In times like these, I really feel that the best thing to do is say little and pray much. My wife is a very sensitive soul and she is grieving the tragedy at Virginia Tech. I think it is appropriate to mourn and reflect. The biggest struggle for many Christians, I imagine, is how a loving God allows tragedies like this to happen in the first place. I’ll be the first to tell you that I do not know the answer – I don’t even have a opinion. This is something that I have to work out in my own heart, especially at shocking events like the Va. Tech shootings, or Darfur, or our Government, or why certain individuals are still in power within the ICOC.

The one thing that I do know, however, is that this reaction from Dare2Share founder, Greg Siter is way off the mark. I feel like it is important enough to write something about careless and thoughtless reactions to tragedy.

As far as is known at this point, the fault of the shootings is Cho-Seung-Hui’s. He pulled the trigger. Blaming violent video games for this shooting is irresponsible – I suppose that what is happening in Darfur is because members of the Janjaweed played too much Mortal Kombat. I haven’t seen a report yet that speaks of Cho’s addiction to World of Warcraft or Halo2.

Worse yet is somehow blaming yourself and by extension, the entire Christian community for not doing ‘something about it’. The something is not defined, nor is any real reason given for Greg’s culpability in this tragedy. The causes and solutions are much more complex in the real world than banning violent video games. There is no simple one-sentence answer.

I think about the reasons for tragedies like this and I have to understand that I do not know the reasons. If I spend time forcing the blame, I’m certain that I could rationalize blaming the President, the Virginia State Government, Va. Tech Administrators, Blacksburg police and Swat teams, specific department heads, immigration policies, inflation or the economy as a whole, Satan, American culture, South Korean culture, and many more. I guess for Greg, the first socially acceptable recipient of the blame was violent video games and violence in American culture. It is Cho’s fault, but assigning fault still doesn’t answer the question, “why?”

I ask God this question a lot, especially in regards to this. I pray for wisdom and wait for an answer. I know I may not get one and that is difficult. I know that I may not like the answer and that is also difficult. Somehow, though, I believe I know enough that I do not envision the Almighty answering by saying that I need to picket Gamers for selling Grand Theft Auto.

More than that, though, my question has more to do with why God allows it to happen, not why it happened at all. I think others, like my wife, struggle with that question more. Maybe I am weird and out-of-touch, but it is easier for me to believe that a person can convince themselves that shooting random people is the right thing to do rather than believe that God, knowing it will happen will choose to allow it to happen. I’m not Arminian enough to say that God was powerless to stop it. I’m not Calvinist enough to believe that it was preordained before the creation of the world. I’m not simplistic enough to believe that the answer lies ‘somewhere between these two extremes’. A logical fallacy is still a logical fallacy.

So in the middle of my struggles to understand why, I don’t appreciate those divert the question. I would love to blame Hollywood and Rockstar Games and make them pay. Truth is, though, that the battle is not against physical things. There is no map with X’s to mark the locations of the enemy. The battle is internal and spiritual – to trust God when it feels easier to doubt Him.

The site of this massacre is sacred ground. It is the place where 30+ souls transitioned from Earth to the grave. It should be respected and treated with dignity. There is no doubt that Cho-Seung-Hui was a troubled soul – his struggles may never be known. There is no minimizing the sense of loss and pain that many feel at the loss of loved ones. What can we do now? We can embrace those hurting. We can help families to heal and forgive. We can be there for each other as we struggle to understand what this means to each of us. We can pray.

Shame on you Greg. There’s no excuse for this guilt-mongering and thoughtless response.