Things I Think…
1. I know the Orlando murderer didn’t represent gun owners. I don’t believe he truly represented anyone or anything, but the deep pool of rage that we all swim in now. Radical Islamic beliefs were just his justification to express the sickness of his soul. This doesn’t minimize the threat of radical Islam, it points to the danger of living in a cultureĀ of constant rage…
2. Once again, in the hours immediately following a tragedy, we racedĀ to make political hay from pools of blood. Impudence isn’t even slightly awkward anymore…
3. Every time IĀ go on Facebook I’m convinced that the Civil War lives on in our collectiveĀ subconscious, if there is such a thing. That “living” being the memory of a time when we believed it necessary and right to take up arms against our fellow countrymen and the government…
4. #3 is the answer to the question “why would anyone want an AR-15?”…
5. My faith has never felt as awkward to profess as when T and I were watching the funeral of Muhammad Ali…and he asked me if Ali was with the Lord. Hell will be full of great men and women who rejected Christ. I hope it’s not a sin that I pray for surprisingĀ loopholes in the holy courts…
6. If pronouncing the damnation of another is easy for you, that doesn’t mean you love Christ more than me, it means you don’t love Him enough…
7.Ā āDo not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.āĀ (Romans 12:21 ESV) No thanks, that could get us killed. You can take this inerrancy thing only so far, you know…
8. There is no greater sporting event than the Stanley Cup playoffs in hockey, nor is there a prizeĀ more fiercely competed for. Still, at the end of every series, the combatants line up and shake the hand of Ā every person on the opposing team as a show of respect. We need to imbed that ethic is our cultural battles as well…again.
9. The local church is where I experience the faithfulness of God and the forgiveness of the Savior.
10. So far, denying the existence of Satan doesn’t seem to be slowing him down much…
It seems anyone with a claim on the scene in Orlando is trying to use it to promote their cause or brand. Our society can’t seem to grieve, mourn, recoil, or comfort anymore. We merely react with judgment, vitriol, and accusation. Pathetic.
I think your #3 is profoundly accurate. The simmering level of anger is frightening.
I was impressed that the crowd in San Jose stayed in the arena and honored the winners instead of leaving to lick their wounds. Why do we struggle to do this in the broader arena–especially politics?
Orlando has given a national memorial to suffering for being gay. Innocent blood entrenches marginalized people. This killer has championed a cause in a way he never could imagine. He made them morally persuasive.
Thank you, fil…well said.
It I could add one number to your list:
11. Your theology has degenerated into moralism, if your initial or strongest reaction to a tragedy like Orlando is to claim the moral high ground.
#1… I fear the constant rage you speak of is at the boiling point and will soon blow the lid off of the pot. I don’t see a coming together as a nation on so many hot button topics. I fear that radicals in every camp are waiting for the time in their eyes when violence will be their solution.
Life no longer is seen as sacred. We see this played out everywhere.
I hope I can somehow make a difference in the sphere of influence I have been placed in and will remember to pray for a nation that so often shakes its fist at God.
Outside of a mighty moving of God I fear for our nation and all of the innocents who will suffer as a result.
#3 is what I pray doesn’t happen as a result of #1.
This weekend has left me low. I am not sure of much this morning as I try to do my work as normal, but I see this as a turning point in our existence (as a country) While I am not overly political (no groans here) I am a lover of our constitution and what it stood for. It has been twisted and manipulated into something that no longer resembles the original. I find that this is how I feel about the bible too. Many have lost taking it at face value and use it for their own benefit and purpose, causing the few who still believe in the true document to be frustrated and angry. Unfortunately, the constitution has a plan for this eventuality, a re-boot of sorts. It gives people the right to dissolve the government when the government becomes the thing that it was meant to stop. That is why people are angry and frustrated and tired. I see it in many of my friends, and frankly with some of the legislation and court decisions I see happening, I feel it too.
With the bible it is different. If you seek the truth of it, it will be revealed to you. You don’t change the bible, it changes you (to paraphrase) my favorite fictional preacher, Shepherd Book) We don’t have to worry because there is someone greater behind it who is not changed or moved to be anything other than what and who he is. In the turmoil of our current political and social times, this is the ONLY thing I can hold on to any more.
And we are still looking for a home church. Sometimes this is harder than it should be.
And I am trying to like hockey. It is better than basketball or the fake American football…. It’s like soccer on ice…. with a naughty box!
it seems from the time of Judas Iscariot to Nero to Constantine and on to this day, Saint and Sinner both like to USE the Faith, not LIVE it… R0mans 1 & 2 should be the quiet meditation of every Christian at a time like today… it isn’t only murder that kills… interesting that we can be revolted by bloodshed and overlook every other form of murderous act – tolerating, justifying even, acts that kill the soul are just as egregious, as dangerous … IMHO
RIP-Orlando’s 53 + 1
Your #8 is right on. I mentioned this same thing as I watched my Penguins line up, lead by their captain. It’s an interesting spectacle from both sides (and my Pens have been on both sides), to see both victors and vanquished greet with a degree of respect. It would be nice if we treated each other (generally speaking) likewise.
My immediate reactions to Orlando:
-Sin and evil are alive and well
-Feelings of helplessness and an inability to come up with any words
-The four big issues of our day all collided in a Florida nightclub: radical Islam, gun control, immigration and sexual ethics
-We show no semblance of dignity when we would rather promote our political cause than mourn for the dead.
-America has become a nation of plastic souls. We lack love. We wouldn’t know what love was if it bit us.
A friend of mine posted this quote:
“If you feel even a whiff of “homosexuals got what they deserved,” repent & be thankful God hasn’t given you what your arrogance deserves. God values all people.”
– David Fairchild
#5 and 6 I’m so with you Michael. I live with the uncertainty of whether my mother and father are with the Lord.
“So far, denying the existence of Satan doesnāt seem to be slowing him down muchā¦”
Screwtape Letters comes to mind.
My thoughts on the terrorist incident: I began studying Islamic history back in the late 90’s. As I educated myself, I began wondering why events like this and Paris and San Bernadino were not happening regularly. The answer from history is that the collapse of the last Caliphate at the end of WW1 suppressed the actions of the Fundamentalists within Islam. There is a resurgence of Fundamentalism, and hence a return to the old ways of Jihad. If you read through the history of the rise and fall of political dominance of Islam you will see that what ISIS now does is exactly the same as what the Caliphates did until that political system collapsed. Welcome to the return of history. Many Muslims have been praying for a Caliph and when a man stepped up to assume that role => ISIS is born, or rather, reborn.
So I have a question,
Did the nightclub have a means of checking the clientele for guns and preventing them from being inside? I know the shooter forced his way in so I am inferring that he would have been found out. I am musing on the failure of any conceal carry people to be in the club to fight back. Surely in a busy club with that many people someone had a piece.
If not, then is there a lesson about these shooters going places where they will not encounter gun toting challengers; schoolyards, business parties, clubs with ‘security’ etc.?
This is the first killer to get the numbers I have been expecting in these cases. I always find myself wondering how they got so few.
Gunless Dread
gomergirl, if possible I would say to just unplug for awhile. There is this expectation floating around out there somewhere that we need to be up on everything, and have an opinion on everything, and it eventually just becomes a weight and a darkness.
I came to the revelation not long ago that much of what I invest my emotional energies into have very little tangible impact on my life. Even what happened in Orlando, though terrible, has very little impact on my family and neighborhood.
So like I said, if possible give yourself permission to be out of touch for awhile. Recharge.
Also, bonus points for a Firefly reference. š
Dread, I read than the gunman waited until very late when people were on their way out which allowed him to get through as he did. It seems things that late might have become a little more lax.
The dayum Amish are at it again.
I blame the NRA for the recent Workplace Violence at that Gay nightclub.
F’ing NRA.
Erunner,
That was not quite my question…
I am checking on the theory that gun carriers prevent these mass killings and wondering if there were no other gun owners in the place.
I would find that odd unless regular security prevented guns in the club
Then I was wondering if this is the MO of these killers … looking for unarmed populaces to attack
I misunderstood Dread. All I know is that this is what was considered a soft target just like the club in Paris. I don’t believe those poor people stood a chance.
Wolves pick soft targets. Virtually every mass shooting is in a “gun free zone” for a reason. The Wolves are not that stupid.
You can moralize and idealize the gun issue all you want. The reality is the Wolves will get guns, they’ll make bombs, they’ll get knives, they’ll start fires, they’ll find a way to slaughter and devour the Sheep.
Be armed. Be trained. If a trained shooter like me is in that crowd…there would be return fire and that changes the dynamic BIG TIME. A few armed trained conceal carry shooters shooting back….and many fewer lives are lost.
The soft target question is my issue…
BD,
There’s something that doesn’t add up, according to what I’ve seen reported. Unless I have missed important information, I understand that almost immediately when the shooting began an armed off duty (or on duty) police officer engaged the shooter, and called for back up which arrived soon after. The shooter took shelter and hostages in a bathroom. I believe the hostages (or most of them) were later rescued.
I don’t understand how the shooter shot (some multiple times) over 100 victims within what would have been a very short period of time when he was free among the victims.
I could see that in a densely packed night club in which it is dark, you would not have to be a great shot to hit a lot of people and some bullets probably went right through the first victim into a second victim.
But I still have trouble processing the number of victims when the shooter would have been engaged in a shoot out almost immediately with the armed police officer on the scene.
It has been reported that there was an armed off-duty officer working for the club who did exchange fire with the gunman before other officers arrived.
From a quick search earlier today, it is illegal by Florida law for people to carry into establishments that serve alcohol. I would assume that this doesn’t apply for those working security for the establishments, unless this off-duty officer was illegally carrying as he worked for the club.
BD,
Since the majority of the gay population tend to lean liberal, I would be surprised if any there even own a gun let alone carry one.
So many profound and thoughtful comments here today….. thank you all.
Gomergirl…Right on.
You know I get it about church….and the Bible…….
Love you.
Keep writing.
Fil.. yes… You know about grief.
Michael, this line: “in the hours immediately following a tragedy, we raced to make political hay from pools of blood.”
DEEP.
BD… totally agree. All my adult offspring C.C…..
I’ve had many clients of late “unpack” and set a gun on the side table in my office.
Dallas #16…. I figure that aside from prayer, there is nothing I can do about the mess around the world, even my own city. I can only ‘control’ my little circle of life, home, garden, neighborhood, work.
My Hope is in the Lord. In life. In death….
Yesterday I was at an event with thousands of car guys. They are a crowd I’m not usually hanging around, so it was uncomfortable a bit.
But, I wasn’t on Facebook, or on the Internet at all whilst I was there.
Life seemed pretty normal and good.
After the event, someone mentioned the shooting and those of us that were cleaning up talked a bit about it.
Then we went in with our day.
later, I got a text from one of our group who had signed up to help out but didn’t show because she’d gotten caught up in the tv coverage of the shooting. It occurred to me then, that I hadn’t thought about any evil, rage or upset. It felt nice to not be feeding the soul on junk food of rage.
# 24 Agree with Jean, how did so many get shot. Also according to law enforcement the shooter “barricaded himself in the bathroom” what is there in a bathroom to barricade yourself with?
#28-food for thought…
Thanks Dallas… I am trying.
everstudy, your #26 is one that is not quite on target. While many in the GLBT communities are liberal, there are a growing number of conservative gays who are poorly treated by the GOP (Log Cabin Republicans). Many have gone to the Libertarians, as they tend to lean more that way, but fiscal conservatives are just that. There is also an outspoken group, The Pink Pistols, who advocate for “Gay Gun Rights”. So, there are groups out there that are more in line with conservative thought, they just don’t get the airtime the angry left does.
That’s probably true, I was just speaking from the two dozen homosexuals I know and those that they run with. Probably too much of a broadbrush.
I had a long tirade would not have helped, I am truly sorry this happened I hope the injured and the families of the victims heal as much as possible this side of eternity. It is also sad that this happens almost every day in other parts of the world and its barely a headline.
I would disagree that liberal gays own guns in less percentage than the general population. That is an interesting question.
I’m weary of the gun question.
People have a right in this country to own them.
The question before the house should be about how we became a nation where you have to carry deadly force to feel safe…
“the danger of living in a culture of constant rage”- well said.
I believe that happened in 1776 and 1791 …
This nation has always been a violent nation …
Obama has inspired about 1/3 of gun ownership…
We are simply a nation that does not trust the government to keep us safe…
No government can keep a people safe, if vigilantism is normative and the vocation to bear the sword is given to the masses. At least law enforcement are trained and given mental health examinations. Now everybody can be either Rambo or Darth Vader and society is paralyzed from changing the status quo.
If “Obama has inspired about 1/3 of gun ownershipā¦ ” we are surely talking about some weak minded people — who probably shouldn’t be allowed to own guns.
There is only one way to crack down on gun violence. Automatic death penalty if you use a gun in the commission of a crime. Boom, dead and put into the ground.
this may some across as a strange conclusion, but i donāt believe that hate and rage are interchangeable terms… from where i sit, the Orlando mass shooter was the product of a deep, delusional hatred
#38- food for thought there also… as citizens our right to bear arms probably should fall into 2 categories; the individual right to self protection and the right to a well armed militia (thatās where those assault rifles should be stashed – a State Armory) -…
said militia should, IMHO, be under the control of each individual State, not the Federal government… back when we had our ugly Civil War, when Lincolnās administration called on the individual states to supply the Union Army, some of those states told him ānutsā and attempted to stay neutral – will we ever go back to such a mindset? probably not, but iām with those who wish it were practical to do so
this afternoon it seems our governmentās (and, possibly, our nation) approach to the terrorist phenomena is similar to how the nation tried to downplay the terrible treatment that Blacks were experiencing after the Civil War and that went on for over 100 years – looking at them as just a regretful, but anomalous product of the times? will we do the same with the sporadic terrorist attacks? dunno – just looks like that to me today…
just sayin … cuz i can … so far š
Over 100million guns have been purchased in Obamaland
https://www.facebook.com/alex.j.grenier.3/videos/vb.100001113176950/1057237034323392/?type=2&theater
That link up yonder is what we will do to Johnny Jihad if he sticks his head up in Ideeho.
You limp-wristed anti-gun liberals can throw your purses at him.
The folks who have lost friends and family in the massacre need some lovin. I hope the body of Christ is stepping up down there. We need to love on the gay community in general throughout the land.
Reports abound that the shooter may be a frequent visitor to the club and …
BD, Florida has a right to carry (concealed) law, except where alcohol is served in establishments like the Pulse.
There are a number of people in the homosexual community that are moving towards gun ownership.
http://www.pinkpistols.org/about-the-pink-pistols/
Just checking FB to see what folks were up to before bed. Checked out a family member’s (well, he’s married to my family member) page and learned he knew one of the victims of the shooting pretty well from having been in the same worship band at church.
So sad to see they and their friends shock and grief at the senselessness.
No words.
“10. So far, denying the existence of Satan doesnāt seem to be slowing him down muchā¦”
You would be very correct.
http://shekinahfellowship.blogspot.com/2016/03/most-churches-dont-teach-about-satan.html
Got invited back on Louder with Crowder to discuss the Orlando/ISIS/Gun Control issues. It’ll air this week.