6 Things Not to Say After Sandy Hook?

[Josh]

Here's an interesting article in response to the school shooting in Connecticut.

The title was 'Six things I don't want to hear [from religious people] after the Sandy Hook massacre'. You can check out the link above for the whole thing, but I thought it would be interesting to just look at the author's list and solicit responses. I'm excluding #6 because it is more gun-control related than religious in nature.

1. "It was God's will"
2. "Jesus called the children home"
3. "After death, there is the resurrection"
4. "This was God's judgment"
5. "This happened because America is too secular"



Thoughts?

I can't say I completely agree with his list. I think several of the points need to be addressed with tact, theological precision, and humility, but aren't necessarily "off the table" in my mind.

If I get some time later today I'll post some more on this, but if you have a reaction to any of these, jump in with any thoughts

[LadyAjax]

I agree with you that #3 is definitely not off the table, and I would restate #2 more like "Jesus welcomed the children home" because as written it seems to just be a of a restatement of #1, which I disagree with.
I agree with the author about #4 & 5.

[Josh]

OK, a few responses:


1. "It was God's will"

Almost totally agreed. We should never attribute these horrific events to God as a direct casual agent. However, there is still a place for a discussion of God's will in these circumstances, and that is simply to say that it is God's will that humans have a staggering degree of free will.

2. "Jesus called the children home"

A lot of times these statements include things like "God needed them in heaven, etc.." which I just don't get and don't have Scriptural backing.
Yes, of course, God calls these victims to Himself, but that calling is a response to this evil act, not the reason for it.


3. "After death, there is the resurrection"

I have more disagreement with the author here, as Paul directly says in

1 Thess. 4:13-18 that we should console and encourage ourselves with the reality of the bodily resurrection:

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Of course we should grieve. We shouldn't cover up our grief with pious rhetoric. It's just that as believers in Christ our grieving is informed and redeemed by the light of Jesus resurrection hope.

4. "This was God's judgment"

I'll just quote Gandalf here: "Do not be quick to deal out death and judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends."

5. "This happened because America is too secular"

Here I'm mostly in disagreement wondering how anyone could even assess that. Still, I would say that I don't doubt that a certain nihilistic worldview does contribute heavily to these kind of horrendous actions, and that is definitely a worldview fostered by our culture.

[Josh]

Any other thoughts on this?  Perhaps in light of other recent tragic events?