NIU and Westboro

I was going to blog about the horrible massacre that took place at Northern Illinois University on Valentine's Day, but I wanted to get my thoughts into some semblance of order so that my post would be coherent. I was shocked and saddened by the events at NIU, as I'm sure all of us were. Coupled with the murders in nearby Tinley Park, I now ask the nagging question, "What's going on here?" I don't have much of an answer to that question. Obviously there are those who believe that their problems, real and/or perceived, are solved by the use of firearms.

Why do we give these events the title "tragedy"? A tragedy is a specific genre of literature in which a hero is taken down by a character defect or a moral flaw. It seems we've made the word "tragedy" a fixture in popular usage and have chosen to define it as any terrible event in which there was loss of life. A Metra train hitting a car is called a "tragedy". In reality, it's not a tragedy. It's a horrible accident. Calling the NIU shootings a "tragedy" transforms the shooter into a fallen hero, whether we realize it or not. He was not a hero. He was a profoundly sick and deranged man who had a morbid and depraved indifference to life. This was not a tragedy. It was a massacre. It was murder.

Semantics aside, now we're debating how to stop these killing sprees. Some are pushing for stricter gun control laws. Others are pushing for stiffer penalties for gun offenders. I think both are good ideas, but in the long run they will turn out to be mere band-aids on a problem that is more than skin deep. What we really need is a reversal of the culture of violence and death that is so pervasive in our country and around the world. It's a big job, and it's harder to legislate, which is why so few people engage in it.

Then, throw this so called Westboro Baptist Church into the mix. Seriously, what's up with these people? The hatred that spews from their mouths in the name of God is sick and twisted. Calling it such doesn't stop it. I think we're all in agreement that these people are out on the lunatic fringe. But since I'm a theologian I'd rather discuss what I see is problematic with their theology. In a nutshell, what's troubling about WBC is that they don't proclaim the whole counsel of God. Zeroing in on just one aspect of God's counsel leads to all kinds of heresy and wacko groupings of people who see their calling in life as being purveyors of religious fascism. Westboro Baptist is not a church. It is a group consisting of legalistic idealogues who have been mind-numbed by an incomplete reading of Scripture.

The Church should be at the forefront of bringing healing and comfort at this time of loss with the news that Christ carried all of our pain and sorrow on the cross and is familiar with affliction. He is not indifferent to sadness and confusion, but has absorbed it all into his being and gave it as an offering that is pleasing to God for all time. With that message of life we are equipped to bring comfort and hope with the same comfort that we have received from God. Our voices must be louder than those who would foist hatred and violence into the already tempestuous teapot.