Near Emmaus

Category Archives: World Events


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Responses to the Tragedy in Newtown, CT.

Some bloggers have written over the weekend on the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. These are those with which I am familiar. If you have found a post particularly helpful as concerns trying to process what happened please share it in the comments section.

Carmen Andes: Tentative thoughts on Sandy Hook

Tony Cruz: Pray for Them by Name

Peter Enns: On God, Shooting Children, and Having No Answers

Rachel Held Evans: Grieving Together

Craig Falvo: School Prayer and School Shootings are Not Related

Katie Grimes: On the Killing of Children

Alan Jacobs: Two Thoughts about Guns, Risks, and Safety

T.C. Moore: Darkness, Advent, and Newtown, CT

Ben Myers: Prayer for Newton, Connecticut, December 14th

Cynthia Nielsen: Our Rachels are Weeping, Our School Children and Teachers are Slain, and “They” Say It’s Not Time to Talk about Guns

Nick Norelli: Senseless

Mark Stevens: A sermon in the wake of such unmentionable evil

Matthew Paul Turner: 4 Questions Every Evangelical Church Should Be Asking (in light of the Newtown shooting)

Kurt Willems: The God who cries when children die

Joel Watts: Tell me again about how that old time religion prevented school shootings

Ben Witherington: President Obama’s Homily in Newtown- 2 Cor 4.7-18 ; The Slaughter of the Innocents, Again

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Newtown, CT

I have been trying to do some reading and writing this afternoon, but as each report emerges from Newtown, CT, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. I thought I’d post some thoughts on this blog as a way of processing it. This incident troubles me more than other recent shootings because of the children involved.

When people were shot and killed at a showing of The Dark Knight Rises it was horrifying, unnerving, and it made my first subsequent trip to the theater eery. When the mall shooting occurred in Clackamas, OR, a few days ago it scared me because I used to live near that mall, I’ve shopped there, and I know many people who live there. There is something about hearing about children being killed this way that is far harder to swallow. I think it has to do with the shortness of life, the innocence stolen, the violation of a safe place like an elementary school, the fear of being a parent someday that is compounded when I consider bringing children into this world.

When something like this occurs it makes me think about people in other places of the world where this sort of tragedy is commonplace. There are wars all over the world where people die, and where children are part of the numbers, but it seems so far away. When it happens in the United States it is reminder that there is no utopia, no place where shalom rules. Children were killed at an elementary school in Connecticut, a state with a posh reputation, a place where our smallest should be safe. The world scares me.

As a Christian it is days like this where I have that sense of kyrie eleison, Lord, have mercy! marantha, Come, O Lord! C.S. Lewis said that pain is God’s megaphone. I don’t want to explore theodicy today, but there is something true about these words: this event has me praying, hoping, waiting for our Price of Peace, Jesus, to defeat death, his final enemy, so that God the Father can be all in all, death eliminated, evil vanquished, creation restored. If I didn’t have this hope I don’t know how I’d be able to live in this world without becoming nihilistic.

I pray for those who were killed today, the parents of these children, the teachers, and all those impacted.


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Four short thoughts for 09/11/2012:

(1) It is quite telling that we have to actively “remember” 9/11. This says a lot about our comfort and privilege.

(2) 9/11 was horrid, but think of the last eleven years in Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa, and so forth.

(3) I think part of remembering 9/11 should be reminding ourselves that outside the comfort of our nation is a lot of suffering globally.

(4) I do not deny that people suffer in this country. That said, we do not experience mass catastrophe and destruction on a regular basis.


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Thoughts on the shootings in Aurora.

I know that there is gun violence and death every day, but events like last night’s shooting in Aurora, CO, seem more “real.” I guess it has something to do with my ability to resonate with the event and to empathize with the victims. In my mind I know it is terrible when dozens of Afghan civilians die at the hands of our military or the Taliban, but I have no categories for such violence. On the other hand, I know the enjoyment and presumed safety of a movie theater. It is unlikely that I could ever be killed by a Taliban extremist. It is far more likely that a freak act of violence like the one in Aurora could happen and that is scary.

I can’t explain this as a Christian, but I trust the God revealed in Christ. Yes, C.S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain gave me some intellectual answers for the problem of theodicy, but the Book of Job is far more helpful existentially speaking. I am sure people will attribute this event to a variety of “theological” reasons, but I chose to acknowledge my agnosticism. I don’t know why God allows this or that. I can merely hope in God’s love, goodness, and justice in the end.

I wish people would wait before using this event for a political platform. I’ve already seen some headlines. I don’t want to read the articles. I won’t.

There has already been some discussion over whether the violent nature of the film The Dark Knight Rises had anything to do with the event. I am sure that the content provided a platform that made sense to this terrible murder, but I can’t blame the film, the filmmakers, or the actor. Too many people watch these movies and the thought of killing people never crosses their minds. In fact, we tell these stories because they give us a sense of justice and protection in a violent world. Characters like Batman give us a sense that good triumphs over the worst evils. Sadly, reality is that there is no Batman, no Spiderman, no one that can “save the day.” These things happen and sometimes evil cannot be stopped.

I can pray. I don’t know what prayer does at a time like this, but I trust God, and I hope that he hears prayers and that he acts on those prayers. I know to pray and then let God be God.


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A commonsense solution on same-sex marriage?

What if there is a win-win approach to settling the debate over same-sex marriage?

Bob Hyatt, Tony Campolo, Kurt Willems, and others have advocated a “common sense solution” to the debate over same-sex marriage, but are evangelicals listening?

As I mentioned yesterday (see “Stanley Hauerwas destroyed my hermeneutical paradigm.”) I am perplexed by the unspoken methodology with which Christians approach addressing the matter of the legalization of same-sex marriage. I think most Christians use the logic of (A) Scripture forbids homosexuality + (B) same-sex marriage (SSM) affirms homosexuality = therefore, (C) we should vote against same sex marriage. There are more complex, well-argued versions of this, but most Christians don’t seem to have given adequate attention to formulating their reasoning for their views.

Last year Kurt Willems wrote a satirical piece asking Christians to sign his petition banning divorce (see “Sign My Petition for a Constitutional Amendment to Ban Divorce!”) that strikes at the heart of the problem I have with evangelical jargon on this subject. We use language regarding something being “biblical,” therefore we determine what should be “legal,” but we are inconsistent, especially regarding sexual ethics. Most of us would not want a constitutional amendment to ban divorce, even if Jesus gave very little wiggle-room on this matter. Why do we want people to have the freedom to divorce legally when divorce stands in opposition to a Christian understanding of marriage? While someone may ignore Willems’ post as being too tongue-in-cheek there remains an unanswered question: “On what premise do we fight against same sex marriage in the courts, but not against divorce?”

Today Bob Hyatt–pastor of the Evergreen Community here in Portland, OR–wrote a fine short piece titled, “Last Chance for a Win-Win on Same Sex Marriage” wherein he presented a view I share on this matter (a view that Tony Jones alluded to as a “common sense solution”). He wrote,

On one side, the Church is going to have to realize that gay men and women, in wanting what everyone else has, are asking for something reasonable. Rights of inheritance and property, custody and visitation- all of the rights granted currently by the state in marriage are good things, things we can affirm, even in relationships that we wouldn’t necessarily endorse. After all, even if we hold a more conservative view on divorce, I don’t see many churches advocating for divorced couples to lose the right to have custody over their step-children should something happen to their spouse. We may not endorse the relationship, but we can certainly try to understand the desire of those in it to have the same legal rights as other couples. And more than understand it- I think we can advocate for it, and practically demonstrate that we do in fact “love everyone.”

Then he acknowledged the deep sacramental and religious significance the word “marriage” holds for Christians:

On the other side, those pushing for SSM need to understand the depth of feeling involved in and around the word marriage- what is for many Christians a sacrament and for all Christians sacred. To have the State legislate an understanding of what is essentially a religious term, and to legislate it in a way contrary to the faith and practice of so many is profoundly offensive. This goes beyond legalization into the realm of endorsement and definition, and as such, is qualitatively different than many other culture war issues.

Then he provided his solution:

The State needs to get out of the “marriage” business. It should recognize that as long as it uses that term, and continues to privilege certain types of relationships over others this issue is going to divide us as a nation, and is only going to become more and more contentious. We need to move towards the system used in many European countries where the State issues nothing but civil unions to anyone who wants them, and then those who desire it may seek a marriage from the Church. When I pastored in the Netherlands, this was the system- you got a civil union certificate at the courthouse and then a Marriage ceremony at the church. This division largely negated the culture war aspect, and allowed those churches who objected to same sex marriage on biblical grounds to not only opt out, but to be able to continue to teach their biblical view of marriage, uncontradicted by the State.

I recommend reading the whole article. That this approach is being use elsewhere, successfully, ought to peak our interest. Sadly, I think many on both side are blinded by their desire to “win” this debate. There are Christians who think marriage is compromised unless the state reflects their views on the matter. There are others who think the “fundamentalist” win if they settle for anything short of the use of the word “marriage.” But if the heart of the matter is found in Hyatt’s first paragraph–that homosexuals want equal rights when it comes to sharing property that is their’s, or custody over children they raised together, or various tax benefits, then this isn’t about whether we say “civil unions” or “marriage.”

Let us leave “marriage” to the churches, synagogues, and mosques and the civil unions to the state.

If someone finds a religious body who will acknowledge same sex “marriage” then let that be a difference between various religious bodies, not a difference of civil standing in a pluralistic nation.