I found myself sickened and profoundly saddened by what happened yesterday. It was horrifying. Let me be clear: I don't see this man as a hero, but he was a man and what happened to him was absolutely despicable. Words cannot describe the ache of the soul that sees true human suffering.
A human being died. That filled me with the deepest sadness. I don't cry for what he represented. But I did cry for a human being. And I cried for what we are doing to one another. I feel the deepest sorrow at those who make this a message for more hate and justification for hate and harm against their fellow human being.
This is not a eulogy for a martyr. This should, I hope, be a moment of realization to love one another regardless of our passions. It should not be a deepening of the divide, nor more noise for "whataboutism" and self justifications. I'm sad that it won't be for all too many, and that the darkest moods of the human soul will find it as a symbol for more divide, more hate and more cruelty against their neighbor.
David, you are doing humanity a service by allowing them to come face-to-face with evil (albeit via video). Not the “made for TV” evil of Criminal Minds or Dexter, but actual, real-life evil. Personally, I don’t need to see actual evil to know it exists. Nor do I want to see something I can’t unsee (which is why I don’t watch the two shows mentioned above).
I am reminded of Philippians 4:8, which says, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
Thanks, Randy. I hope, as Adrift says above and as you imply, that we can use this event to turn our nation away from civil war as an answer. The violence over culture exists at the fringes on both sides, but the fringes are growing thicker--toward the center--and we all need to seriously try to turn that around.
I found myself sickened and profoundly saddened by what happened yesterday. It was horrifying. Let me be clear: I don't see this man as a hero, but he was a man and what happened to him was absolutely despicable. Words cannot describe the ache of the soul that sees true human suffering.
A human being died. That filled me with the deepest sadness. I don't cry for what he represented. But I did cry for a human being. And I cried for what we are doing to one another. I feel the deepest sorrow at those who make this a message for more hate and justification for hate and harm against their fellow human being.
This is not a eulogy for a martyr. This should, I hope, be a moment of realization to love one another regardless of our passions. It should not be a deepening of the divide, nor more noise for "whataboutism" and self justifications. I'm sad that it won't be for all too many, and that the darkest moods of the human soul will find it as a symbol for more divide, more hate and more cruelty against their neighbor.
Well said. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings on this.
Thank you, David. It just all feels so sad.
David, you are doing humanity a service by allowing them to come face-to-face with evil (albeit via video). Not the “made for TV” evil of Criminal Minds or Dexter, but actual, real-life evil. Personally, I don’t need to see actual evil to know it exists. Nor do I want to see something I can’t unsee (which is why I don’t watch the two shows mentioned above).
I am reminded of Philippians 4:8, which says, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
Thanks, Randy. I hope, as Adrift says above and as you imply, that we can use this event to turn our nation away from civil war as an answer. The violence over culture exists at the fringes on both sides, but the fringes are growing thicker--toward the center--and we all need to seriously try to turn that around.