The first reaction to a tragedy such as the horrific shooting in Colorado is a sickness to the stomach and disbelief, followed by a breaking of the heart as we hear the stories and see the faces of the family and loved ones of those who died. And then we move to the question of why.
And if we are gentle, and if we are kind, and if we are wise -- we pause there and do not answer too quickly. We stay with the pain and the tears and the terror and in response offer compassion, prayers, thoughts and demonstrate a willingness to be supportive and loving in any way we can.
The faithful response is to hold a vigil.
The reason why it is so important stay silent and be still in the immediate aftermath of tragedy is that if we respond or answer too soon we do not honor those victims who have died, and those who continue to suffer. Instead, our reactions serve the idols of our own agendas and ideas. Our reactions become about us and our egos, and only serve to distract away from the real work of compassion.
Religious people naturally wonder why God would let such a horrible shooting of movie goers happen. While the question of why is almost unavoidable for those who believe in God, any theological answer that we provide will be our own fabrication and deeply rooted in our own biases.
A textbook example of this was the auto-react of Rep. Gohmert of Texas who insisted on the radio that the shootings are the result of "ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian Beliefs":
"People say ... where was God in all of this? We've threatened high school graduation participations, if they use God's name, they're going to be jailed ... I mean that kind of stuff. Where was God? What have we done with God? We don't want him around. I kind of like his protective hand being present."
A much better approach was taken by Gov. Romney and President Obama who offered prayers and even silence in their speeches today. They took a break from politicking and encouraged all of us to take time to cherish and love those who are near to us while extending our thoughts and prayers to all those in Colorado.
In his book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," Harold Kushner offers one response that is worth considering today:
If the death and suffering of someone we love, or tragic events make us bitter, jealous, against all religion, and incapable of happiness, we turn the persons who died into one of the "devil's martyrs." If suffering and death brings us to explore the limits of our capacity for strength, love and cheerfulness, if it leads us to discover sources of consolation we never knew before, then we make the person or event into a witness for the affirmation of life rather than its rejection.
Let us show our faithfulness by the compassion and love we offer to one another, even as we struggle with meaning and for hope in this fragile and violent world.
Follow Paul Brandeis Raushenbush on Twitter: www.twitter.com/raushenbush
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Michael Pettinger: Sin in Aurora, Colorado
The Colorado shooting is tragic; but it is also an opportunity to reach within and be more of ourselves.
I lost a brother 02/19/12, and another 03/04/12. I found strength in being what their daughters needed at any given time. During my sadness I remembered the strength they expected of me in life, and felt it a dishonor to be otherwise.
I call BS to both statements.
Science, physics, reality and common sense answer all the questions we can ask. Religious leaders know that if we seriously ponder any religious 'mystery' for 15 minutes we'll drop religion like a live grenade and run in the opposite direction: towards sanity, towards reality.
It demonstrates sooo clearly the problem with religion and faith, I don't even know where to begin?
It is just nonsense and covered in boring platitudes that don't do anything except make the practictioner "feel" better.
Look, I guy who has some kind of issue with something, went way outside societies rule and killed a bunch of people. He did so with guns.
This has happened before.
Now, people get their switches flipped all the time....anyone is capable of acting like this..given brain chemistry and upbringing, and we don't have ANY PREDICTIVE capability as to who it will be or when.
So what can society do about this?
This is the debate we have to have about this event, and others like it.
Hold a vigil if you want, but that does nothing.
Reasoned debate does do something.
Thank you for the lovely reminder.
When bad things happen believers should remember Matt.16:19, and consider that God has given us the power to go our own way, without his interence. We should collectively hold our selves accountable for our inventions and policies causing tragic results.
And I was close enough to the theater Friday morning to hear the gunfire and see the people pouring out of the theater. I don't wonder why "God" allowed this to happen, because I don't worship "God".
Would HuffPo please edit these articles so religious and Christian aren't always synonyms, because Christian is a SUBSET of religious.
And, you're wrong about gun laws. I'm not suggesting we ban guns in any way, but if you look at a country like Japan where they made gun ownership very, very difficult, and they took away not only everyone's guns but also their swords (I think in the '60s), they now have zero gun crime, just none. And they didn't become a Marxist country or any of the usual alarmist foolishness that comes up any time anyone suggests reasonable gun control might reduce gun violence and accidents in this country. Expecting a higher level of responsibility from those who want to pack lethal force very well could have prevented this even and so many others.
Gun permits should be handled like fishing and hunting licences, or drivers licences: renewed over and over. We need permits to fish and hunt.
Government's role should not stop with a gun permit, it should be its beginning.
WOW.....let's play this to the limit all you professional couch victims.
Gun laws are better .....
Columbine .... Aurora ...... sadly it won't be the last ......
You don't sell dynamite in the corner grocery store do you ?
Not to say that we shouldn't be angry at what's happened. It is wrong and injust. I agree with the author about keeping vigil. Mere words are not enough to express the sadness, horror, grief, etc at the loss of these people. Sometimes all one can do is 'light a candle' metaphorically and in reality for a season.
As far as politicizing this event, that's the NRA's stance. They don't want people to discuss gun control because it's "too soon", "too knee jerk", "too disrespectful", "too polarizing". The NRA wants to prevent discourse about this. They want this erased from the public psyche and they are counting on the short attention span of the public to continue to keep this out of the conversation after the initial shock wears off.