Why mass shootings at a church are different

The motives of such killers matter less than how the faithful respond. After the Texas church massacre, locals turned to qualities of thought that deny a place for hate.

|
AP Photo
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott attends a vigil held for the victims of a Nov. 5 fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas.

 Just hours after the Nov. 5 mass shooting at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, about a hundred people held a vigil for the victims. Some mourned, some prayed, some held candles high. To one local resident, Mike Gonzales, the vigil’s purpose was both simple and grand: “to show the world that now, in the midst of darkness, there is light.”

His point reflects the idea that houses of worship play a larger role in society than merely a place for people to attend religious services. They are practical purveyors of hope, forgiveness, and love in everyday life. And when a sacred place, whether it be a church, temple, or mosque, is the scene of violence, those qualities of thought are evermore present and in demand. They allow people to displace the hate behind a killing rather than respond with hate.

Violence at houses of worship is done for various reasons, from bigotry to vendetta. The 2015 massacre of nine black church members in Charleston, South Carolina, was a racist act. The 2012 killing of six at a Wisconsin Sikh temple was done out of religious prejudice. So far, preliminary evidence in the Texas killings suggests the motive might be revenge at the killer’s former in-laws who sometimes attended the church.

The FBI reports that only 3.8 percent of the mass killings in the United States between 2000 and 2013 took place at churches. Yet any violence at religious sites seems particularly out of place. Most churches choose to keep an open door with minimal security. They seek to be a welcoming community, a sanctuary from suffering and sin, and a prompter of prayer and humility.

“Evil attacks the weakest,” said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, after the 2016 killing of a Catholic priest in France. But, he added, evil is defeated by the truth and love of Christ Jesus.

For a community hit by violence at a house of worship, prayer vigils are often the start of a process of coming to terms with such acts and in finding peace. Some find solace in forgiving the killer. Others find peace in renewing the bonds of a sacred community. The point, as Mr. Gonzales said, is to show light in the midst of darkness.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Why mass shootings at a church are different
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2017/1106/Why-mass-shootings-at-a-church-are-different
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe