{"id":30,"date":"2016-06-14T18:07:09","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T22:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/wheelsfaith\/?p=30"},"modified":"2016-06-14T18:07:09","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T22:07:09","slug":"orlandos-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wheelsfaith\/2016\/06\/orlandos-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando’s Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The world is on fire.<\/p>\n

And I feel the need to write.\u00a0 All I can do is write.<\/p>\n

Yet our words feel so inadequate in the face of the massacre in Orlando\u2019s Pulse nightclub.\u00a0 All responses appear to fall short. Every word misses the mark.<\/p>\n

49 people were murdered.\u00a0 We must be more specific in our remembrances.\u00a0 When giving voice to memory we must avoid abbreviations.\u00a0 49 young, primarily Latino, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, or questioning, and perhaps straight, human beings were massacred.\u00a0 49 souls were taken from their families, from their friends, from their community.\u00a0 And 53 were injured.<\/p>\n

All by one person.\u00a0 All by one person who claims allegiance to ISIS and radical Islam.\u00a0 Look at the photographs of the victims online.\u00a0 Allow their smiles to overwhelm the smirking grin of their murderer.<\/p>\n

Many explanations are offered.\u00a0 Countless pundits have weighed in with their opinions.\u00a0 Allow me to offer my responses.<\/p>\n

Guns.\u00a0 If you were to read liberal commentators you might think this is the only cause of Sunday morning\u2019s atrocity.\u00a0 And yet it is clear to me that the assault rifle used in this crime made this exponentially worse and transformed a shooting into a massacre.\u00a0 News reports suggested that there were approximately 150 people in the club at the 2 am last call.\u00a0 That means that over 100 of those present were shot.\u00a0 Less than one third escaped without physical injuries.<\/p>\n

I do not like guns.\u00a0 I fired a shotgun one time in my life and that was one time too many.\u00a0 Despite this I want the police and army to have them so that they can better protect us.\u00a0 I recognize that some of my friends like to hunt and shoot targets.\u00a0 I also recognize that this is their constitutional right, but there is no reason why anyone except the army should have military weapons or for that matter be able to stockpile ammunition.\u00a0 There needs to be greater limits placed on gun ownership.\u00a0 Our repeated failures to enact sensible legislation in the face of repeated massacres and countless examples of gun violence should be an embarrassment to every responsible gun owner.<\/p>\n

I wish the President did not appear so defeated.\u00a0 I appreciate his words of comfort and consolation.\u00a0 I welcome his words of caution against vilifying one group.\u00a0 But I want him to do more than lead us in mourning.\u00a0 I long for him to stake out a stronger path and send legislation to Congress banning assault rifles and requiring strenuous background checks.\u00a0 In the face of such massacres (I thought Newtown would have awakened us) that would be a sensible response.\u00a0 Bars, movie theatres, malls and most especially schools, should be able to reclaim their rightful sense of security and safety.<\/p>\n

Homophobia.\u00a0 Make no mistake the murderer purposely targeted a gay bar.\u00a0 He sought to murder those who gathered there to dance, party and perhaps find love.\u00a0 We should celebrate their love and joy.\u00a0 We should rejoice in their increasing acceptance in our society.\u00a0 And yet we should recognize that LGBTQ individuals are discriminated against.\u00a0 Our very own sacred texts give voice to this prejudice.\u00a0 Too many who call themselves religious stand guilty of this sin.\u00a0 It is time that we say in a loud and clear voice that prejudice against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and queers will not be accepted in our community.\u00a0 I have lost patience with those for whom such views make them uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

Our children have learned acceptance.\u00a0 It is time we do the same.\u00a0 It is time we recognize that our tradition must change and our arms must reach out and embrace everyone, and our beloved religious institutions must become even more welcoming.\u00a0 We must say that if our country is going to live up to its founding principles then discrimination against someone because of their sexual orientation will never again be tolerated.<\/p>\n

ISIS regularly murders those who they suspect of homosexuality.\u00a0 Muslim countries have some of the worst records of discrimination against LGBTQ people.\u00a0 Israel by contrast just hosted one of the largest gay pride parades along the streets of Tel Aviv.\u00a0 We can do better.\u00a0 We must do better.\u00a0 Most important when remembering the victims we must never strip them of their identities, most especially when it is an identity that they have often fought so hard to proclaim and that we must continue to defend.<\/p>\n

Terrorism.\u00a0 It is curious that the victims of atrocities are by and large allowed their identities but the perpetrator is often stripped of his beliefs.\u00a0 The president suggests that we must disassociate ISIS from Islam and so avoids labeling such crimes as Muslim terror.\u00a0 I understand his strategy.\u00a0 Such ideologies and the terrorism they spawn are perversions of Islam.\u00a0 Denying the murderer the faith he claims as his own, however distorted it may be, does not serve to address our contemporary struggle.\u00a0 The Muslim world needs to address this cancer.\u00a0 Still if you were to listen to conservative commentators you would think this is the massacre\u2019s root cause.\u00a0 Open your ears.\u00a0 American Muslims and their organizations have raised their voices against this atrocity and have spoken out against terrorism.<\/p>\n

This event has only increased my resolve to do more, to learn more about others and in particular about my Muslim compatriots.\u00a0 I remain committed to doing everything in my power to continue my discussions and dialogue.\u00a0 I will not be deterred.\u00a0 I continue to believe that Islam is a noble religion.\u00a0 And I will stand shoulder to shoulder against those who would hijack it\u2014or those seeking to defame it.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump\u2019s defamatory comments against Muslims, his vitriol leveled against Islam are the wrong responses.\u00a0 His calls to ban immigrants from particular ethnic groups, most especially Muslims, are to my mind, un-American.\u00a0 Let us not forget that it was Latin night at the Pulse nightclub.\u00a0 We are a nation of immigrants.\u00a0 My grandparents sought refuge here.\u00a0 They were welcomed here.\u00a0 They raised families here.\u00a0 They embraced democracy.\u00a0 They learned the value of pluralism. I am going to live up to the values that gave my family an American life. I am going to do everything in my power to help amplify the voices of Muslims who share these American values of tolerance and pluralism.\u00a0 I am certain that there are many such Muslims.<\/p>\n

I am a rabbi.\u00a0 I believe in religion in general, and of course Judaism in particular.\u00a0 When someone commits such a heinous crime in the name of his religion, all people who call themselves religious are defamed.\u00a0 It is too easy to say, \u201cIt is their religion but not mine.\u00a0 It is them not us.\u00a0 They are evil.\u00a0 We are good.\u201d\u00a0 We are battling a worldview that proclaims \u201cI can only be right if you are wrong.\u201d\u00a0 We are at war with its most evil form, \u201cI can only be right if you are dead.\u201d\u00a0 This view narrows the world, and shrinks humanity.\u00a0 It proclaims: \u201cThe world was only given to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

We must come to recognize that religion can be a beautiful fire that soothes or it can become a raging inferno.\u00a0 It carries the seeds for both.\u00a0 As one who has devoted his life to its soothing power we must be honest and forthright about the fire\u2019s dangers.\u00a0 We cannot simply dismiss this act as the crime of someone who is mentally deranged.\u00a0 While I believe there is already ample evidence to support such a claim we also must admit that his act was fueled by religious zealotry.\u00a0 His crime was given license by those who speak with Islamic tropes.\u00a0 His act has defamed my friends\u2019 religion.\u00a0 Faith has been sullied.<\/p>\n

The world is on fire.<\/p>\n

Do we ignore the flames?\u00a0 And offer passing comments about the warmth of its glow?<\/p>\n

Or do we add fuel to fire?\u00a0 And stoke hatred against those unlike ourselves?<\/p>\n

Or do we band together?\u00a0 Will Muslims, Jews and Christians, LGBTQ and straight, gun owners and gun control advocates unite and do something\u2014finally.\u00a0 Please!<\/p>\n

Will we find the courage to temper the flames?<\/p>\n

So now at least I feel better, if only slightly.\u00a0 Still I pray.\u00a0 Perhaps my words can find their way into your hearts as well.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world is on fire. And I feel the need to write.\u00a0 All I can do is write. Yet our words feel so inadequate in the face of the massacre in Orlando\u2019s Pulse nightclub.\u00a0 All responses appear to fall short. Every word misses the mark. 49 people were murdered.\u00a0 We must be more specific in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2763,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOrlando's Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The world is on fire. And I feel the need to write.\u00a0 All I can do is write. 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