20 children are dead.
As the news of yet another mass shooting emerged today from
Connecticut, commentators, politicians and pundits began posing the questions
asked after events such as this. When is
it appropriate to debate gun violence?
How long after a tragedy do we need to wait before “politicizing” the
shootings? Essentially, they lead us in
a debate about the debate.
I have another question to pose.
When in the midst of
this ongoing orgy of gun violence will we as a society decide that too many
children are dying for the sake of a “right to bear arms?”
That is the question that faces us and it is a question that cannot wait. The old saying that there is "no time like the present" rings painfully true. We owe it to the next victims of gun violence to take this moment and ask, "is this worth it?"
Beyond all the grand and abstract language of liberty and
rights, there is a fundamental reality that is being ignored. 20 grade school children are dead because searing
pieces of metal fired from a gun tore through their bodies and robbed them of
their futures. Their deaths and their
families’ grief are not abstract. They are not merely a piece in a larger
conversation on guns and violence. Their
deaths are the price tag for preserving a culture of absolute liberty in gun
possession.
As with so many unspeakable tragedies, our first inclination
is to seek some measure of understanding.
We want to find out what in this young man’s life and spirit led him to
do this. We want to get to the bottom of
this event so we can put our minds at ease that this was somehow and unusual or
one-off event distinguished from any potential imitation.
Compounding the tragedy is how familiar it has become. Movie theaters, malls, places of worship and
now even elementary schools are not excused from the bloodshed of gun
violence. As the tragedy unfolds, we
share in a common sense of shock and sadness, let the media paint a picture of
the “lone gunman” that allows us to differentiate him from anyone else we may
encounter and finally, we get past it.
Still, 20 children are dead.
We as a culture must break this endless cycle of
tragedy-shock-blame-moving on. We must
draw a line in the sand and say, “no more.”
We, as a nation and as a church, must not let this moment pass us by.
Unfortunately both church and state are too often
silent. The vacuum of courage in our
political culture is not an excuse for the silence of the church. If we wait for Republicans to break free the
shackles of the NRA or the Democrats to find what is left of their courage on
this issue, we wait for Godot.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, the church has an obligation
to carry the message and the witness of Jesus Christ into the world. While there may be room for debate on some
parts of Jesus’ teachings on money or marriage or salvation, there can be no
debate about Jesus’ unflinching love and care for children.
We fail in our calling as Christians if we do not shout,
from every pulpit and pew, that this must end.
God is concerned more with the
care and nurture of the children of God than the preservation and exercise of
man-made political rights. If the price
we pay to end the cycle of violence that can and has led to the mass killing of
children is to give up the unfettered right to own and carry guns, then that is
the price we pay. Can true liberty be
built on the senseless sacrifice of children?
When Abraham took Isaac up onto the mountain, God stayed Abraham’s
hand demonstrating once and for all that the blood of a child is too high a
price to pay, even for the favor of God.
We, the church, must have the courage to stand up and stay the hand of
the culture and declare that nothing that is right, good or free can be bought
with the life of a child.
That is a cost that is simply too high.
