Monday, February 18, 2008 at 1:01am
NIU shootings were not God's will
Column: God Said What?
God did not will this.
God did not will the death of seven young women and men and the injuring of many more. The tragic shooting at Northern Illinois University has nothing to do with God's plan. If anyone even hints that this is part of God's plan — be it priest, pastor, theologian, bishop or the pope himself — they are ignorant of who God is.
This has nothing to do with God's plan. There is no hidden redemption in this senseless violence. God willed them to live, not to die. The man who took their lives and wounded many more was exercising free will in defiance of God's plan. It was his sick plan that took them away from us, not God's.
There is no reason for what Stephen Kazmierczak did. We rightly ask ourselves "why" and the news reports do the same. But the truth is that such an evil action has no reason. It is irrational. There is no answer that could possibly explain why so many young people were murdered and wounded. There is only a gaping hole that can't be explained away.
Instead of asking "why" to the killer, we need to ask "why" to God. This is what Johannes Baptist Metz has called a mysticism of suffering unto God. It is our posture in prayer that cries out to our Creator and demands an accounting from the Holy Mystery for how something so horrible could happen. It is our protest to God on behalf of our sisters and brothers and our solidarity with them. This is a solidarity with the innocents who have been violently taken from us before their time. It is the sorrow of injustice and the hope of the Resurrection. It is a memory of Crucifixion.
As we cling to God while confronting God, we probably don't get an answer. Even God's sorrow is silent at times. But we do receive comfort and strength to rebuild our lives. We find strength to work to make sure more Kazmiercazks do not arise in our midst. And no more Virginia Techs or Columbines. We work with God to take responsibility for healing, hope and justice.
Because we have an epidemic of gun violence in our high schools and colleges. Yes, it is getting that bad. We have serious problems in our communities, an individualistic, lonely society, an abundance of easy-access guns, and media that publicize and sensationalize such killings. We have enabled troubled young men (yes, it is primarily us men who do this) to see that their best option is to get a gun and commit an atrocity. The killer himself is responsible for his actions. But that doesn't mean he existed in a vacuum.
The God of Jesus Christ, the God of Life, did not will this. It is not part of God's plan. And don't let anyone tell you that such an irrational act of violence against the innocent is willed by God. That is nothing but a lie.
For the truth is that we have no answers for the problem of evil and radical suffering. And we never have. We have only a mysticism of suffering unto God. We have a crying out and a call for accountability to the God of all Creation. We have a sorrowful strength that leads us to act decisively so that such atrocities cease to exist. And we have the humility to mourn with the families of the victims and the communities from which they came. We have the Christ-like love to help comfort and, when the time eventually comes, to begin healing.
We have an active prayer to the God of Jesus Christ. So let us all pray for the victims, their families and their community. And let us all mourn with them.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, the largest Roman Catholic school of theology and ministry in North America. He is married to a most wonderful woman, who keeps him in line and makes sure his thoughts 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 2008 by Kevin Considine.
God did not will the death of seven young women and men and the injuring of many more. The tragic shooting at Northern Illinois University has nothing to do with God's plan. If anyone even hints that this is part of God's plan — be it priest, pastor, theologian, bishop or the pope himself — they are ignorant of who God is.
This has nothing to do with God's plan. There is no hidden redemption in this senseless violence. God willed them to live, not to die. The man who took their lives and wounded many more was exercising free will in defiance of God's plan. It was his sick plan that took them away from us, not God's.
There is no reason for what Stephen Kazmierczak did. We rightly ask ourselves "why" and the news reports do the same. But the truth is that such an evil action has no reason. It is irrational. There is no answer that could possibly explain why so many young people were murdered and wounded. There is only a gaping hole that can't be explained away.
Instead of asking "why" to the killer, we need to ask "why" to God. This is what Johannes Baptist Metz has called a mysticism of suffering unto God. It is our posture in prayer that cries out to our Creator and demands an accounting from the Holy Mystery for how something so horrible could happen. It is our protest to God on behalf of our sisters and brothers and our solidarity with them. This is a solidarity with the innocents who have been violently taken from us before their time. It is the sorrow of injustice and the hope of the Resurrection. It is a memory of Crucifixion.
As we cling to God while confronting God, we probably don't get an answer. Even God's sorrow is silent at times. But we do receive comfort and strength to rebuild our lives. We find strength to work to make sure more Kazmiercazks do not arise in our midst. And no more Virginia Techs or Columbines. We work with God to take responsibility for healing, hope and justice.
Because we have an epidemic of gun violence in our high schools and colleges. Yes, it is getting that bad. We have serious problems in our communities, an individualistic, lonely society, an abundance of easy-access guns, and media that publicize and sensationalize such killings. We have enabled troubled young men (yes, it is primarily us men who do this) to see that their best option is to get a gun and commit an atrocity. The killer himself is responsible for his actions. But that doesn't mean he existed in a vacuum.
The God of Jesus Christ, the God of Life, did not will this. It is not part of God's plan. And don't let anyone tell you that such an irrational act of violence against the innocent is willed by God. That is nothing but a lie.
For the truth is that we have no answers for the problem of evil and radical suffering. And we never have. We have only a mysticism of suffering unto God. We have a crying out and a call for accountability to the God of all Creation. We have a sorrowful strength that leads us to act decisively so that such atrocities cease to exist. And we have the humility to mourn with the families of the victims and the communities from which they came. We have the Christ-like love to help comfort and, when the time eventually comes, to begin healing.
We have an active prayer to the God of Jesus Christ. So let us all pray for the victims, their families and their community. And let us all mourn with them.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, the largest Roman Catholic school of theology and ministry in North America. He is married to a most wonderful woman, who keeps him in line and makes sure his thoughts 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 2008 by Kevin Considine.