{"id":1164,"date":"2014-06-19T19:56:18","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T00:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?p=1164"},"modified":"2015-06-19T19:04:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-20T00:04:51","slug":"dead-priests-dead-babies-guns-cars-accidents-guilt-absolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2014\/06\/dead-priests-dead-babies-guns-cars-accidents-guilt-absolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead Priests, Dead Babies, Guns, Cars, Accidents, Guilt & Absolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The death of Fr. Kenneth Walker has opened back up the discussion about whether priests ought to carry firearms for self-defense<\/a>. Fr. Z addressed the question back in 2013 with a firm, \u201cI don\u2019t have a formed opinion on this<\/a>,\u201d observing only that canon law does not prohibit and civil law ought to permit.<\/p>\n

As a resident of gunlandia<\/a>, I plead inability to think objectively about these things. \u00a0If I lived in a time and place where the prevailing form of government was \u201cblood feud,\u201d I\u2019d think pretty highly of disarming the clergy and anyone else I could. \u00a0Instead I live in the kind of place where my teen shoots dinner, butchers it, puts in the freezer, and pulls it out come summer to cook a delectable stroganoff. \u00a0The thought that he might grow up to be a stroganoff-deprived priest is beyond the scope of my imagination. \u00a0I guess his sister could hunt for him?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a good friend recently linked to this 2009 article on the prosecution and suffering of parents who accidentally forget their baby is in the car, to fatal result<\/a>. \u00a0The article is disturbingly graphic at points, so it might be better to skim. \u00a0You can no doubt think of other tragic accidents and incidents involving children you\u2019ve known, or your friends have known.<\/p>\n

The tendency in considering any of these terrible scenarios is to start in with the If Only<\/em>s and the I\u2019d Never<\/em>s. \u00a0If only Father had been better trained, or not answered the door, or hadn\u2019t been armed and had placated the robber. \u00a0I\u2019d never forget my baby, I\u2019d drive more carefully, I\u2019d childproof my house better, I\u2019d do this and that to make sure my baby was safe.<\/p>\n

The world is not safe. \u00a0We can do things that make us safer, but we can\u2019t do something to make us safe.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Trauma traumatizes<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0No amount of \u201cit was an accident\u201d or \u201cI did the best I could\u201d can undo the normal response to horror, which is to grieve profoundly, and to think, endlessly, about how to avoid it in the future.<\/p>\n

Still, when we consider our personal responsibility, we must resist the temptation to think ourselves omniscient. \u00a0\u201cI should have known better than to . . .\u201d \u201cI never should have . . .\u201d \u201cIf only I\u2019d know that . . .\u201d \u00a0Think of every near miss or terrible hit that you\u2019ve experienced. \u00a0The second time, perhaps you knew better and recklessly proceeded anyhow. \u00a0But the first time? \u00a0Did you really know that was going to happen? \u00a0Really?<\/p>\n

Probably not.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons accidents happen is that we aren\u2019t all-knowing. \u00a0We have the ability to reason and to plan, to think about what might happen and respond accordingly. But we can\u2019t know everything.<\/p>\n

To hold ourselves responsible for a lack of omniscience is to claim that we are gods.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Public policy is the personal writ large. \u00a0We know that bathtubs are usually safe and sometimes deadly . . . how shall we as a society proceed? \u00a0Cars are wickedly lethal, and yet we can\u2019t imagine living without them. \u00a0What balance of safety regulations lets us benefit most while suffering least? \u00a0Those of us living in gunlandia know that we must be ruthlessly obsessive about gun safety and proper storage of weapons and ammunition, and yet we know that all the checks in the world won\u2019t guarantee us perfect safety \u2014 but living without firearms doesn\u2019t guarantee us perfect safety either. \u00a0We must prudently discern what is the best balance of risk and regulation based on the conditions in our homes and communities.<\/p>\n

We must accept that because we are not omniscient, sometimes we will choose wrongly, even when we have done everything in our power to choose well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0***<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look here for the tutorial on double effect, which explains why you are allowed to have that deadly bathtub in your home<\/a>, but you may not murder people with it.<\/p>\n

Here is my post on when and how to confess<\/a>, in which I observe that even though you might bear no blame at all for the tragic accident, going to confession and receiving absolution is a good way to assure yourself that you are forgiven whatever part \u2014 immense or microscopic \u2014 you might have played in the terrible event<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

More confession stuff: Why catechists should mind their own business and not require students to publicly pre-confess their confessions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Darwin Catholic, my go-to man for statistical tear downs, takes a look at the school shooting data here, and concludes you are not a negligent parent if you send your child to school<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s a great novel by Michelle Buckman about the marital and psychological fallout of a fatal baby-left-in-car incident<\/a>. \u00a0Not my usual genre, but I read it and loved it. \u00a0Beautiful story, riveting, sap- and sugar-free.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

\n<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The death of Fr. Kenneth Walker has opened back up the discussion about whether priests ought to carry firearms for self-defense. Fr. Z addressed the question back in 2013 with a firm, \u201cI don\u2019t have a formed opinion on this,\u201d observing only that canon law does not prohibit and civil law ought to permit. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,13,51,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catechesis-2","category-catholic-qa","category-forgiveness","category-suffering"],"yoast_head":"\nDead Priests, Dead Babies, Guns, Cars, Accidents, Guilt & Absolution<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The death of Fr. Kenneth Walker has opened back up the discussion about whether priests ought to carry firearms for self-defense. Fr. 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