Friday, April 20, 2007 at 2:02am
Cho is not a martyr
Column: God Said What?
Cho Seung-hui is not a martyr.
That should be obvious. After all, his disturbing actions make most of our stomachs turn. And rightly so. But I fear that there are some of us out there, particularly young men, who sympathize with Mr. Cho's discontent, if not his evil acts.
For that reason, I feel the need to say to all of the disgruntled young men out there that Mr. Cho is not a martyr. Yes, he has become a celebrity. In that way we've unwisely given him just what he wanted — his time in the spotlight. His threatening image and twisted words are being beamed all around the planet via newspapers, television and the Internet.
But understand this — he is not a role model. The media may have turned him into a type of celebrity, but he's not someone to look up to. He was a troubled young man who became a mass murderer. He left behind his humanity in order to bring about death and destruction.
That may be cool in the movies, but it's downright evil in real life. He murdered 32 innocent people and wounded many others. He selfishly took away other people's children, siblings, parents, friends and relatives. He traumatized the memories of countless others. In the process he has tarnished the reputation of Virginia Tech.
And that's not all. He also shattered the lives of his own family members. And he has brought unjust scrutiny and derision upon the hard-working Korean-American community. Because of his egotistical violence his family is suffering and his ethnic community may suffer too from an ignorant backlash.
That's why Mr. Cho is not a martyr. Martyrs don't commit mass murder. They don't commit suicide. And martyrs don't force other people to suffer violence and its effects. Martyrs bear witness to God and life, plain and simple. Especially in their ability to promote life for others despite their suffering.
Even if they have suffered, martyrs do not make other people suffer. I don't know Mr. Cho, don't know what his struggles were and don't know what his life was like. After all, I'm white and native-born, whereas he was Korean and an immigrant. I don't know what it's like to be in a culture that doesn't know what to do with me.
But I do know that pain doesn't give permission to make others suffer. Even if you suffer without reason, you have no right to do such a thing. Individual suffering doesn't justify violence. Especially the mass murder of innocents.
As a culture we Americans aren't sure what to do with suffering. We think that something's wrong with us when it happens. Or that we've done something to deserve it. But that's often not the case.
Our world is rife with unwarranted suffering and its consequences. And the victims and families of Mr. Cho's destruction did nothing to deserve this. They have been violated by the wrongful actions of one person. That person's suffering over the years may have been unwarranted too, but that does not give that person any right to inflict a much more horrible crime upon numerous others.
When Mr. Cho decided to spread his suffering to others in such an awful manner, he chose to serve evil. That is, he chose to serve death rather than life. The devil didn't do this, a troubled young man did. He intended to inflict terrible suffering and in fact rejected his own humanity while violently taking it away from others. And he left the rest of us to grieve, cry out and rebuild.
Evil actions of this sort are nonsensical. They make us ask "why?" when we know that there really is no reason that makes sense. There is no theory that can account for it, no way to really understand what can't be understood. There is only a cry of anguish against such actions and our fight to now choose life in the midst of death. Our grueling struggle to someday transform this evil into something healed and life-giving for the victims, their families and many others. To hold onto hope where hope has been buried.
That hope is also for justice. A justice and reconciliation that now is in the hands of God. God has embraced and brought home the victims of this massacre. And together, the souls of the victims and the Almighty will somehow account for the murderer. Justice will emerge, even if it is now beyond any of us on this side of eternity. For our God is the God of life and with whom all things are possible.
And disgruntled young men, read this: Choose life, not death. Our suffering does not give us the right to make others suffer. Mr. Cho is not a hero. He spread his suffering to others and took away their lives. He left behind wounds that will take decades to heal, if ever. And he brought unwarranted suffering in different degrees to his victims, their families and friends, his own family and his ethnic community.
Choose life. And pray that God continues to enter into this awful situation of suffering.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Recently he was married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and reads his columns to see if they make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at {email considkp@yahoo.com}considkp@yahoo.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Kevin Considine.
That should be obvious. After all, his disturbing actions make most of our stomachs turn. And rightly so. But I fear that there are some of us out there, particularly young men, who sympathize with Mr. Cho's discontent, if not his evil acts.
For that reason, I feel the need to say to all of the disgruntled young men out there that Mr. Cho is not a martyr. Yes, he has become a celebrity. In that way we've unwisely given him just what he wanted — his time in the spotlight. His threatening image and twisted words are being beamed all around the planet via newspapers, television and the Internet.
But understand this — he is not a role model. The media may have turned him into a type of celebrity, but he's not someone to look up to. He was a troubled young man who became a mass murderer. He left behind his humanity in order to bring about death and destruction.
That may be cool in the movies, but it's downright evil in real life. He murdered 32 innocent people and wounded many others. He selfishly took away other people's children, siblings, parents, friends and relatives. He traumatized the memories of countless others. In the process he has tarnished the reputation of Virginia Tech.
And that's not all. He also shattered the lives of his own family members. And he has brought unjust scrutiny and derision upon the hard-working Korean-American community. Because of his egotistical violence his family is suffering and his ethnic community may suffer too from an ignorant backlash.
That's why Mr. Cho is not a martyr. Martyrs don't commit mass murder. They don't commit suicide. And martyrs don't force other people to suffer violence and its effects. Martyrs bear witness to God and life, plain and simple. Especially in their ability to promote life for others despite their suffering.
Even if they have suffered, martyrs do not make other people suffer. I don't know Mr. Cho, don't know what his struggles were and don't know what his life was like. After all, I'm white and native-born, whereas he was Korean and an immigrant. I don't know what it's like to be in a culture that doesn't know what to do with me.
But I do know that pain doesn't give permission to make others suffer. Even if you suffer without reason, you have no right to do such a thing. Individual suffering doesn't justify violence. Especially the mass murder of innocents.
As a culture we Americans aren't sure what to do with suffering. We think that something's wrong with us when it happens. Or that we've done something to deserve it. But that's often not the case.
Our world is rife with unwarranted suffering and its consequences. And the victims and families of Mr. Cho's destruction did nothing to deserve this. They have been violated by the wrongful actions of one person. That person's suffering over the years may have been unwarranted too, but that does not give that person any right to inflict a much more horrible crime upon numerous others.
When Mr. Cho decided to spread his suffering to others in such an awful manner, he chose to serve evil. That is, he chose to serve death rather than life. The devil didn't do this, a troubled young man did. He intended to inflict terrible suffering and in fact rejected his own humanity while violently taking it away from others. And he left the rest of us to grieve, cry out and rebuild.
Evil actions of this sort are nonsensical. They make us ask "why?" when we know that there really is no reason that makes sense. There is no theory that can account for it, no way to really understand what can't be understood. There is only a cry of anguish against such actions and our fight to now choose life in the midst of death. Our grueling struggle to someday transform this evil into something healed and life-giving for the victims, their families and many others. To hold onto hope where hope has been buried.
That hope is also for justice. A justice and reconciliation that now is in the hands of God. God has embraced and brought home the victims of this massacre. And together, the souls of the victims and the Almighty will somehow account for the murderer. Justice will emerge, even if it is now beyond any of us on this side of eternity. For our God is the God of life and with whom all things are possible.
And disgruntled young men, read this: Choose life, not death. Our suffering does not give us the right to make others suffer. Mr. Cho is not a hero. He spread his suffering to others and took away their lives. He left behind wounds that will take decades to heal, if ever. And he brought unwarranted suffering in different degrees to his victims, their families and friends, his own family and his ethnic community.
Choose life. And pray that God continues to enter into this awful situation of suffering.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Recently he was married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and reads his columns to see if they make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at {email considkp@yahoo.com}considkp@yahoo.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Kevin Considine.