So far this week I've received a surprising volume of e-mail at my public address from a variety of social justice enthusiasts, all of whom are blaming me for the atrocity in Orlando. They blame me because I'm "publicly Christian", many of them punctuating their opinion with deep vulgarity, and because I'm probably straight and probably white [not a bulls-eye with that last one]. Those are the signs hung on people to make them non-persons and enemies of the enlightened.
Their logic is that, since all Christians are the same, all Christians are to blame for creating an atmosphere of intolerance and hatred that somehow encouraged a free-lance Jihadist to go on a rampage.
So, if I understand this correctly, a closeted gay Muslim with apparent mental issues who was also a registered Democrat kills a collection of innocent people in Florida and the person to blame is a straight Christian independent half-breed in Connecticut who has never been to Orlando. The Internet is simply raw Id, isn't it?
It is the natural tendency among the human race to set up barriers between one another, to divide ourselves into tribes based on pigment, politics, or purse. This was one of the reasons that Jesus preached a radical redefinition of community to those who would listen, as the best hope for salvation and the future of the human race would be found in transcending this natural tendency. When our political leaders were actual people of faith, rather than tepid secular humanists, they understood this and would, in the aftermath of social trauma, seek to unite rather than divide.
Without faith, politicians now only see the advantage of division, as a divided people may be exploited with greater verve. Since solidifying personal power and enabling corruption seem to be the driving forces in the current definition of community service, the tendency to establish tribes among us has strong benefits. Even if one does not exist, they create "The Other", the one to blame for every difficult-to-understand event, every daunting circumstance, every thwarted desire. They create chimerical enemies from the ether to keep people in a perpetual state of disadvantage and in need of a secular messiah to save them.
All this does is create a perpetually angry, disappointed, and dependent citizenry. Sin is thus enabled by the state. I suspect that this will continue to be the trend, as our society now promotes leaders who seem much more worshipful of The Self than community.
It also means I'll be reading hostile e-mail for the rest of my days. I only wish social justice enthusiasts had some basic training in grammar, composition, and punctuation. Also, how can you misspell a vulgarity? Spellcheck takes care of that, doesn't it?
Related: New York Times blames Christian Republicans for a Muslim Democrat's hate crime against LGBT community