An Evil World

The recent shootings at Virginia Tech have brought out the very best and the very worst in our society. The very best has been shown by the students and their support of law enforcement personnel, medical suport and University Administration. The very best has been shown by the Governor of Virginia and the President of the United States along with leaders across the country in their loving support. The very best has been shown by the population at-large by their love, support and prayers. Much still needs to be done to help students and families deal with this evil tragedy and recover from the extraordinary pain of loss. I believe that we are up to the challenge particularly assisted by the Lord.

The worst of our society raised its ugly head even before the death count was known. The talking heads on television immediately were looking for someone to blame. The accusation was that the University did not do enough to prevent the second shooting or lock down a major university in a snap. The anti-gun folks were decrying gun violence and lax Virginia gun laws before the identity of the shooter was known. Blame, blame, blame is the only response by the media and the so-called experts. Does someone have to be at fault other than the deranged gunman?

Our society seems incapable of dealing with tragedy as part of the human experience. The majority of people in this world live with tragedy every day. 127 people were killed this morning in Bagdad in four bombings. It was reported as just another fact squeezed between so-called experts on recognizing nut-jobs before they shoot up schools. Tens of thousands of people die regularly from starvation, sectarian violence, civil war, earthquakes, storms and much more. Yet, if it does not happen where we feel it it just does not exist. We are a society that has isolated itself from the real world. We seem to think that it is written somewhere that bad things are not supposed to happen to us. When bad things do happen we insist on finding someone to blame and sue.

Let's try something new. Let us mourn for the dead students. Let us comfort the parents, siblings, friends and wounded. Let us pray for them and for ourselves. Let us commend the police and medical personnel, and the administrative people for doing the very best job possible in a very difficult situation. Let us be thankful that we have unprecedented resources to handle tragedy on such a massive scale. Let us thank God for His grace and mercy even when we refuse to acknowledge Him.