Angers and Frustrations
Repent, and believe in the Gospel! Another shooting at a schoolresults in students and teachers killed and wounded. May God have mercy on US!
In the “culture of God” where God’s values are lived, people look for solutions to such acts of violence. Participants in God’s culture evaluate the damage done to God’s beloved creatures and they take action. We do not begin by reviewing politics and campaign finances.
Easy access to guns gives easy access to an extreme response to normal human angers and frustrations. The USA is the only country where gun violence in public and private settings is so frequent and devastating. Do people in the USA have less ability to peacefully resolve their anger? Or, does easy access to guns while facing our own anger make us susceptible to act violently?
In the culture of the USA freedom seems to mean: access to whatever we want. We often fail to balance that notion of freedom with two other factors: the ability to use such freedom responsibly within a community, and the equally valuable freedom of my neighbor. If I do not have the training, the mental health, and the ability to make morally responsible decisions, then ought my freedom be unlimited? If my use of guns imposes on my neighbors’ freedom and safety, then is there a need for limits?
The young man who admitted to the Florida shooting demonstrated that he was not in control of his emotions nor his moral decision-making. His family and mental health history indicates depression, violent treatment of animals, violent threats against other students, etc. Furthermore, his mother had just died in November. Depression and anger are deeply linked. All of this AND he was the legal owner of a military style rifle with lots of ammunition.
Like most of you, when my anger and frustration increase I feel it. And then I use my mind and my spirit to evaluate the source of such feelings. These feeling are in me. They do not come from outside of me. I have control. Furthermore, I value treating others respectfully, even when I am angry. And, I believe in a God of peace. I have been formed within the culture of God where respect for the other is fundamental. Respect for the other is not determined by my emotions. I have learned that I have been created in the image and likeness of God in whom there is no violence or vengeance.
What can we do within a culture that tries to make everything available to everyone, to the mentally healthy and unhealthy alike? What can we do for the young men and women who are so deeply troubled and angry? We need to spread God’s culture! May we repent, and believe in the Gospel!
Peace, Fr. Andy