intramuralist ™

While most were returning to some semblance of routine Friday morning, the typical Colorado calm was pierced by a shooter at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. Two civilians and one police officer died; the gunman is now in custody as the investigation ensues.

This, friends, is wrong.

What I find also fascinating, is the varied, selective, contrasting outrage…

• There are persons formerly loud about violence who are now silent because the incident took place at a site in which they vehemently disagree with what takes place there.
• There are persons formerly quiet about Christians killed in Europe and the Middle East who are now loud because it’s at Planned Parenthood.
• There are persons who want this incident specifically labeled but refuse to be specific in uttering the phrase, “radical Islamic terrorism.”
• There are persons who want to be sympathetic to other protestors, even when they go too far, but demand zero empathy for a Planned Parenthood protestor.
• And there are persons who have zero empathy for other protestors, but preach hesitancy before rushing to any judgment in Colorado Springs.

Ah, yes… we are a fickle people. Arguably better put, we are full of contrasts and contradictions… depending on how we feel, how we’re bent, and what bias we have within us… each of us, me included.

In a statement released on Saturday, Pres. Obama said that “enough is enough.”

I agree. However, that’s where our contrasts and contradictions come into play.

What’s “enough” is not just shootings at Planned Parenthood. What’s “enough” is not just a shooting at Fort Hood. What’s “enough” is not just another massacre like Paris. What’s “enough” is not just another person — via the workplace or college campus or Middle East — who feels capable of taking justice into their own hands. What’s “enough” is not another person who is gravely misguided by motive, mental health, ideology, or something.

What is “enough” is the selective acceptance of evil on this planet. Evil is evil is evil. Our problem is that we cannot seem to agree on what evil actually is. And we fight it passionately in some places — based on those bents and bias — but in other places, we either ignore it, downplay it, or greet it with political correctness.

What is evil? How do we define it?

For some, evil is the killing of people at Planned Parenthood; for others, it is the killing of infants inside Planned Parenthood. For still others, it is both. For perhaps still more, it is neither.

The more I wrestle, the more I’m convinced that we define evil differently — or at the very least — we set up some hierarchy of “evils” — as opposed to recognizing that evil is evil is evil.

It’s as if we believe we or the elect or some other human beings are somehow capable of decreeing what exactly is moral and immoral — as if we can proclaim the “profoundly immoral and malevolent.” But we disagree; we don’t know where to start. We can’t agree on what evil is.

Hence, my semi-humble stab — as best as I can discern — is that evil is the absence of good and absence of God. But that’s hard, as we seem to have increasingly more trouble recognizing who God is, what he asks of us, and how we are to treat other people — especially when we disagree.

Respectfully…
AR

Love that Amazon Prime!

You, too — especially this time of year — can hop on amazon.com and purchase most anything your heart desires. As I strolled through the site recently in hopes of making an increased dent in this year’s Christmas shopping, I found a unique product… one, perhaps, that many seem to already own — and, have already utilized…

It’s a cheap product… but also, seemingly, fairly popular. I speak of none other than, that one thing that’s certainly on everyone’s shopping lists… those, great…

“BIG TAB INSERTABLE PLASTIC DIVIDERS”!!

Excellent. There’s nothing quite like creative, functional office supplies.

They’re big.
They’re insertable.
They’re plastic.
And they’re dividers.

Allow me, if you will, to acknowledge what dividers do…

They’re big…
… meaning you can see them; they’re noticeable.

They’re insertable…
… meaning they go where you put them.

They’re plastic…
… meaning they’re not real nor organic; they’re artificial.

And they divide…
… meaning they purposely split things apart.

Allow me to say such again for emphasis. Dividers are intentionally inserted into a specific spot. The placement is intentional… purposeful. The division is willingly created.

Friends, one of my greatest frustrations in this day and age is how people play the role of dividers. That means they noticeably, intentionally attempt to split us apart.

It is certainly true that we can’t all agree nor align on all things. It is equally true that we shouldn’t be so divided.

There is no reason to be divided, for example, in our assessment that ISIS is evil and attempting to destroy us; we need to eliminate their threat; we need to care for the American people.

There is no reason, too, to be divided in our assessment that the Syrian refugees need to be cared for; people are in need; we need to help. It is also true we can help here or there, and it’s reasonable to pause prior to welcoming potential, possible terrorists into this country.

It bothers me, friends, when persons attempt to identify the enemy in this world as anything other than the “evil” that exists. To identify Republicans as the enemy… Democrats as the enemy… please…

Any who engages in such is foolish and incorrect.

They also have far too much in common with office supplies.

Respectfully…
AR

Obviously, there is no bigger topic today than all the ugly that happened in Paris, why it occurred, and how we individually, corporately, and nationally respond. It’s challenging to wrap one’s mind around the killing of the innocent and the motivating evil. While there are moments in my day where the broad scope of the horror is “out of sight/out of mind,” so-to-speak, we cannot escape what happened. We cannot escape the fact that the threat of evil has not been extinguished. We cannot rid ourselves of the probable reality that terror will soon strike again.

Nothing compares to terror.
Nothing compares to evil.
Let me be clear.

I’m still struck by what dominated the news flow the week prior. Those silly red cups (although I now believe there were more upset about the uproar than actually involved in the uproar)… the pitfalls and perceived positives of socialism… Donald Trump’s latest loquacious soliloquy… and what was happening on the college campus. Oh, the college campus… Amid the weekend tragedy, we have omitted extended conversation about the current movement on college campuses across the country.

Before I say more, let me repeat what was briefly articulated above:

Nothing compares to terror.
Nothing compares to evil.
Let me be clear.

Prior to the explosions that rocked our world — and perhaps most significantly, rocked the peace and comfort of our daily lives, finally getting our attention in regard to the evil of ISIS and their adherence to the violence encouraged in the latter chapters of the Qur’an — there was quite the conversation on college campuses across the country.

After initial protests at the University of Missouri and Yale in regard to racial relations, the movement morphed into a question of free speech. What is allowed to be said? What is not? The conversation gained attention and intensity after the VP of the Missouri Student Association said in an interview with MSNBC that she was personally “tired of hearing that first amendment rights protect students when they are creating a hostile and unsafe learning environment.” Missouri students were also encouraged to call police if they heard any “hateful and/or hurtful speech.” [Emphasis mine.]

Just a reminder, according to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, we are guaranteed the freedom of speech. While there exist some limits on that freedom — such as “falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater” — there is no law against unpopular opinion or distasteful advocacy. People’s feelings do not trump people’s rights.

I think what’s challenging for each of us is how to deal with those whose speech we find insulting. There are a lot of people who say a lot of things that I personally find incredibly inappropriate. Whether that be those who call for the killing of police, the killing of any innocent, or the picketing at a military funeral, I typically find their words to be disrespectful and by all means, awful.

I also respect their right to say what they feel. My then chosen response is to not validate them via my attention.

What becomes further challenging for us, though, is because we do feel a certain way, we sometimes become demanding instead of withholding our attention. We demand that those insulting us be silenced; we demand that their words be squelched. The embedded dilemma within such demands is that we are trumping feelings over rights.

Friends, activism is not a dirty word. Vigorously campaigning to bring about desired change is an activity that can make sense at the right time, right place, and in the right way. However, when activism turns into “demandingness” — when what we want and feel trumps all rights of another — that’s concerning. We can’t see anything but our own angle, passion, and opinion.

Seeing only our own angle, sensing only our own passion, and thus prioritizing our feelings can be a dangerous thing.

Respectfully…
AR

We’ve had seemingly all sorts of hot-button, available, challenging topics in recent weeks — some of which we have specifically covered — some, alas, that we have not. Allow me a brief, but insufficient review… a review of what’s happening simply in our schools…

A teenage girl was fiercely thrown to the floor by a school resource officer during math class at her Columbia, South Carolina high school. She was texting during class; she was defiant; people blamed people; the student and her desk were flipped forcefully backwards. The video then quickly went viral, and the officer was soon fired…

In Bremerton, Washington (as previously referenced here) a high school football coach has silently prayed on the field since 2008. While leading no one, multiple students joined in. He was suspended two weeks ago for praying publicly — because of the potential causing of teens to be coerced into an undesired religious practice — individual, silent prayer…

At the University of Missouri, racial slurs were directed at the student body president in September. The next month there were two more incidents — one involving a drunken white student at a black gathering — and a second involving a swastika and feces on a bathroom, residence hall wall. With the administration’s response perceived as piddling and pathetic, one student began a hunger strike. The protest gained ample, albeit minimal attention — that is, until last weekend, when the Mizzou football team announced they would not practice nor play until the university’s president resigned. He resigned on Monday. In the following days, threats against those who disagreed with the protests became vehement…

Also at the University of Missouri — related to the protests — there was a student photojournalist who attempted to chronicle the black students’ reaction to the president’s resignation. The journalist, however, was physically restrained from covering the event by multiple students, faculty, and staff. As this confrontation then quickly went viral, one professor who physically restricted press coverage also resigned…

And lastly… one more challenging topic…

At the known-to-be progressive, Township High School District 211 in Palatine, Illinois, there is a student athlete who is a transgender teen, one who was born male but identifies as female. The student has undergone hormone therapy but not gender reassignment surgery; in other words, the student born with a male anatomy still has visible, male parts. Her family sued the school in order to use the girls’ locker room — not a restroom with individual stalls and partitions — but the locker room, with open changing areas, showers, and prominent nudity. The U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office of Civil Rights ruled last week that the school is discriminating against the student by not allowing her to change clothes with the other girls. The district now has 30 days to “negotiate an agreement” to rescind “its discriminatory denial of access to the locker rooms” for transgender students or face up to $6 million in federal funding cuts in addition to a possible criminal investigation. Question: what are the rights of the totality of students?…

This is a mere sampling of current, hot-button conflicts. From Missouri to Yale, other challenging situations are occurring in our schools. Let’s first take a deep breath… a heavy sigh, if you will.

Each of the above causes me to step back, reflect, and refrain from simply, emotionally reacting. It’s too easy to simply react; it’s too easy in these challenging topics to simply go with my first, gut thought — assuming I’m all right — and also amazingly cognizant and compassionate toward all people.

Each of the above also then prompts me to revisit the definition of the word “challenging.” These are challenging topics.

“Challenging” seems the embedded, increased temptation to lose all respect for some people when articulating an opinion or perspective. In other words, we only respect some people; we only stand up for some people; we only love some people groups; we are only compassionate or empathetic toward some. “Challenging” means we only wrestle well with the so-called some.

What a challenging world we live in… yes, for some.

Respectfully…
AR