I’m crying right now as I trying to write this. It’s happening again. Not a week after the horror of Colorado Springs we have another mass shooting. I can’t even begin to process this. It’s just one after the other after another. As I write this there are reports coming out of San Bernardino of multiple fatalities and perhaps as many as three shooters.
Is this our new normal? Is this what we should come to expect as routine here in America?? What do we say? What do we do? How do we even grieve? Do we even find that we are shocked with the reports of “Active Shooter” scroll across our newsfeeds?
America, we have a serious problem and it is time that we finally fess up to it. We are a nation that kills. We kill our fellow citizens, we kill strangers in foreign lands, and we even kill ourselves (our suicide rate is climbing at an alarming rate). Soon, the commentary will start and the “experts” will begin to stake their tiresome positions and seek to demonize anyone who dares to disagree with them.
So, to the talking heads who will soon be spewing the same nonsense and to the politicians who will attempt to use this horror for their own gain I want to say this:
Don’t talk to me about “well, if those people would have been armed…” That is hogwash and you know it. Besides, there are PLENTY of guns in Southern California (trust me, I’ve lived there). Don’t spew the same “shootout at the OK Corral” fantasy. It’s not real. Spare us this time, please.
Don’t talk to me about how this is a “mental health issue.” We of course know that mental health in this country is something that is incredibly under supported and that there are still plenty of stigmas and misunderstandings about mental illness. This is something that we have to address but when you use “mental health issues” in this context you know and I know that this is a convenient way of not addressing the deeper, darker, and much more difficult concerns.
Don’t talk to me about “enough is enough.” It was enough after Columbine. It was more than enough after Sandy Hook and Oregon, and Colorado Springs, and Aurora, and every other time this has happened. Don’t give me sound bites.
Let’s get real. Let’s talk about each other. Better yet, let’s talk about ourselves. It’s time, God, Almighty, it is time. I wrote this after Oregon, but I’ll say it again, these shootings that continue to occur (some reports say that this is the 352 mass shooting THIS YEAR) are no longer on some unseen or unknown “enemy.” They are on US. Every single one of us is responsible.
Don’t believe me? Take a look around. The fear, hostility, and dehumanization of one another that has griped this country is as real as it is terrifying. We don’t talk to each other anymore but instead talk at or past one another. We have reduced our news to sound bites and we can pick and choose what information we want to get and from what perspective we want it to come from. We are looking at perhaps the most vitriolic election that this country has ever seen. And we refuse to acknowledge our own shortcomings and frailty.
We live in a society where the first response is ALWAYS violence. Bad guy? Bomb ’em (and their family, too, apparently). Girl who doesn’t worship the way I do? Follow them around town wearing a mask while carrying an assault rifle. Boy with a different skin color than me? Follow them around the neighborhood. How can we be surprised that events like what is going down in SoCal when we no longer are able to see the humanity of one another?
God, in your mercy, hear the prayers of your people. As our thoughts go out to the people of SoCal may you come in and break our hearts so that we may finally start to heal. May you give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hands to help instead of hurt.
I just can’t anymore. Oh, Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel.
Rev. Aaron Todd serves as the Minister for Education at First Christian Church-Midwest City, OK . Among other things, he focuses on youth, children, young adult, and family ministry. He is married to Debra, who is also a Disciples pastor, and together they have a 3 year old son named Zach and a precious baby boy named Josh. In addition to their human children, they have a 5 year old dog named Amos (named after the prophet). Check out his blog, revaarontodd.com
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com
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