Tragic events have occurred in Cumbria these past couple of days. Some dozen people were murdered, dozens more injured, by a taxi driver who went on a shooting rampage… and then killed himself. Many in the UK, and no doubt across the world, have been shocked by this act. Shocked to our cores. To the soul.
Today people have been asking, “Why?” and, “Who can we blame?”
The cold truth of the matter is that we neither know why, and that there is only one man to blame – the gunman.
God is not to blame.
Ok… bear with me on that a second… and let’s assume, however you care to define “God”, that he/she/it exists.
Human beings are born with the innate capability to choose their own actions. This is a great power and, as with all great power, it bears with it a responsibility. It’s fair to say that every major religion in the world would affirm that a person is to be held accountable for their actions… as would many life-coaches and management gurus.
Let us imagine that there is no God (or god, or goddess, or another spiritual entity). The actions of each person in the world are their own responsibility. If this gunman had killed people and then been taken alive, we would have no hesitation or reservation about seeing him be arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned. He would be to blame for the deaths.
When we place God (or god, or goddess, or another spiritual entity) back into the situation we are still left with a person who is responsible for their own actions. It’s not fair to transfer our frustration or shock or anger away from the person onto another person… or another being. Would you like to be blamed for this man’s actions? Why then would you entertain blaming someone else? Is this man not responsible?
To my mind, God is not to blame.
But he got away with it!
Yes, in a way, that Cumbrian man got away with murder. He killed them and then he opted out and killed himself. We cannot get our revenge on him now… because he did it to himself. Our idea of justice has been denied. That is deeply frustrating.
It’s interesting, though, to note that for a person who believes in a just being who would judge, and even potentially punish a person, even after death, this feeling of frustration starts to go away. If I trust that God (or god, or goddess, or another spiritual entity) will take charge of the aftermath and dispense some idea of justice, then I can start to focus on what is really going on back here on planet Earth.
As far as I am concerned, this man was responsible… and he’s not going to get away with anything. That said, my focus should not be upon what happens with him.
The focus needs to be on the families who are grieving, and the people who got shot and survived.
What’s your responsibility?
I’d like to boldly suggest three things that this event might inspire in you:
- Compassion and love to be poured out to the survivors and the families of all affected.
- Humility to realise that if a “nice guy” taxi driver can do it, then any one of us could too.
- Generosity enough to ask if there was anything we can do to redeem this man’s actions.
Right now, you have a choice. I have a choice. All of us can choose.
Do we opt for anger, rage, and try to lash out… or do we commit ourselves towards peace and reconciliation?
After so many of these awful events we opt to punish someone – gun-users, organisations who let “people like that” do whatever they did, the government, or even God. When we get angry, we get short-sighted. That’s understandable… but it plays to our darkest fears and capabilities.
Why don’t we commit ourselves to simply accept that one man did this? I don’t know for sure what awaits him… but it really doesn’t matter.
What matters is that we support and care for those people left behind.
Perhaps we can make some good come from something truly appalling. That is the hope of redeeming the situation.
Opt for healing.
If you believe in a God (et al) then maybe you could start with a prayer for those people.
Perhaps you might then choose to consider what you could physically and practically do for them. Could we fund their rehabilitation? Could we make sure that they have counselors? Could we do something even more?
Finally, perhaps we could ask ourselves why we are so shocked. Is it really so hard to imagine slipping over the edge into that kind of abyss? Have you really never, ever lost it? Ever seen anyone else lose it? Sure… you and they never shot someone, but how small a step is it between anger and murder?
Choose to redeem.
Redeem – I need to define that word a little, because it has been misunderstood for too long.
Redemption is about taking something bad and making it good again. Fixing something broken. Cleaning something dirty. You get the idea.
In early religion, people would make a sacrifice to redeem something that went wrong. If they hurt someone else, the priest would ask them to “make it right” through a sacrifice. It’s the basis of our criminal justice system – when you do something wrong, there is a punishment… a cost… a sacrifice taken back.
Can we redeem matters in Cumbria? Can we sacrifice something and gain something better in return?
I simply cannot answer that question… but I invite you to ask it of our society.
Why? Because true spirituality starts with real situations and seeks real, life-changing, world-changing solutions for the things that humans suffer.
That kind of change will require us to sacrifice something in return.
The possibility exists that there isn’t a god and that this Cumbrian man simply got away with it; he will not face trial on earth nor retribution by god. The lack of comfort in this statement makes our existance too bleak for many and so god was created to fill the gap.
Johanna, you are entirely free to make that point. You could be right… and you could also be wrong.
One of the purposes of this blog is to invite people to join in on a journey of discovery. If you’ve already made up your mind then, frankly, you have nothing to discover.
But then, I am not so sure that you are convinced by the idea that Humanity just made up God. As a Christian, I might just as easily point out that the concept of No God is just as easy to make up.
The question revolves around the problem that no Atheist can empirically prove the non-existence of God, nor any person of faith empirically disprove it… if disproving a non-existence makes any logical sense.
Much of known Human history suggests that we have, as a species, been spiritual beings. It is a matter of public record that, as of Y2K, only 13% of humans worldwide would have asserted that they didn’t practice a religion. Of those, an even smaller group actively claim that there is no God. They do so with little evidence to support them. Given the added reality that Atheism is a relatively modern belief, originating in the “Enlightenment” in any kind of practical sense, and that this view is in itself in decline as a movement… well, it’s interesting to see how many Humans choose to place themselves on a spiritual search. A search that would suggest that there is more to the universe than reason alone can detect.
Let’s be practical – if you genuinely believe with no reservation that there is no God, then there is no point discussing it. You have closed your mind, and my writing will just irritate you. If, however, you are not convinced by that claim then why don’t you consider putting it aside and trying on a new world-view for size? There are many ways to look at the reality around us.
At the bottom line, I simply think that you are wrong about this man: he faces a meeting with his maker, so to speak. That is enough for me to return to the question of what to do for the survivors. Ever forward, ever healing, ever looking with hope… I prefer to rely on my own experience.