The Aurora Shooting

    As we were sitting at the dinner table last night Joyce asked, “How do you answer the people who are looking for a perspective about Aurora?”  My answer, “No one has asked.”  She responded, “It is an important and timely topic.”  After some silence, I answered, “I might consider an answer this way.”
    N.T. Wright in his book, EVIL AND THE JUSTICE OF GOD, writes that today’s world has three reactions to evil.  First, it tries to deny or ignore it.  Since the advent of the enlightenment, the belief has been growing that evil does not exist and if it does exist it is being defeated by human goodness.  Despite all the evidence to the contrary, we are just not going to acknowledge or deal with evil in our world. 
    Second, if evil occasionally happens, we are surprised.  We are surprised at the shooting at Aurora.  But why are we surprised?  Have we forgotten the Oklahoma bombing, or the Columbine shooting, or Virgina Tech, or the shooting of Gabby Gifford and others outside of Tucson?  The current news stories do not report the increase of gang activity and violence in the Denver area that has put residents on edge before the Aurora shooting.  Aurora is not an isolated incident.  We just want to make it an isolated incident.
    Third, when evil occurs and we are willing to acknowledge its occurrence, we blame someone else.  For example, Aurora would not have happen if we enforced gun laws.  Aurora would not have happened if James Holmes’ friends reported the signs of abnormal behaviors.  Aurora would not have happened if politicians of both parties were not so afraid of the NRA and its refusal to permit reasonable gun control.
    If asked what I think about Aurora, I would take a page out of Wright’s book and say, “We as Christians and as a secular nation have to acknowledge the presence of evil and fight against it.”
    After several minutes (probably seconds), I added to the conversation, “I have been reading Derek Wilson’s biography of Luther.  This past weekend, I read Wilson’s discussion of Luther and the peasants' rebellion.  Luther was a great proponent of freedom, spiritual freedom.  Luther never fathomed that some would take his teachings on spiritual freedom and apply them to civil rebellion against the tyranny of the church and the state.  In the midst of the discussion, Wilson quotes (John) Milton; “None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom but licence.”  Wilson’s quote of Milton raises the question, “Do we love freedom or do we love freedom’s license to do whatever we want without regard for larger consequences?”
    Both Wright and Milton have the backing of scripture.  There is an enemy of evil in this world (some times evil is named Satan) and human beings use freedom as a license to gratify their own selfish desires.  Stating that is easy.  But for me the real questions are, “What can I do about evil?” “What can I do to fight evil in my life and backyard?”  Until I answer these questions, evil is just an academic exercise which has little or no relevance in my life.
    To address and fight evil, I am going to do the following.  First, I am going to pray for the victims in particular and Aurora in general.  I am also going to pray for James Holmes because both Jesus and Paul tell me to do so.  My prayers will be for God’s peace on them all.
    Second, I am going to continue to ask if my behaviors are motivated by prejudice or bias.  Prejudice has no basis in fact while bias is based on past experiences.  I will work to reject all prejudice in myself and in those around me.
    Third, good morals originate in respect for another.  I am going to continue to follow Luther’s explanation of the 4th and 8th Commandments.  I will respect those who are in authority as Luther calls us to do in the 4th Commandment and I will put the best interpretation on another’s actions as Luther calls for in the 8th Commandment.
    Finally, I am going to support current and future laws that are best for the community even if these laws limit some of the things that I like personally.  The Bible continually calls for behaviors that build community rather than behaviors that are primarily for my self-gratification.
    Will the four steps in addressing Aurora stop another Aurora from occurring?  No.  As long as there is evil in this world, another Aurora is a high probability.  But I refuse to be resigned to the idea that evil exists and there is nothing I can do about it.  So I continue to fight the good fight with God’s help.
Pastor Pete