| | I didn't pay proper attention to the news, I guess. I vaguely recall hearing about a church shooting, but I really didn't read up on it. I guess I was too busy with the end of the semester and being at RMU and getting ready for Oz.
But a new piece of the puzzle came out recently, and it really grabbed my attention.
So to being everyone up to speed if you didn't hear much about it either, a 24-year-old guy named Matthew Murray shot nine people December 9, 2007. He shot four and killed two at a Youth With A Mission base, then went to New Life Church in Colorado Springs and shot 5 people after a church service, killing two. He was shot by a security guard at the church, but the fatal bullet came from Murray's own gun.
Wikipedia has more details on the incident. Click here to check it out.
The new news came from a letter that was found in Murray's car, a letter that he had written. We don't know when he wrote it. The story on the letter, along with copies of the original letters shown in Murray's own hand, can be found here.
I read the letter, and it made my heart break. Here was the cry of a lost and confused soul! All of the original portrayals of Murray was showed a man who had left his Christian upbringing and loathed the establishment. He had a blog where he posted such lines as ""I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. ...God, I can't wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don't care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you ... as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world." (source) And this was typical. Hateful, remorseless, angry, disillusioned.
However, the new letter really exposed his human side. This guy wasn't an unforgivable monster, he was a human being who, when faced with a lot of temptations and trials, merely made wrong choices.
Truth be told, he reminds me of another person, one who has been crucified by the media and popular culture for centuries but to me is a character on whom I take pity. His name is Judas Iscariot, and he too faced temptation and went the wrong way with it. I think it's interesting that Murray had a chance for atonement as well; but, like Judas, he too chose to end his own life instead of attempting to reconcile. I'd imagine that Judas had an inner monologue that is very similar to the letter that Murray wrote before becoming set in his actions and committing his crime.
So that was one observation. The other observation involves the issue of blame. As an American, I guess I get swept up in our obsession to figure out whose FAULT it was. Most people ask because they want a scapegoat, a figure to direct their grief and anger at. However, I ask the question more as a means of finding a solution. Is the hypocritical, lukewarm church responsible for driving a man to murder, or is Mr. Murray merely a nut who is solely responsible for his actions?
Maybe it's lame to allude to a television show, but one of my favourite episodes of "House" (Season 2, Episode 1 - 'Acceptance') asked the same question without giving an answer. (Warning! Spoilers!) There was a guy on death row who killed a bunch of people, and House's team found out that he had a condition called "pheochromocytoma" which caused him to have these massive adrenaline rushes and therefore could be seen as a cause of his murders. Is he responsible for his own actions, or is the presence of a medical condition enough to mitigate his circumstances, despite the fact that others have the same condition and yet are able to control their impulses?
I have an opinion, but I don't think "Who's to blame?" is a really good question at all. In fact, I think it's a terrible question, because to answer it definitively would absolve the other, and no one is innocent in this situation. It reminds me of Luke 13:1-5, where people want to know if a greater sin caused a greater calamity, and Jesus merely brushes the question aside and says that everyone needs to repent!
And I think that's the case here. The church is guilty! Murray's letter says that "all the Christians I see or meet are miserable, angry, selfish, hypocritical, proud, power hungry, abusive, uncaring, confused, lustful, greedy, unsure of their doctrine and mean-spirited" - and so many who claim to be Christians are! I mean, look at the church he shot up! The senior pastor had resigned just a month before the shooting because he was soliciting sex from a male consort and using drugs to enhance the experience! Can you honestly say that that doesn't have an effect? But what about the millions of other Christians who, faced with the same hypocrisy, continue to press on and not let it affect their faith? Murray was thrown out of the YWAM base before. What about the people who have been excommunicated from the church and subsequently humbled themselves, repented, and came back?
The church has sinned. Matthew Murray sinned. We, the bystander, need to repent, or, like Jesus said in Luke, "you will all likewise perish"!
And THAT is the real lesson that we need to learn. We don't need to hate Matthew Murray. We don't need to hate Christianity. You, dear reader, need to look at your own life and figure out what YOU need to do to get YOUR life in order!
Grace and peace,
Brendan |
| | Posted 3/13/2008 2:41 AM - 17 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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