I’ve made a few of these posts in the past, and though I truly don’t have time to write this today (8 hours of work to finish in 5 :-S) I cannot remain silent.
For the majority, this will not apply or just echo the sentiments they have already said. For those, I encourage you to share if you agree but more importantly, hug your family and friends and be thankful for the days that you have that might have been cut short. We all should hurt because of this, and we must let ourselves feel that hurt.
This post isn’t for those who agree with me; this is for those who don’t.
The correct action when this happens is to mourn. It is not politicize, it is not find our bully pulpits and soap boxes, it is not call for radical changes and for people to resign because they didn’t make the correct accusation, it is not stand on the bodies of those who lost their lives to make our political points.
It is to mourn.
I do not have words to describe how I feel about 50 people being gunned down and 50 more being injured because of their lifestyle. I found John Oliver’s words oddly apt in describing how I feel. Warning, it is a bit raw, but I can’t find better words myself to describe how this feels.
Stop making this about an agenda. 50 of our citizens were murdered simply because they have the right to exist. Stop making this about you and make it about their lives and mourning that they were cut short.
I said it when Antonin Scalia died and I will say it now, they have not even been interred to their final resting place and the mourning process has not even truly started yet; stop standing on their still warm bodies and make this about your politics.
Grieve and mourn and hurt. Get angry at someone who murdered so many people. Refuse to find solace in this world because there is none here. Sob and scream. Do the things that mourning people do.
But do not make it about politics, and do not stand on the bodies of innocent, dead people because you want your voice to be heard louder. This period is not about you; it is about them, and their families, and a mourning nation.
I have never considered myself an ally of the LGBT community – I am not an activist for anything, really – but this senseless violence was carried out on that community – that marginalized community – specifically and without remorse. We cannot ignore that. Simply existing and exercising their sexual identity is the reason that one man decided that these people deserved to die, and that should never be.
We need to lift up our marginalized, especially those who live in fear of violence, and show them love. We need to stop withholding love from groups of people that we disagree with, that we don’t understand, that we are disgusted by, that we hate, and that we fear. We need to be showing love to all.
Did you see the line of people donating blood? That is what we are capable of. Let’s make that the message of these days of mourning. Do what you can for others, sacrifice of yourself for others, help the world by showing love.
Political conversations needs to happen, the debates need to happen, solutions need to be found to curtail this problem, but not now. Mourn first, give first, love first, let their memories becomes memories, then you can start your grandstanding.
Today is not about anyone other than those who were lost. The loving thing to do is to remain mindful of that.
I’m hurting for our nation, for our marginalized people, for people who are hated because their lifestyles are uncomfortable for others, for all who experience violence. And it cannot be okay, not today, so I am just going to hurt today.
Lord, hear our wails and our sobs and give us peace that this world has taken away. Amen.
– Robby
Red Shoe Pastor 