the shooter was killed by police.

On Sunday, Dallas Police Chief David Brown, speaking on the news show State of the Union, said, "We're convinced that this suspect had other plans and thought that what he was doing was righteous, and [he] believed that he was going to target law enforcement -- make us pay for what he sees as law enforcement's efforts to punish people of color."

While investigations are still not complete regarding the police shootings being protested at the rally, the victims were both black men who are alleged to have been doing nothing wrong. While the details from the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, shooting are less clear, the one in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, which was recorded on video by the victim's girlfriend, who was also in the car, seems to be at best, a tragic mistake on the part of the officer involved (who is Hispanic, not white), and at worst, a criminal act. But we repeat, the investigation is not complete.

Many groups, including Black Lives Matter, have condemned the shooting of the Dallas police officers.

On Saturday following the Dallas tragedy, CNN Commentator Van Jones said, "[Black people and the police] literally are having and describing the same experience. The police say they feel vulnerable -- that's exactly what the kids in Black Lives Matter are saying."

Jones added, "If, to both sides, it seems that the world is misunderstanding them, it's a good time to say let me open my heart ... listen to the pain of the law-enforcement community, listen to their fear, their sense of being labeled and wronged and misunderstood. Listen to those African-American kids. They can't take off their badge, they can't take off their uniform, but they still feel like they've got a target on their back because of their skin color ... there's now enough pain in both communities that we should be able to understand each other."

Not every observer agrees with Jones. TWW team consultant James Gruetzner pointed out that Jones is assuming that similar subjective feelings reflect similar objective realities. That is, while the feelings might seem real to members of each group, reality may differ radically. What's more, we tend to say "the police," as if all police officers are stamped out of one mold, or "African-American kids," as if they are not individuals but clones. The nuances of individuality can get veiled unless overt and intentional care is taken.

The Daily Beast's editor-at-large, Goldie Taylor, also took issue with Jones' comment and said of black people, "They don't have the same experience. They don't have the same power [as the police]."

Nonetheless, it is to be hoped that the commonality of vulnerability and pain may provide a meeting ground for at least some understanding and a way to reduce the amount of blood in the streets -- both blue blood and black.

Dallas Chief of Police David Brown said what we hope is the feeling of all people of goodwill: "Stop this divisiveness." He speaks from experience: As a patrolman, his patrol partner was killed in a gun battle. His brother was murdered by drug dealers. His troubled son killed two people -- one a police officer -- before being killed in a firefight with police.

More on this story can be found at these links:

Dallas Sniper Attack: 5 Officers Killed, Suspect Identified. CNNAren't More White People Than Black People Killed by Police? Yes, but No. Washington Post
Not Us vs. Them. U.S. News & World ReportCNN Commentator: Black People and Police Have More in Common Than They Think. Business InsiderBlacks Divided on Whether Police Treat Minorities Fairly. Gallup
View From a Black Officer. FaceBook

Applying the News Story

An initial reaction some of us had to the news of the Dallas shootings was "Oh no. Not again." That immediate response was based on the assumption that, like has happened elsewhere, someone was slaughtering random strangers. We were perhaps trying to pigeonhole the news into an "Islamic terrorism" or "gun violence" or "random mass slayings" slot.

But then, rather quickly, we learned that the targeted people were, with a couple of exceptions, police officers. Now the shootings didn't seem random. And when we later learned that the slain officers were white and the shooter was black and had declared that he was intentionally targeting white law enforcement officers, we perhaps tucked this news into a "racial violence" category.

The initial reaction of some may have been more on point. Stories of attacks on police officers and the recent swelling of anti-police rhetoric had already led some to fear an attack on police officers such as happened in Dallas.

The point isn't to see whose initial reaction was more correct, but to highlight a problem: To understand what's going on around us, we sometimes try to fit events into some category. This goes by many names -- "framing" or "stereotyping," for example -- and, although common, is often a reduction or over-simplification. As Peter Roff, contributing editor forU.S. News & World Report, put it in a column about the Dallas police killings titled "Not Us vs. Them" (see links list above), we like things that "can be broken down into easily digestible blocks, because if the last few days are any indication, our culture's capacity for handling anything more nuanced is rapidly evaporating."

Yet, to really look at what's going on in our culture -- and even more, to have any hope of changing it -- we need to be able to work with nuance. Not all incidents of conflict involving people of different races are the same, and not all of them are even "racial" in character, though some are, including, apparently, this Dallas shooting. Not all police are cut from the same cloth. In many cases, an incident in question has little to do with race, other than that one party is black and the other is "blue."

In fact, when we look at the shootings of black people by police as individual incidents -- which, by the way, is what juries have to do in judging the actions of those involved -- it becomes much harder to paint them all with the same paintbrush. In some cases, police have overreacted or let their emotions or even their bias direct them, instead of their training. In some cases, the black person involved was doing some very bad thing or threatening others or threatening the police and needed to be stopped, and sometimes force was the only viable option. In some cases, the black person was mistakenly or wrongly stopped to begin with and was doing nothing wrong.

The claims of Black Lives Matter are based in real experience (read, for example, The Washington Post article in the links list above), but not all black people perceive the police as routinely acting unfairly (read, for example, the Gallup poll results in the links list above). Thus, there is no single fix for the deadly outcome of encounters between black subjects and police officers.

To have a safe society, we will always need police and law enforcement, and we should be grateful for them. At the same time, to again quote Peter Roff, "the training [police] receive in handling confrontation is too often a lesson in how to provoke the very confrontation they are trying to avoid." Still, we should note that when the shooting started in Dallas, the police worked to protect the demonstrators and do their job.

While solutions to the problem of deadly encounters between police and black people will have to touch a myriad of issues, including but not limited to poverty, mental illness, firearms in the wrong hands, the high percentage of black-on-black crime, family breakdown, misuse of power and authority, crime, racism, human perversity and more, for this lesson, we can, at least, acknowledge the limitations of reducing major problems to simplistic, binary, either-or, us-vs.-them explanations.

And, it is to be hoped, that acknowledgement can help us to find ways forward based on greater understanding of and empathy for one another.

The Big Questions

1. In what ways was the Dallas shooting different from other mass shootings that have occurred in the last few years? What are some of the different underlying causes of these violent attacks? What different long-term responses are called for because of those differences?

2. What, if anything, enables you to feel the perceived vulnerability of the black community regarding encounters with the police? What, if anything, enables you to feel the perceived vulnerability of police officers regarding these encounters? What are some ways these perceptions correspond to -- or fail to correspond to -- reality?

3. An old piece of wisdom has it that "two wrongs never make a right" (or, to write it as an equation, 2 wrongs ≠ 1 right). How does it apply to the Dallas news? What is the outcome of this sort of "arithmetic"?

4. What, if anything, do you hear God saying to you out of the Dallas news? If you feel God is silent about this issue, what does that silence say to you?

5. Some commentators pointed out that the Dallas police department has been proactive in working for healthy community relationships, and that in many ways is the opposite of the stereotype of the disconnected police department patrolling what they consider "hostile" territory. Does this seem like the Dallas officers died for someone else's sins? Have you ever felt like you were punished or suffered for what someone else had done? Was that ever addressed? Did you suffer in silence?

Confronting the News With Scripture and HopeHere are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Proverbs 3:13-14
Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold. (For context, read 3:13-18.)

In Old Testament Hebrew thought, there was a view that God had built the world and life itself to run best in certain logical ways. The idea was that if you could figure out what those ways were and then do your best to cooperate with them, your life would be happy and you would have well-being. That understanding of life was called "wisdom," and as the word is used in the Old Testament, wisdom can be a skill, a body of knowledge, or an attribute of God.

Further, in those times, there were people who devoted their lives to discovering what God's wisdom consisted of. In fact, it became a career for some, so that moral guidance for Israel came not only from prophets and priests, but also from people known as "the wise." As these individuals issued their teachings, they were eventually collected into a body of written material called wisdom literature. In the Old Testament, Proverbs, along with Ecclesiastes, Job and certain of the psalms, are examples of this special category of teaching. Much of the wisdom instruction has an outcome-oriented tone rather than a devotional one, and it focuses on how one should act to make one's way successfully in the world while remaining righteous.

The central theological claim of the wisdom writings is that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7) -- or, as The Message translates it, "Start with God -- the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning."

Questions: In what ways does "bowing down to God" affect your ability and willingness to work toward solutions to deeply rooted, complex problems? In what ways does the pursuit of wisdom bring you closer to God? One of Job's complaints was that he had fulfilled the requirements of wisdom, yet he was being punished for something he didn't do. When have you felt that you've done everything right yet it all turned out wrong anyway?

Ephesians 2:14For [Christ] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. (For context, read 2:11-22.)

This verse is not directly applicable to the Dallas news, for it's talking about hostility within the church between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, rather than a conflict in the larger society. Nonetheless, in the early church, the division was along racial lines, in that Jews -- even Jewish Christians -- viewed themselves as a separate people from all others.

And certainly, the idea of a "dividing wall" can be applied to barriers that sometimes exist between law enforcement and the public.

Questions: What dividing walls do you have to overcome to empathize with people whose experience of life is significantly different from your own? When is it especially important to make that effort? How can you tear down, or how have you torn down, a wall that separates people of goodwill?

Mark 14:36[Jesus] said, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." (For context, read 14:32-42.)

We've included this verse to illustrate the importance of nuance. While in the Gospels, Jesus usually referred to God as "Father," just as he does here, in this verse, he also uses the Aramaic word "Abba," for which "Father" is the closest equivalent in Greek -- but not an exact equivalent. Actually, Abba was the intimate term used by children to address or refer to their male parent. In English, "Daddy" might be a closer equivalent.

Do you hear the nuance there? In referring to the Father with this more intimate term, Jesus is challenging his hearers to change their minds about God. He might have said it as "Think of God as a good dad. God is not withholding gifts from you; God wants you to have all you need for life. God is not punishing you, God desires to bless you and care for you. God is not far removed from us, God is here now, and the kingdom of God is coming. Change your mind about God; it will change your life."

Questions: When have you misunderstood the importance of something because you failed to recognize the subtle but important differences in the situation described from others that were somewhat similar? Have you ever felt afterward that you had let someone else define the terms of the problem or the possible answers to a central question? How would you redefine the focus of those problems now?

1 Corinthians 13:9, 12
For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; … For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. (For context, read 13:1-13.)

Here's one place where the apostle Paul touched quite clearly on the human condition. Mirrors in Paul's day were usually polished metal, with much less precise shaping than the ground glass now used, and therefore one did not get a clear or accurate reflection from them. Thus, Paul used the mirror as a metaphor for the difficulty in fully understanding all that is around us. Yet he does not give up, but looks forward to when his partial knowledge will be exchanged for full knowing -- at the time of God's choosing.

Questions: To what degree do you recognize your view of those whose life experience is different from your own is distorted as if looking in an imperfect mirror? Does that excuse the inaccurate conclusions we sometimes reach? Why or why not? How can we improve our accuracy?

1 Corinthians 11:28Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (For context, read 11:17-34.)

While this verse specifically relates to Holy Communion, it is a reminder of the need for self-examination: How well do we live up to God's demands? In Titus, the intimation is that self-examination should be done "soberly" (Titus 2:12, KJV), rather than be affected by the emotions of the moment. This allows us to see nuances and, one hopes, to apply self-correction as well as to determine good courses of action.

This guidance applies not only to our thoughts on the Dallas attacks, but to all our public and private dealings.

Questions:What are some ways you do this? How do you do it "soberly" rather than otherwise. When has a sober self-examination caused you to revise or change your opinions?

Matthew 5:43-45You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. (For context, read 5:43-48.)

In the "Big Questions" above, we mentioned the common saying that "two wrongs never make a right" and said that it could be written as an equation: 2 wrongs ≠ 1 right. Jesus' words in the verses above might be considered as a more positive way of stating that same truth, which if written as an equation, would be 1 wrong + 1 right = child of God.

Jesus said it as, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven." Obviously, the words "enemies" and "those who persecute" indicate people who have wronged us. Our natural inclination is to get back at them. But according to Jesus' divine arithmetic, their wrong deed against us does not excuse us for treating them just as badly, because two wrongs never equal one right. If, instead, the wrong deed is answered with love, if we treat the person right despite the fact that they have mistreated us, we are behaving like a child of our heavenly Father.

Question: Where do you need to work on applying this rule of divine arithmetic?

For Further Discussion

1. Discuss this, from a TWW team member: "We are acting under the presumption that all of us deplore the attacks on the Dallas police officers. At dinner this week with my daughter and her husband, she related how shocked she was that so many in her age cohort (25 and under) on her Instagram social networking feed were celebrating the attacks. Although we hope not, I suspect that we would find some people on that side of the fence within our congregations, and even among some of the older people. Rhetorical excesses leading to violence are not unknown; there have been at least two assassination plots or attempts against presidential candidates so far this year. On the other hand, the fact that a person deplores something and expresses that opinion does not make the person responsible for crimes committed by those sharing in the opinion." Have you detected any such celebrations among people you know? How have you responded -- or how should you have responded?

2. TWW team member Frank Ramirez has written a musical titled The Persistence of Vision, which is based on the Amish weekly newspaper The Budget. This weekly newspaper grows in circulation while mainstream newspapers are dying. At one point a reality TV producer asks an Amish woman why would anyone read news a week old? The woman replies by asking what news is worth reading if it's not still significant a week later?
            What is the staying power of the Dallas news story? What should be remembered from it? What do you suppose will be significant about it a year from now?

3. Comment on this, from Martin Luther King Jr.: "Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: It seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."

4. The following message, titled "Feeling Hopeful," from a black woman named Natasha Howell appeared on her Facebook page shortly after the Dallas shootings. The post has since been removed, but continues to be found on the Internet because it's been circulated by others (see, for example, here). We've have no way to independently verify the incident, though we have no reason to doubt it. In any case, invite your class to respond to it.
            "So this morning I went into a convenience store to get a protein bar. As I walked through the door, I noticed that there were two white police officers (one about my age the other several years older) talking to the clerk (an older white women) behind the counter about the shootings that have gone on in the past few days. They all looked at me and fell silent. I went about my business to get what I was looking for, as I turned back up the aisle to go pay, the oldest officer was standing at the top of the aisle watching me. As I got closer he asked me, How I was doing? I replied, 'Okay, and you?' He looked at me with a strange look and asked me, 'How are you really doing?' I looked at him and said 'I'm tired!' His reply was, 'Me too,' Then he said, 'I guess it's not easy being either of us right now is it?' I said, 'No, it's not,' Then he hugged me and I cried. I had never seen that man before in my life. I have no idea why he was moved to talk to me. What I do know is that he and I shared a moment this morning, that was absolutely beautiful. No judgments, No justifications, just two people sharing a moment."

5. Discuss this, from Oliver Wendell Holmes, a justice of the Supreme Court in the early 20th century: "I wouldn't give a fig for the kind of simplicity which exists on this side of complexity, but I would give the whole world for the simplicity that exists on the other side of complexity."

Responding to the News

Consider using some class time or other occasion to do the word-association exercise described by Reggie Williams in the second half of this article. Then discuss together how the insights gained might be helpful as you function in the larger world today.

Prayer

O Lord, we ask your comfort for the loved ones of those officers who lost their lives in Dallas and for the loved ones of the men killed in the encounters with police in Louisiana and Michigan. We ask for your help for those related to all of this who have been wounded in body or in soul. Please be present in our personal and national efforts to subtract the power of racism, crime and dividing walls from our life in the world. In Jesus' name. Amen.