In the early morning hours Saturday, as America learned of the horrific slaughter of 49 innocent people at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, we waited to hear the word we would run with, the word that confirmed our biases and advanced our narrative.
What was it all about, this unspeakable atrocity?
Start with the phrase: “We have to do something about the issue of …”
Then take your pick to finish the sentence: Muslims. Guns. Gays.
And off we went, stepping over the bodies of the mourned dead as we built our cases, determined to punish those who hold opposing views, alternately moving from attack mode to our fortified defenses.
In a sane world, the slaughter would cause us to linger long on the disturbing questions of how this sort of thing could happen. But it seems no one has time for questions, for introspection, for silence. We have the answers already.
In fact, we had them before the shooting even started. We were convinced. And even as new information about the shooting is revealed, we accept the information that confirms our biases and reject that which does not.
We have been drinking from the same poisoned cup since Columbine, Oklahoma City, Newtown, San Bernardino and the scaring tragedy of Manhattan, D.C. And the Pennsylvania countryside.
Now, it’s Orlando, merely the latest stop on this train of inhumanity. Next destination? We don’t know. But we already know who is to blame.
There must be a better way.
On Thursday night, at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Starkville, a group of about 70 gathered quietly, reverently for an interfaith service organizers called “United Against Hate.”
Speakers included Muslims, Christians of various denominations/affiliations, a rabbi and members of the LGBT community.
Each speaker addressed the hushed audience and repudiated the violence. They called for unity, for understanding, for peace. They vowed to stand with each other, putting aside differences to acknowledge a higher, greater truth — that all people are made in the image of God and that to hate our fellow man is to hate the one who made him.
There are serious issues surrounding this tragedy we must come to terms with, of course — Muslims. Guns. Gays.
Maybe where we go in these discussions really depends on where we start. Often the quickest way to get somewhere is to go back to the start and take a different path.
There were many thoughts shared during the hour-long service. Each contained its own variation of this one message: Love one another. It is a command common to all faiths.
We wonder what would happen if we were somehow able to let that be our starting place.
In fact, Thursday’s “United against Hate” program might just have easily been stated in the affirmative, “United In Love.”
But then, maybe we just aren’t that far along yet.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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