And so it goes one more time. Absolutely awful. And the reality is, whether we see it or not, we\u2019re united. We hate it. We hate the hate. We don\u2019t want it to happen even one more time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As students were worshipping and celebrating in their first mass of the year at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis last Wednesday, a young man opened fire on the stained glass adorning the building, murdering an 8-year-old and 10-year-old, and seriously injuring 17 more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 23-year-old shooter (who will go nameless here \u2014 no need to add to any desired notoriety) had the following words inscribed on his guns: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s so much grief. Anger, too. And so many questions. As written by Free Press <\/em>contributor Peter Savodnik, \u201cIn the wake of the tragedy, as with all of these tragedies, we want to know how it happened. And who did it\u2026 But most of all, we want to know why. We want to know why, not just so we can assign blame, but so we can make sense of a country where murdering children can happen on any given Wednesday.\u201d <\/em>We all agree; our kids shouldn\u2019t be scared to go to school.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n As details emerge, we\u2019ve learned the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We still don\u2019t have all the details. The sad reality is that we may never <\/em>have all the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet we react. The grief, the anger, all the questions \u2014 they prompt us to cry out and fill the gaps with what makes the most sense to us\u2026 gun control, school fortification, prayer\u2026 True, though, is what makes the most sense to us may be incomplete. For example, reasonable people call for increased gun control; most gun control targets semi-automatic or assault weapons. Based on what we currently know, it\u2019s unlikely such would have made a difference here. Also for example, reasonable people respond with prayer. Believing God is absolutely aware of all that happens on this planet \u2014 and recognizing that no, heaven is not a place on Earth \u2014 often it seems he is simply waiting for his people to truly depend on him. But true, too, is that even though we respond in prayer, we don\u2019t have to ignore other potential control measures \u2014 from legislation to building more effective school safety systems \u2014 that would guard against such a tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One more for example is transparently wrestling with the mental health of the person who pulls that trigger. What wrongful thinking inside of the shooter makes them feel like such is ok to do? Clearly, this most recent shooter was not thinking wisely, logically, morally, you name it. Something was wrong in his head. It\u2019s profoundly incomprehensible. That\u2019s why reasonable people will also say it\u2019s not the gun but the person with the gun that\u2019s the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so noting all the reasonable people, let\u2019s ask the better question. In Minneapolis last Wednesday, what would have made a difference? What would have prevented the attack? What would have halted the clear manifestation of evil?<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is the most excellent question. Wisdom suggests we answer in a way that spares vilifying the varied approaches. Here, for instance, there\u2019s no need to vilify those who pray. There\u2019s no need to vilify the trans community. There\u2019s no need to vilify those who approach this from some other, also incomplete angle.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the reasons I think we make seemingly so little progress on this issue is because we spend too much time vilifying someone who emphasizes another angle, i.e. the guns, mental health, prayer. Maybe we should instead start by recognizing and respectfully acknowledging that hard as this may be to see, we\u2019re unified. We want the same thing. We want this to stop. Let’s do it together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And so it goes one more time. Absolutely awful. And the reality is, whether we see it or not, we\u2019re united. We hate it. We hate the hate. We don\u2019t want it to happen even one more time. As students were worshipping and celebrating in their first mass of the year at Annunciation Catholic School … <\/p>\n\n