What then should we do?
In my last blog, I laid my Christian belief over top of the
emotions so normal and so faithful to witnessing the tragedy in Newtown,
Connecticut. Now, I want to start with my Christian belief as a radical (in the
sense of getting at the root of the issue) approach to speaking about the
shooting.
We may want to take the psychological/sociological approach
to understanding. There is some benefit to this approach. Coming at the
conversation from a psychological approach aids us in naming and defining what
was happening emotionally with the shooter. Perhaps, at a certain level, this
approach will make the situation understandable by naming and defining what was
"wrong with him." There is a long step to make, however, from understandable
to acceptable.
We may want to take the political approach. As with the
psychological approach, there is some benefit to looking at the situation
politically. In this methodology, the problem is quickly identified and
addressed. The conclusion from the shootings in Connecticut is that assualt
weapons brought about this tragedy, so we address assault weapons. In the
political system, identified problems are addressed by laws. Laws will most
likely be placed on the book against this type of weapon. Yet, I ponder the
reality that there is already a law against shooting and killing another, and
yet, that law did not stop the shooting from happening. The power of the law is
coercion. There is a threat imposed. If you perform this act, this will be the
consequence. We call it a deterrent. There is a sentence set down if the law is
broken. The power of the law is external to the person, and does not change a
person's character or address a person's mental and emotional state.
We may want to take the religious approach. Unfortunately,
religious life has been dminished to moralism. The shoulds, should nots, and
oughts of life are as far as religion may go. On one extreme of this moralism,
I will be told that I should love everybody and should not have enemies. The pitfall
of this moralizing--we need to learn to recognize and address our enemies for
our own safety and security. On the other extreme of this moralism, I will be
told the root of the problem is the day we removed prayer and the 10
commandments from the schools. Yet, these children came from faith communities
that prayed and believed. And, we have seen shootings, in the past, happen in
churches.
Certainly, we can also consider the genetic conversation,
the decline of the family, the lack of civility, and so forth. While we are
unified on the horror of this event in Connecticut, we are divided on how to
get at the root of the issue. In that division, we choose one discipline over
another. This leads to a dis-integrated society, unable to be brought back to itself.
Perhaps it is this dis-intgration that is at the root of the
issue. A dis-integrated society is reflective of dis-integrated people--broken,
hurting, diminished, desperate, angry, darkness dwelling people.
At the root of the word "crisis" is the moment
that a verdict is handed down, and a person has to live with himself, his
actions, and the consequences of his actions. Those filled with pain, rage, and
darkness--dis-integrated--have a diminished capacity to cope with that verdict and are most susceptible
to the power in this world that seeks to destroy and undo the goodness of
creation. In the moment of crisis, a person's pain becomes more important to
him than the lives of others. He violently violates the lives of other people.
By laying my belief in God over my emotions and starting my
thinking from my faith, I have a truth, an authority, and axiom that has the
capacity to bring life back to wholeness. This truth re-integrates humanity and
restores humans to their fullest capacity for good. This truth re-integrates
humanity and restores humans through a promise of a time when all is set right.
Until that time, while we wait, we believe.
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