In our society violence is deeply rooted and constitutes a hazard to our public health and well-being. It demands both a prophetic witness and a pastoral response by American Baptists. Individuals and communities experience violence in a variety of forms. Gang and criminal violence pervade many communities. Domestic violence afflicts communities regardless of economic, ethnic or racial identity.
Violence is projected into homes by means of both the entertainment and news media.
Modern U. S. society was born through violent ways, through the subjugation and exploitation of many of its peoples. The multiple horrors of the destruction of native peoples, the enslavement of African peoples, and the exploitation of immigrants are major strands of a web of economic, cultural, political, and societal commitments that have inevitably led to violence. The culture of violence is manifested both in the pervasiveness of overt acts of physical force and in the more subtle dynamics by which harm is persistently done to people. Violence finds expression in every human culture. The increasing interconnectedness of the global community has brought us in contact with the breadth and variety of human experiences of violence.