I'm sure you've heard about the heartbreaking shooting that happened in Aurora, Colorado early Friday morning at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. Even my British mum has heard about it. It's tragic, and a sign of just how broken and messed up this world is.
So as you can imagine, there has been a lot of discussion in the past two days about US gun laws and what part the fight over that played in the shooting. The Democrats are blaming the Republicans for loosening the gun laws that made it possible for this shooter to get the high-powered weapons he had for his attack. The Republicans are blaming the Democrats for having too strict of gun laws so that no one was armed to stop this guy.
My opinions on gun laws shouldn't be hard to figure out because my political stance isn't exactly a secret, but that's not why I'm writing this post. I'm writing this because for the past two days, I have been saying that I'm tired of people politicizing a tragedy. To be blunt, I don't think this is a politics issue. No matter what the gun laws were, James Holmes still would've found a way to do what he did. I think Democrats and Republicans blaming each other for something that no one except James Holmes is responsible for is completely pointless. This isn't about politics to me. This is about humanity.
It makes my heart hurt to know that there are people out there who would do something like this. I think of the pain the families of the 71 victims are in, and I can't imagine that kind of agony. I think it's so scary to know we live in a world that messed up and that something like this can happen to anyone at any time. It makes me that much more grateful that this world is not my home, that I have an eternity in heaven waiting for me, and that pain, sickness, and evil doesn't exist there. It's humbling to know that, in God's eyes, I am no better or worse than James or any other killer. Sin is sin is sin, and it manifests itself in all sorts of ways.
I think that if President Obama and Mitt Romney can offer their sympathies and prayers to those affected without talking about gun laws, then that's the least the rest of us can do. When things like this happens, we're no longer Democrats and Republicans fighting each other. We're just Americans who need to band together to support the lives permanently changed by this horror. I think instead of complaining about gun laws, we could all be doing something productive, like maybe donating to support the 5 sets of kids whose parents were killed. Instead of talking politics, Christian could be in prayer for the victims, their families, James Holmes's family, and James, too, because as much anger as people may feel towards him, he needs a Savior just as much as the rest of us.
At the end of the day, we are one nation. We're millions of people messed up by this fallen world we live in. There will be so much more time for politics, especially considering this is an election year. This is a time for the greatest country in the world to offer support to some of our own.
That's my opinion, anyway.
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