Further Thoughts on Virginia Tech

In the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, Christians are coming out of the woodwork to be defense attorneys for God.

I think people are asking "Where was God?" because of the need to blame someone for this horrific atrocity. It's the ultimate theodicy question. Cho Seung-Hui is dead, so we can't attack him. Dead men tell no tales and can't be executed. I suppose we can spit on his grave and feel better. But someone must be held responsible for this, so why not God? After all, isn't God supposed to be some sort of Celestial Texas Ranger? So why didn't God show up and throw himself in front of the bullets like a Secret Service agent does for the president, or at least redirect the bullets? Or why didn't God decomission the guns? Or why didn't God foil the plot somehow, or give Cho a fatal heart attack? If God is almighty, as claimed, then why didn't God intervene somehow?

To wit, and to be perfectly honest, the answers given to these questions by the bulk of God's defense attorneys have been absolutely sappy and banal. And not helpful at all!

First, blame is diverted away from God and onto Satan, the Celestial Scapegoat. It's the Christian's favorite fall guy. But this just perpetuates the blame game. Second, reassurance is given that God will protect us. I don't even have to tell you how stupid that is. Third, attention is then place on Jesus, who died on the cross and rose again to show how much God loves us and is with us and can bring comfort to frightened hearts. Mission accomplished (ala George Bush)! God has been successfully defended! God is the good guy; Satan and the fertile soil of Cho's heart are the bad guys!

There's another way of looking at this whole episode and its aftermath.

Did you read or listen to the things that Cho said about other people, and then realize that he was guilty of the very things he accused others of doing? He had absolutely no idea that he was looking into a mirror. As Anais Nin once said, "We don't see things as they are. We see things as we are." The repression that he thought he was experiencing from without was actually coming from within. His external circumstances merely exposed what was going on in his own mind and heart. Things were as they were until he put his own interpretation on it. I wish someone would have gotten to him years ago to tell him this.

When we reflect on what happened at Virginia Tech on Monday, each of us will see something different. If we experience horror at the incident, please understand that the horror is coming from within. If you see the look of a madman in the eyes of Cho, he is exposing the madman in you. You are what you see. Once we place blame at the feet of anyone, we have been exposed.

What do we do? I would like to make some suggestions. First, we must rid ourselves of the image of God the Celestial Texas Ranger. God is not obligated to protect anybody. And besides, that's not what God is about anyway. God is a Revealer, not a Ranger. Second, we must realize that our hearts have been exposed, not for the purpose of assigning blame, but for the purpose of sheer honesty. What has this whole incident revealed about you? Answer that question honestly and gently. "O, happy the soul that saw its own faults," wrote 13th century Sufi poet Mevlana Rumi. Third, may this serve as a time of deep self-reflection and prayer, asking our God to create our hearts anew-- hearts that are cleansed and spirits that are renewed by the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Ask God to reveal God's love for you in Christ that it may pour out from you to others. Fourth, pray for the families of the victims. Pray for the wounded. Pray for the frightened and the terrorized. And pray for Cho's family-- they're going to experience a lot of crap from people who refused to look in the mirror.

God is a Composer, not a cop. Through Christ's death and resurrection, God has composed the Score. We die to self, we rise to God through God's forgiveness demonstrated in Christ, we rejoice that God is all in all, around us, in us, and between us!! That's the Score, the Script. It's God's plan of peace, and it's the only plan that actually works.

I'm just waiting for some 7oo Club automaton to blame the whole thing on campus homosexuals.