Posted by
Big Daddy on Thursday, April 19, 2007 4:29:48 PM
My mental filter catches weird stuff sometimes.
While sifting through headlines and commentaries about the Virginia Tech shooting, I came across an article and an interview addressing an often overlooked aspect of this tragedy. While most are focused on the families of those killed (and rightfully so), a few are probing the question of whether there is a spiritual aspect to the shootings. Specifically, did Satan or his demonic agents have a hand in the rampage?
Despite a few moments of lazy journalism, an article by Fox News’ religion reporter Laura Green digs into the issue fairly well, and raises the topic to a higher level. Not only are there people debating whether Satan had direct involvement in the shootings, they are debating whether he exists at all.
At each end of the opinion spectrum are those who concretely affirm or deny not only Satan’s existence, but God’s as well. It’s the middle of the spectrum, where things get a little messy, that thoughtful debate is growing. In this area, there is a blending of truth, tradition and ignorance.
Most evangelical Christians weighing in on the subject say there absolutely was demonic influence roaming the Virginia Tech campus in the person of Cho Seung-Hui. Depending on whom you talk to that influence ranges from outright possession to manipulative oppression. No less than Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, staked out his position on Fox News’ morning show. He didn’t commit to either state of influence but said acts of this sort are definitely the result man’s corrupt nature and evil forces' willingness to take advantage of that nature. In her article, Green quotes Dr. Richard Roberts, President of Oral Roberts University saying essentially the same thing as Graham:
“…there’s no doubt that his act was Satanic in origin.”
Not surprising positions based on Biblical accounts and Christian tradition clearly showing evil as personified beings out to warp and destroy God’s creation. What is surprising is a comment from Rabbi Peter Rubenstein from New York’s Central Synagogue. The good Rabbi doesn’t believe evil forces exist at all, but instead are indulgences by humans in their evil “inclination” that should be balanced by their good “inclination.” In other words, the existence of evil would be eradicated if we all just did good things, instead of bad things. I’m wondering if Rubenstein is reading the same Torah I’m reading, or simply ripped a few pages from the Star Wars script and inserted them. Anakin could have saved the Jedi order if he’d only ignored his evil “inclinations!”
As early as the book of Genesis the Devil is mentioned by name and has a distinct personality. You have to perform some impressive interpretive gymnastics indeed to get around all the places Jewish scripture and rabbinical writings mention Satan by name and attribute personal characteristics to him.
Then of course there are the Atheists who deny the existence of both God and Satan preferring to ascribe mass murders to psychological phenomena.
Clouding the issue from the outset is Western culture’s detachment from its moral underpinnings. There was a time when most Americans not only believed in, but planned their lives around an understanding and acceptance of an absolute, higher truth. Far from suffocating as so many radicals through the ‘60’s and ‘70’s shouted, these truths were liberating in that they marked clear boundaries leaving no confusion. Now we wander in a fog of conflicting ideas regarded equally as truth and wonder why we’ve lost our way.
How, we ask, could someone methodically execute 32 people as Seung-Hui did? A better question would be why does it surprise us? As we continually blur the line between truth and error by holding all opinions as valid for those who believe them, why would we look in wonder at the carnage of a man who believed his actions to be the expression of truth as he saw it? Haven’t we for decades hammered home the mantra of relative truth which validates all beliefs for those who believe them?
The unmistakable fact is absolute truth does exist, and it clearly delineates between good and evil, right and wrong. Those who believe truth is relative to a point of view, come take a drink from this glass of cyanide that I choose to believe is water. My belief makes the drink no less toxic.
Seung-Hui’s actions were an expression of evil. Those actions resulted in the absolute truth that 33 lives were snuffed out in a matter of hours. I guess now we can go back to our comforting belief that truth is relative, at least until the next tragedy forces us to remember that evil does indeed inhabit the earth, and its calling is death.