Killing and Our Inaction

     We had another mass killing this week, this time at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin with a number of people killed and more wounded.  I wonder when we are going to do something to rein in the assault weapons that are so easily obtained by anyone who has a serious hatred and a desire to kill.  There is so much of it anymore.  People with a screw loose and a bigot’s heart roam free in this country and aim their hatred where they will.  Sometimes it is a Congresswoman speaking to her constituents, sometimes it is people in a crowded movie theater, and this time it is in a worship space for people whose worship is perhaps different from the norm in this society, but perfectly rational and certainly protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution.

How do we deal with the grief that comes from this, with the compassion to help the victims get on with their lives?  It doesn’t really help that the gunman perished along with his victims in the slaughter.  That only makes the picture more murky and difficult.  We would like to know what was motivating this man to do this terrible thing, but that will be forever out of our reach.

  Is this simply going to be another event that grabs our attention for a little while and then fades into the background as other things come along, or will it spur us to take some action not only for the victims of this slaughter, but for this country that has made guns a priority over rationality and justice.   Certainly it is not too much to ask our congress to put aside their allegiance to the National Rifle Association and pass some laws that make it possible to get rid of assault weapons, which are of no use whatsoever in hunting, but only have the use to which they have been put in these terrible encounters with the people who have been killed.  What on earth is the matter with us?

The story in Second Samuel about the death of Absalom and David’s grief over his death is a profound story.  David had told his commander Joab and his staff to “deal gently” with Absalom, but when Joab heard that Absalom had been found stuck in an oak tree, he not only struck him with a javelin, but his followers also struck him and he was killed.

When David heard of Absalom’s death, he was filled with deep grief, wept and cried:  O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!

The evil of Joab in defying David’s orders and killing Absalom is evident.  David’s grief is also more than understandable.  Which of us wouldn’t be stricken with grief under similar circumstances.

The killing of the Sikhs is a similar situation.  There are absolute laws against this, but evil people with manifest hatred ignore the laws and like Joab, march to their own drum.  Perhaps these terrible killings will inspire some kind of work to ease the grief of communities that face such evil and make all of our hearts respond to the needs not only of the victims, but of all of our people.  I know that God weeps with us over these tragedies and over our inability to cope with them.