Once again, I am astonished that I can be astonished at the level of gun violence in this nation. It is so routine. And yet so astonishing.
And once again, I am astonished that I can be astonished at the level of Republican callousness. It is so routine. And yet so astonishing.
I’m not sure “callous” is a strong enough word. We are witnessing a level of indifference, of inhumanity, of unlove, that triumphs when dogma and commitment to party completely override reason and human decency.
Darren Bailey, Republican candidate for governor of Illinois, called for prayers and moving past it while the shooter was still at large. Prayers. Moving on. With the shooter at large. Get over it. Party on.
I do not exaggerate.
Darren Bailey, two hours after the shooting: “Let’s pray for justice to prevail, and then let’s move on.” Move on. Before the blood has been mopped from the streets.
Lauren Boebert tweeted: “There was just a mass shooting in Denmark, a country with some of the strictest gun laws in Europe. It’s time to admit that gun laws DO NOT stop mass shootings!”
She glided glibly past the fact that this was Denmark’s first mass shooting in seven years. That Colorado, with the same population as Denmark, had 364 murders in 2021. Denmark had 39. We could pile up the statistics refuting her cosmic ignorance.
We don’t expect the Lauren Boeberts of our world to either know the truth or represent it accurately if they do know it. They are dogma-driven creatures, and facts do not penetrate that fantasy world. But it is long past time to recognize that such ignorance, such commitment to dogma over decency, is killing us.
I hoped/dreamed that last week, when the Senate passed a bill that took baby steps toward gun restrictions, that perhaps we had reached the required number of dead children to penetrate Republican dogma. I have long wondered what that number might be.
But after yesterday, I revisited last week, and noted that the vast majority of Republicans voted against taking the smallest measures to limit gun deaths in this nation. We have not come close to the number of deaths required to move the needle on Republican indifference.
So, Mr. Bailey, we will indeed “move on.” We will move on to the next collection of bodies on our streets and in our school houses. To the next gathering of loved ones in chapels. To the next lifting of thoughts and prayers.
The Republican God remains remarkably silent in the face of all those prayers. Perhaps he recognizes insincerity when he hears it. Perhaps, given the violent universe he spawned, he finds it hard to take our losses seriously. Or, perhaps, he’s simply given up on a people who have abandoned everything he thought he stood for.
But I am reminded that the Scriptures promise “human blood to the level of the horses’ bridles” upon the return of Christ. A level of bloodletting that would perhaps stoke indifference in anyone.
If Republican indifference continues, we may yet reach that level of bloodletting all on our own, long before we witness Jesus and his avenging legions riding the apocalyptic storm …