Twelve dead. Twelve
lives over, forever. Twelve families irreversibly
changed. This is the work of one man in a
few minutes. His tools; an assault
rifle, a shotgun, two pistols, gas canisters, an innocent and captive victim
pool –an audience really- , and the ability to acquire pretty much any weapon
he needed under the protection of our national laws. News accounts describe it as, “...one of the
deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history.” Where it falls on the list of our other “mass
shootings” I don’t know but I’m sure I can find out with little effort. We have so many of these that they’re not
just chronicled, but parsed and sorted by the number of victims. To be honest, I can’t remember if any of
those other “mass killings” took more lives.*
Update: I found that 12 murdered is not even close to the top of this list. That honor goes to an Anders Behring Breivik who killed 80 at a summer camp on the Norwegian island of Utoya in July last year. Here is a list if anyone is interested: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Some-of-world-s-worst-mass-shootings-3722783.php
I’m sure in
the coming weeks a call will be made to take a solemn and honest look at our
gun laws. That look will degrade to podium
pounding on both sides where blame will be laid, beliefs will be challenged,
and advantages will be gained and lost, especially with this being a
Presidential election year. Will anything
change? Maybe we’ll see (more) armed
guards at movie theaters or maybe we’ll see metal detectors where the tickets
are torn. That might make us feel safer,
until the next guy takes his rifle, shotgun, and two pistols into a water park
or football stadium.
Eventually the outrage will fade,
as it always does. And you will probably
be able to track our interest by how far will live from Aurora, Colorado. The rest of the country can get back to
figuring out which chicken restaurant approves or disapproves of same-sex
marriage.
The
shooting took place during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie. It’s too bad there isn’t a real Batman who
could have swung in and saved these lives and captured the murderer. But Batman, Superman, and Spiderman are
restricted from helping a single soul by the fact that they don’t exist. But maybe we could change that. I’m not suggesting that we create a superhero
to stand watch over us, because according to millions, we already have
one. So let’s call on him. I’ll start:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Please
disappear all the guns. Please get rid of every pistol, rifle, shotgun,
forty-five, 357 Magnum, AK-47, M16, Uzi, Saturday Night Special, and Walther
PPK. I humbly ask you to remove gun
powder, bullets, shells, and firing pins from existence. Use your power and love to erase our
collective memories of these things and how to create them. We regret having invented them and then delivering
them upon your beautiful creation that is this Earth. We most humbly apologize and hope through your
loving grace you will forgive us. In
Jesus name we pray.
If this works, how wonderful. If this doesn’t, at least we know where he
stands.
Well said Mark, well said. Of course your prayer won't be answered, our prayers are generally not answered, but people will tell you God is hurting as we are hurting by this senseless tragedy. Doesn't God have the ability to make this stop.
ReplyDelete"Another way to put this is to say that you either turn your life towards or away from God. Somewhere in the shooter’s life a decision was made that considered the lives of others as an appropriate sacrifice for whatever offense the world had done to him, and that consideration never included the pain and tragedy his acts would create for others. Only his pain mattered. This is the epitome of turning away from God and His innocent creation. Free will concedes that humans can be their own god whatever the cost. In this case, the cost was measured in lives."
ReplyDeletehttp://thebaldspot.net/?p=119
Moriarty -
ReplyDeleteNot sure I am fit to answer your question, and I'm not sure you want to hear it...
Your prayer will be answered exactly as you ask. Scripture says that swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. I assume that this means that guns and bombs will be melted down into something that cultivates life rather than takes it.
But the timing of it might not be exactly as you want, because it will be delayed. But delayed for a reason: People are still being given time to choose who they will follow on this battlefield. As a father, you have a sense of the danger and promise of freewill. That's where we are right now.
Choose to put blame where it belongs. Darkness and human will coming into agreement - not on the God who is planning on taking care of things like this in the right and just way.
The blog and prayer are apt. While I will grieve in silence for the lost lives here in Colorado, it is worthwhile to notice that we don't have very many of these events, even though we had one in Norway last year.
ReplyDeleteSchool shootings are impossible to prepare for, but we don't have many of those either. Yes, one is too many. Road rage exists, but look at the millions of people who get where they are going without violence. Notice the 2000+ theatres where movie-goers are unmolested. A friend's mother was lost and deluded in Gardnerville, NV last weekend (she lives in Utah), and a tirestore clerk, the cops, the EMTs, and the emergency room staff were all her practical angels.
Prayer for rescue from our problems is a fine idea. I think celebration of what lovely lives we have is good, too.