Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Ripon with former Rep. Liz Cheney this week was an incredibly cool experience, shining a bright light on this wonderful small college and town. The visit came together rather quickly, which made it feel extra special. As you might imagine, it created quite a buzz in this small community.
It did cross my mind prior to the event that there was an assassination attempt at another small town event during this presidential campaign season, but it wasn’t until I was looking up at snipers in position on the rooftops of several campus buildings that the gravity started to settle in.
Years ago, while on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, our affiliate hosted the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project in Biloxi. President Carter (who turned 100 years old a few days ago and is a personal hero of mine) was someone I truly wanted to see in person, so I was happy to see that his reserved seat was on the row behind me at the opening ceremony event. For security reasons, the former president and first lady were escorted in to a standing ovation after the program was underway. As they took their seats, I snapped a photo just as a guest from across the aisle reached over for a handshake. In the photo you can see a plain clothes Secret Service agent sitting directly behind President Carter making a life-or-death split-second decision. Luckily for the man wanting a handshake, the agent chose not to neutralize him!
The Secret Service has faced intense scrutiny recently for very good reasons, but while sitting on campus a couple of days ago looking in person at the human beings wearing suits and dark sunglasses standing between a presidential candidate and potential violence, it got me to thinking.
Of all the things I find attractive in this world, violence is not one of them. But as much as I am attracted to principles of nonviolence, I have wrestled with so many ethical dilemmas that make the use of force seemingly inevitable, at least in some situations. And while I struggle to determine an exact list of those specific situations, what I cannot help but admire are those that are willing to sacrifice their personal safety to protect others; to stand in harm’s way, not for themselves, but for others.
Violence is defined as behavior that intends to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. The more I think of it, I guess what I truly admire is the opposite of violence: those behaviors that intend to heal, repair, and save.
Starting to Look Up 