Mass Shooting in Colorado Theater Reminds Us Evil Is Real

In the News

During a premier showing of the new Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, just past midnight on July 20, a gunman, dressed in protective gear, walked into the theater, set off tear-gas grenades, and then began firing into the audience, using multiple weapons. When he stopped, 12 people were dead and 58 others were wounded, some seriously. The suspect, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes, was arrested outside the cinema shortly thereafter.

While the massacre is among the worst mass shootings in American history, certain elements of the crime are all too familiar from other mass killings in recent years. Those elements include 1) the slaughter of people with no relation to the killer and who have done the killer no harm, 2) a murderer who seems prepared to destroy his own life and future by committing the atrocity, 3) the absence of any clear motive for the crime -- at least none that makes sense to any but the perpetrator.

When police went to Holmes' apartment, they found it rigged with multiple booby-traps and explosive devices, which took them more than a day to clear safely. The traps were clearly meant to harm and probably kill anyone who entered the apartment.

The Aurora community has responded with strong support for the survivors and families of the murdered. President Obama visited with surviving victims and their families. Both Obama and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney suspended their political ad campaigns in the state, and Rommey offered words of support. The co-producers of the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, have made significant donations to help the victims, and Christian Bale, who portrays Batman in the film, visited with survivors.

Holmes has since made his first appearance in court, looking dazed or sleepy. He is being held without bail, and charges are expected shortly.

Several commentators have described the massacre using the word "evil," and the TWW team agrees. One TWW team member said, "While it is possible that Holmes is mentally unbalanced, his actions themselves were evil. The question of sanity will likely affect how accountable Holmes will ultimately be considered legally -- and I'm not suggesting he's beyond redemption -- but the senseless killing and wounding of the theatergoers in itself is evil, regardless of what consequences may be meted out to the perpetrator or what level of blame is ultimately assigned to him. The wrongness of the killings is not changed by the mental state of the doer."

More on this story can be found at these links:

12 Shot Dead, 58 Wounded in Aurora Movie Theater During Batman Premier. Denver Post
Colorado Massacre Suspect Appears in Court Looking Dazed, Sleepy. Reuters
Obama Consoles Aurora as City Begins Healing. New York Times 
Christian Bale Visits Aurora, Reminds Us Why He's Batman. Washington Post

The Big Questions

1.How do you define evil? How is it connected to the word "sin"? Why is there evil in the world? What should be the church's response to the reality of evil?

2. While all too many senseless mass murders have taken place in the last several years -- Columbine, Oklahoma City, the Amish school, Virgina Tech, Fort Hood, the Arizona shootings (with the wounding of Congresswoman Giffords) and the Norway slaughter, to name just a few -- are such crimes a relatively new phenomenon? Does a historical perspective support that? Does it suggest they are on the increase? If they are new, to what do you attribute that? If they are not, what does that suggest about life on earth? What have we learned from previous mass shootings that may be helpful now?

3. How does the more immediate national-level and sensationalistic reporting affect people's perceptions? From where do a person's perceptions arise? How does violence in America compare to violent acts in other regions such as the Middle East or sectarian violence in Nigeria and other places in Africa? Would it surprise you to find out that the U.S. has a lower incidence of violent crimes than many industrial nations?   

4. Where is God in such tragedies as the Aurora theater slaughter? Where is God in the suffering and grief?

5. There is an unending supply of bad news in this life. How do you deal with repeated bad news? Does your faith help? How? Does good news outweigh the bad, or vice versa?

Confronting the News with Scripture
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Matthew 2:16
"When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men." (For context, read 2:1-18.)

We are pointing you to the story of Herod's massacre of the infants as a biblical example of a person using his power in monstrous ways (see also Pharaoh in Exodus 1:15-21 and Pilate in Luke 13:1). Perhaps one reason mass killings seem more prevalent today is because in Bible times, only a few people had enough firepower (troops) to kill lots of people. With today's technology, major destructive power is more accessible to the average person. Or perhaps because the equivalent of news media and historians were extremely rare in those days, these things were not communicated broadly or recorded for history. Perhaps the reason is a combination of these things.

This Herod, known as Herod the Great, is believed to have been mentally unbalanced -- or at least very paranoid; he had one of his wives and three of his children executed. His possible lack of sanity renders those crimes and his killing of the infants no less evil.

Questions: Are we all capable of acting in monstrous ways? Explain your answer. What pulls us in that direction? What keeps us from going in that direction? What is more evil in your opinion: Herod's orders, or the fact that rank-and-file soldiers carried them out?

Psalm 97:10
"The LORD loves those who hate evil ..." (For context, read 97:10-12.)

Here's a Bible-approved hatred: hating evil. And "hate" is not too strong a word in this context. The underlying Hebrew word can mean both an intense personal emotion and the idea of being "set against" something. The Hebrew word translated here as "evil" generally means anything that causes pain, suffering or misery. Those are things worth being set against.

In the normal course of life, we may not think too much about evil beyond generalities, but news such as the theater shooting brings it into dramatic perspective.

Questions: If something as terrible as the Aurora shootings is evil, is it accurate to brand our much smaller sins, such as selfishness and gossip, as evil as well? Why or why not? Is it possible to gauge levels of evil? How can such things be graded, and is something that is "less evil" more acceptable to God?

Psalm 14:1-2
"Fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God." (For context, read 14:1-7.)

Though often translated as "fool," the underlying Hebrew word refers to a person who is evil, not so much because of a belief that God does not exist, but because of a belief that God is not involved with creation and therefore does not have to be taken into account. (The poet Robert Alter translates the word as "scoundrel.") The psalmist is suggesting that people act in an evil fashion because they believe there is no one to hold them accountable.

However, in the second verse the psalmist uses the name for God (LORD = Yahweh, as compared to Elohim, the general term for God) to show that a personal God does look down from heaven, and as demonstrated later in the psalm, is aware when morally empty people take advantage of the poor and marginalized. At one point the psalmist despairs because everyone is evil. Yet the psalmist also celebrates because God will eventually vindicate the suffering, and then God's people will rejoice.

Questions: Does your belief in a God who is watching us affect the choices you make in life? Has the pervasiveness of social media replaced God as the one who is watching all the time? Why do some people seem to act in reprehensible ways even though no one should be surprised when their actions appear on YouTube or Facebook? Should morality be grounded in God? Are there people you know who do not believe in God, yet act in a moral fashion? What fuels their moral behavior? Why do you think the psalmist refers to a morally bankrupt person as a fool?

John 15:13
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (For context, read 15:12-17.)

We cite this verse simply because there were some heroic acts in the theater, where at least three of those killed were men who died shielding the women with them from bullets. (One commentator has wondered if there was a male protective instinct involved. See In the Aurora Theater the Men Protected the Women. What Does that Mean? Slate.) Some who survived also shielded others with them. This included at least one mother who protected the children with her with her body.

Question: Are the selfless acts of those who sacrificed their lives for others more significant than the senseless acts of evil? Some of the individuals whose lives were saved were strangers to those who saved them. How does our identity as people of faith affect our definition of a friend? If someone saved the life of an enemy, would that be a greater sacrifice or love than one who saved the life of a friend? Are there forms of self-sacrifice that do not involve literally giving one's own life that still might constitute giving one's life for another? Give examples if you can.

Romans 8:28
"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." (For context, read 8:18-30.)

One TWW team member says of this verse: "I have been struck by the fact that there is no promise that all things will work together for the best -- only that they will work synergistically for good. That says something -- I'm not sure what -- about God's ways in the world. It is very comforting. It also avoids thoughts of God being the Author of evil as well -- not that we [mere mortals] can ever fathom his permissive will!"

Questions: What is the difference between "the best" and "good"? What does Christianity say about things working together for "the best"?

John 1:5
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (For context, read 1:1-5.)

This verse is a major testimony of the Christian faith. "Light" here is a metaphor for the divine power present in Jesus. But we also have some sense of what "darkness" is. We have only to think of this week's news.

Neither the darkness nor the light is a passive thing. Darkness, as John's gospel pictures it, is not just the absence of light. Rather it is active hostility to the light of God. Christianity sees darkness not so much as an outside force as a drive within us that urges us to disregard God.

But if darkness is an active, hostile force, light is an active, benevolent force. In this world, light has not eradicated darkness, but neither has the darkness overcome it. The darkness is there, but there is also light.

Our faith says that the light -- Christ -- ultimately wins this struggle, however, and those who stand with Christ benefit from his victory.

Question: Quoting this verse is unlikely to be immediately helpful to those who lost loved ones in the theater shooting, but in what context is its message likely to eventually ring true to such persons? If one believes darkness will not conquer light, what does this say about our ultimate view of history? How does one go about shining a light in the darkness of a senseless shooter's mind? How is the light of Christ shining in Aurora right now, do you think?

One way of translating the verse might be "the darkness does not get it." The light is incomprehensible to the darkness. Do you think it is easier for those who walk in the light of Jesus to understand the minds of evil individuals, or for evil individuals to understand the motivations of those who are believers?

For Further Discussion

1. In our modern and psychologically oriented culture, we use words such as "mentally unbalanced" a lot. It's possible, however, that this has two deleterious side effects: 1) it substitutes a wholly materialistic explanation that drives out the concept of "evil," and 2) it tends to excuse the individual from any personal culpability for his or her actions. Does the current dominant cultural language tend to provide cover for thoughts of evil?

2. Reportedly, Holmes was raised in a Christian family and his mom is quite active in church. Should that congregation address this tragedy in any special way? How ought it minister to Holmes' family?

3. We may look at tragedies like this one and wonder if a greater attention to a shooter's spiritual needs as he was growing up might have prevented it. Is that likely? Is even the most faithful attention to one's spiritual life likely to stop a descent into mental illness (assuming that this is a case of mental illness, of course)?

4. When hearing of terrible news that happened elsewhere, a common protective response is "It won't happen here," even though we know there are no guarantees against that. In what ways does that response help us? In what ways does it hinder us?

Responding to the News
 
It is good for the church to remember its intercessory prayer ministry, especially on behalf of the physically and emotionally traumatized survivors and the families of the deceased.

This sad event can also affect how we teach our faith -- not as a guarantee of goodness and blessings, but as a conviction that the light of God is not overcome by darkness.

Other News This Week

The Greater Wall of China

The largest human-made structure in the world, the Great Wall of China, is more than twice as long as originally believed, according to a recently released archaeological survey conducted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) across 15 Chinese provinces. Originally estimated to be a "mere" 5,500 miles long, the new report claims the wall extended 13,171 miles. According to the Los Angeles Times, that's more than half the circumference of the globe, four times the span of the United States coast to coast.

But the announcement is seen by some neighbors in the region as grandstanding by the Chinese. Koreans say some parts of the wall now claimed by China were actually built by their ancestors during the Koguryo dynasty. Ruins thought to be remnants of the Great Wall have been found as far away as North Korea and Russia. The problem lies in the fact that there is no consensus about what the Great Wall is, according to David Spindler, a leading expert on the subject.

Many dynasties maintained and renovated the defensive wall since it was begun as early as the seventh century B.C. Called the world's largest outdoor museum, it took 18 centuries to complete. The wall is only 12 feet wide in most places, which means that it cannot be seen from outer space, contrary to popular legend and government propaganda. The stone and earth of which the wall is built could form a structure three feet high and three feet wide around the world at the equator. Some 10,000 people visit the wall outside Beijing every day; 400 heads of state have been among them. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.

Matthew Power, writing in the National Geographic, describes his sojourn on the wall this way: "Scaling and dropping, at times nearly closing back on itself to maintain the high ground, it runs a relentless serpentine over the horizon. ... In some spots it thrusts up crags at 60 degrees, so close to vertical that it's practically a ladder of stone. The wall seizes the absolute highest points along its route, bringing to mind Sun Tzu's Art of War observation that 'all armies prefer high ground to low.'"

More on this story can be found at these links:

Great Wall of China Longer Than Previously Reported. ABC News
Great Wall of China Twice as Long as Thought. Live Science
Is the Great Wall of China Longer Than Previously Thought? TIME
Hiking the Great Wall: Astride the Dragon's Back. National Geographic (map, picture, blog)
Mending Wall. Wikipedia (about the Robert Frost poem)

Some Musing About Walls

Walls are all around us, literally, and metaphorically in our language and culture. Most of us live and work in buildings that have walls. Life would be difficult without them; without walls, how could we have a roof to shield us from the rain? Walls like the Great Wall of China were built to protect nations, cities, castles and fortresses from attack.

Yet in literature, from Bartleby the Scrivener to Robert Frost's "Mending Wall," walls often symbolize uneasy isolation, alienation, separation, bigotry and confinement. When we have cabin fever, we feel the walls closing in on us, or we feel like climbing up one; when we feel cornered, we say our backs are up against the wall; when we are in a conflict with others, we say they are driving us up one. When communication is difficult, we feel like we are talking to a wall; we want to tear down walls; we peer at life through a hole in the wall. We built the Vietnam War Memorial and called it the Wall. Scripture speaks of God writing on the wall; we say an offbeat idea is "off the wall." Swimmers reach for the wall while runners hit it. Walls are everywhere, from Wall Street and Walmart to the wall on Facebook. Now that online education and social networking have come of age, we have universities and churches without walls.

You may want to revisit Robert Frost's poem, "Mending Wall," in which he describes the role of nature, or God, or people in tearing down and rebuilding walls.

Questions

1. What walls have you built in life? Which ones are beneficial? Which ones are harmful?

2. Building walls sometimes has a negative connotation, but there is a place in Christianity for healthy boundary lines. What is the difference between a wall that functions as a barrier that has a negative impact and a wall that provides a necessary boundary that is positive in its impact?

3. Is there something about maintaining barriers between people that actually draws them to work together, to communicate, to engage in a social interaction that they might not otherwise have? By observing boundaries, can we actually increase the respect we show one another? Why or why not?

4. In the last century, we saw the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall; today Israel is building a wall to attempt to provide greater protection from their Arab neighbors in the region, and the USA has the beginning of a wall on its southern border in an effort to stem the tide of drugs and illegal immigration. What role have walls played in Scripture, in world history and in conflicts today? Besides the Great Wall of China, how have other walls (such as the Western Wall or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem) played a significant role in human history?

Some Bible Verses

Joshua 6:2, 20
"The LORD said to Joshua, 'See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. ... So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it." (For context, read 6:1-27)

The fall of the wall of Jericho described in the spiritual "Joshua F'it the Battle of Jericho" was understood by oppressed slaves in America as a metaphor for the eventual inevitable fall of systemic injustice.

Questions: When is it right to tear down walls? How do you determine whether a wall should stand or fall? How do you and your church engage in battle for the poor and oppressed? Have you seen God bring down walls you once thought were impregnable? Is this an area you and your church could or should address more fully? How would you go about it?

Nehemiah 2:18; 6:15-16
"Then they said, 'Let us start building!' So they committed themselves to the common good. ... So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God." (For context, read 2:16-20; 6:1-16.)

In the books of Joshua and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 13:9-16; 22:23-30), God is credited with bringing down walls, while in Nehemiah and Ezra (Ezra 9:9), God is praised for giving the people a wall. The book of Nehemiah is all about rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, which was broken down and destroyed by fire. As long as it remained in its state of ruin, it presented a grave security risk for the inhabitants. Nehemiah mourned, fasted and prayed over the situation (Nehemiah 1:3-4), sought and received support for a rebuilding project from God and the king, and mobilized his people to act together to accomplish this huge task.

Questions: When is building a wall good for a community? When might building a wall be bad for the community as a whole? Is there is a time to break down and a time to build up (as Ecclesiastes 3:3 says)? How do you know when is the right time to do the first, and when is the right time to do the last?

Ezekiel 22:30
"And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one."

Question: What ruined wall might God be asking you to repair in your home or community?

Psalm 18:29
"By you I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall."

Question: What wall of pride and injustice might God be asking you to destroy and leap over?

1 Samuel 25:14-16
"But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, 'David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he shouted insults at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we never missed anything when we were in the fields, as long as we were with them; they were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.'"

Question: How can your church "be a wall" to those who are vulnerable and at risk?

Ephesians 2:13-14
"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." (For context, read 2:11-22.)

Questions: How did the death of Christ break down the wall of hostility separating Jews and Gentiles? How can it do the same today for people who are in conflict?

Closing Prayer
 
O Lord, assure us, and especially those in grief, that the darkness does not overcome the light. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2012 Communication Resources