Wednesday, July 8, 2015

According to the Washington Post, No

Has there been one school shooting per week since Sandy Hook?

The newspaper also gives Sen. Chris Murphy the coveted "Four Pinocchios" for his recent speech.

The Sandy Hook murders were a horror.  I know this not just because of what was presented on the news but because I was one of those attempting to help in the aftermath.  I saw tarps placed over small bodies; I heard parents scream, SCREAM, when informed of their child's death.  I couldn't sleep for four nights afterwards.  Some days later, when at the school I serve as chaplain, I sat on a classroom floor with about 30 children of the same age as the victims, and it almost overwhelmed me.  It physically hurts to recall these things.

This is why I become especially disappointed, if not plain American-angered, when politicians and other "thought leaders" in our society present falsehoods in order to shore up their public support.  Perhaps this is unfair of me to think, but it appears that dead children are seen by them as just another form of political tool.  If you can't represent the people with the truth, Chris, then just sit down.

For too many, their greatest balm is being told what they want to hear and what they want to believe, whether or not it is the truth.  Religion is frequently accused of doing so, and sometimes that criticism is deserved, but what took Jesus to the cross, and to ultimate victory over crucifixion, was that he presented the truth to those in power, to those far outside of power, and to those in generations yet to come, regardless of whether or not it was what they wanted to hear.