I've been following some of the responses identified as "Christian" in the media to last weekend's shooting that killed five at Colorado Springs' Club Q.
There was the shooter's estranged father, for example, who expressed relief that his killer son was not gay, but no sorrow for the victims --- after identifying himself as a Mormon and a conservative Republican.
A legal adviser to Donald Trump pointed out, regarding the five victims, that there is "no evidence at all that they were Christians" and that "they are now reaping the consequences of having eternal damnation."
And Franklin Graham, hardly a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, dispatched a team of Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains to Colorado Springs to "minister."
"Our hearts break for those who have lost loved ones and friends in this shooting," the organization's news release reads. No acknowledgement that years of demonizing the gay community played a part in turning the club into a target or, for that matter, acknowledgement of the victims.
So it goes --- extreme examples. But the interesting thing is, at a time when the church itself is shrinking, that media bites like this are the principal means of exposure to it for more and more people and among the reasons many turn their backs to it.
This is, of course, not all there is. Although it took digging to find it, I located this response by the Rt. Rev Kym Lucas (above), bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, via the Episcopal News Service. This is the sort of Christian message, concluding with what one commentator called a "mighty kyrie eleison," that I wish more could be exposed to.
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We know that there are those who define and fortify their identity by whom they hate. We also know that many of those same people call themselves Christians. The Episcopal Church in Colorado contends that our identity is defined not by whom we hate but by whom we follow.
Jesus did not teach violence or hatred; he taught us to love. At our baptism, we promise to live that love by seeking and serving Christ in ALL persons, by striving for justice and peace, and by respecting the dignity of EVERY human being.
The love of Christ extends to everyone, including our LGBTQIA+ siblings, and we in the Episcopal Church affirm that truth.
The recent shooting at Club Q is heartbreaking. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families as we hold them in our prayers. We also pray for the shooter and his family, and we pray most fervently for an end to gun violence."
God of Justice, help us, your church, find our voice. Turn us from the worship of power. Give us the courage to confront our false gods and to protest the needless deaths caused by gun violence.
Help us rise above our dread that nothing can be done and grant us the conviction to advocate for change. For your dream of a world where all God's children are safe, and all of us live together without fear, Loving God, Make us instruments of your peace.
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