Two Christian Responses to the Orlando Shooting

Last updated on: June 15, 2016 at 6:00 am by Dave Griffey

Two Christian Responses to the Orlando Shooting 2016-06-15T06:00:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

One from Pope Francis. One from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America.

Note that the statement by Pope Francis is not much different than similar statements by various Catholic leaders across the board. Beyond the obvious call for prayers and comfort for those afflicted, he clearly places the bulk of the responsibility of the shootings at the foot of gun availability and calls for it to be checked in order to prevent further violence. While I don’t think he is limiting the charge to guns in the US, he focuses only on that one problem by name, and avoids use of the word terror at all.

The Greek Archdiocese, on the other hand, lashes out directly at terror more than once. While also praying and seeking to console, it leaves no doubt where it places the responsibility for the carnage.

Here’s my thing. The Pope, almost every major Catholic leader, and a bulk of American Protestant leaders, all have pretty much responded the same way. Prayers. Help for the victims and their loved ones. Pray for peace. And almost no mention of terrorism, much less Islam or Islamic terrorism. Not that they haven’t been shy about casting blame. Some, such as Bishop Lynn, have joined Pope Francis in focusing on guns. Some, like Bishop Lynn, have made it about homophobic bigotry, religious bigots, and racism in America.

And yet they all have something in common with me. None of us (that I know) have lived under the dominion of Islamic culture. For us, Muslims are a barely noticeable minority who currently wield almost no significant power or influence in our culture, at least on an official level. I can’t help but notice that the one public statement I found that actually avoids the “homophobic religious gun nut American racist” template happened to be linked to the one Christian tradition that hasn’t enjoyed ministering to the top of the most powerful cultural empire in world history. Rather, its history is one of subjugation and oppression by the same Islamic culture that none of the others want to discuss.

Call me silly, but if I hear rumors that there is a really horrible, violent household in the neighborhood, I’ll ask people who are next door to the house to find out if they’re true. I won’t ask people who live on the other side of town to see what they know. If I’m really plucky, I might try to ask people who live in the actual house what is going on. If the people on the other side of town just wave their hands and dismiss the rumors as some form of grudge against the family or the neighborhood, but those living closest speak of all manner of screams and violence from within the house, who do you think I’ll be inclined to believe? Who would common sense and prudence suggest I believe?

Yeah, exactly. Not that the Archdiocese doesn’t have views on gun control or immigration. Most Orthodox Christians I know are against any sweeping immigration bans. And it isn’t a huge difference, the inclusion of a single word. But I can’t help but feel in my gut that it’s a significant difference. Out of the gate, a strong condemnation of terrorism by a tradition from a completely different relationship to Islam, when so many others seemed to go to great pains to avoid the term, or accept narratives that seem to contradict the actual events, has to get your attention.

CORRECTION! It looks like the basic prayer release of Pope Francis did not mention guns. The Vatican apparently added guns to the list at a later time. So my bad on that. Though the piece itself, apart from that, still stands. But please note, Pope Francis himself did not bring up the gun issue in his initial prayerful response. My bad on that.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 14, 2016

The Orlando Shooting: A Fundamentalist Response

Next Post

June 15, 2016 Paul Ryan is told prayer is not enough

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who saw the vision of the valley of dry bones?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ezekiel Jeremiah Daniel Isaiah